Recently hired academics are invited to join ANR leadership for the third Programmatic Orientation on Oct. 17-19 to discuss the mission of UC ANR and our varied roles in California and the university. Please hold the dates.
Take this opportunity to engage in discussions with colleagues about the resources and opportunities available through ANR as a division.
All UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists, academic coordinators, academic administrators and Agricultural Experiment Station faculty who have been hired in recent years and have not attended an ANR Programmatic Orientation in the past are welcome.
The event will be held at a research and extension center yet to be determined.
For more information, contact the UC ANR Program Support Unit at (530) 750-1256 or (530) 750-1260.
In accordance with the Earned Income Tax Credit Information Act, the university includes a notice with all Form W-2 statements notifying employees that they may be eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Please note below an important amendment to this required notice, notifying employees that they may also be eligible for the California EITC:
Based on your annual earnings, you may be eligible to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit from the federal government (federal EITC). The federal EITC is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. The federal EITC has no effect on certain welfare benefits. In most cases, federal EITC payments will not be used to determine eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, low-income housing, or most Temporary Assistance for Needy Families payments. Even if you do not owe federal taxes, you must file a federal tax return to receive the federal EITC. Be sure to fill out the federal EITC form in the federal income tax return booklet. For information regarding your eligibility to receive the federal EITC, including information on how to obtain the IRS Notice 797 or any other necessary forms and instructions, contact the Internal Revenue Service by calling 1-800-829-3676 or through its website at www.irs.gov.
You also may be eligible to receive the California Earned Income Tax Credit (California EITC) starting with the calendar year 2015 tax year. The California EITC is a refundable state income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. The California EITC is treated in the same manner as the federal EITC and generally will not be used to determine eligibility for welfare benefits under California law. To claim the California EITC, even if you do not owe California taxes, you must file a California income tax return and complete and attach the California EITC form (FTB 3514). For information on the availability of the credit, eligibility requirements, and how to obtain the necessary California forms and get help filing, contact the Franchise Tax Board at 1-800-852-5711 or through its website at www.ftb.ca.gov.
The 50th World Agricultural Expo was held Feb. 14-16, 2017, in Tulare. The three-day show was attended by 105,780 people representing 43 states and 71 countries, according to its website. UC ANR participated by hosting a newsmakers event for journalists and sponsoring four booths displaying information about the division's array of research and programs.
At the booths, 4-H members and UC ANR scientists greeted visitors and answered questions. Visitors were invited to take a picture with a UC ANR frame and post it to social media with the hashtag #UCWorldAg to be entered in a contest to win a FitBit.
On the first day of the show, reporters were invited to meet UC ANR scientists, who gave 3-minute descriptions of their research. Rose Hayden-Smith, editor of the UC Food Observer blog, was the emcee. The speakers were as follows:
- Mary Lu Arpaia, UC Cooperative Extension horticulturist, UC Riverside, based at the Kearney REC in Parlier,avocadoes
- Khaled Bali, UCCE irrigation water management specialist, based at KREC, automated irrigation systems
- Peggy Lemaux, UCCE plant genetics specialist, UC Berkeley, and Jeff Dahlberg, KREC director and UCCE specialist, plant breeding and genetics, $12.3 million study on sorghum
- Lupita Fábregas, UCCE 4-H Youth Development advisor and assistant director for diversity and expansion, outreach to Latino communities
- Maggi Kelly, UCCE specialist and director of the UC Statewide Informatics and Geographic Information Systems program, UC Berkeley, research using drones
- Doug Parker, director, UC California Institute for Water Resources, drought
- Alireza Pourreza, UCCE agricultural engineering advisor, based at KREC, early detection of huanglongbing disease in citrus
- Leslie Roche, UCCE rangeland management specialist, UC Davis, drought management on rangeland
- Samuel Sandoval Solis, UCCE specialist in water resources, UC Davis, groundwater management
UC ANR and UC Food Observer live-streamed the talks on Facebook Live and on Twitter via Periscope. UC Food Observer's Facebook video of the event has been viewed nearly 5,000 times.
On the second day of the expo, a seminar on the changing role of women in agriculture was presented by VP Glenda Humiston, CDFA secretary Karen Ross and president of American AgriWomen Doris Mold. The speakers noted that women have always been involved in agriculture, but cultural bias often left them feeling that their role was inferior to the roles of male family members. The USDA's next census of agriculture will have questions designed to count women as industry workers even if they might consider their husbands or fathers to be the primary operators of the farm.
Humiston told the audience there are many career opportunities for women in agriculture, not just on the farm. She encouraged the young women and girls in the audience to look for opportunities in allied industries. For career advancement, women can join professional organizations and serve on committees, take advantage of training programs and run for leadership positions.
The panelists suggested that women also identify mentors — both men and women — who can help steer young professional women into successful agricultural careers.
Seeking to sharpen your skills to advance your career? You now have 24/7 access to on-demand training. UC ANR has upgraded its relationship with Lynda.com, which offers more than 6,000 video courses taught by professional instructors.
Lynda.com now provides ANR users a personalized learning dashboard and allows creation of personal training playlists. With a valid ucanr.edu email address, you now have a free subscription to Lynda.com, an online library that teaches the latest software tools, business skills and leadership development through high-quality instructional videos. To learn more, we suggest that you watch this introductory video about the service, and watch the course "How to use Lynda.com."
To access:
- Login with your ANR portal account https://ucanr.edu/portal/
- Click on the "Lynda.com Learning" link under "My Links" on the left
- From this page, you can either setup your Lynda.com account or go to the Lynda.com login page https://www.lynda.com to login to your account.
Only ANR users with an "@ucanr.edu" email account can sign up for a Lynda.com account.
Benefits to using Lynda.com include:
- Unlimited access to courses on a wide variety of technology and disciplines
- Up-to-date content to keep skills current and to learn new skills
- New courses added every week
- Access to instructors' exercise files to follow along as you learn
- Closed captioning and searchable, timecoded transcripts
- Beginner- to advanced-level courses
- The option to watch complete courses or individual videos as you need them
- Earn certificates to post to your LinkedIn profile
- Download courses to use offline
Join us for our first “Learn it with Lynda.com” lunch and learn on Wednesday, March 15, from noon to 1 pm. Fill out this survey to RSVP.
For more information, contact Jodi Azulai at (530) 750-1239 or jlazulai@ucanr.edu.
Starting on Feb. 8, IT began hosting online Zoom trainings at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays.
“We have provided training sessions as part of the initial Zoom deployment,” said Tolgay Kizilelma,
chief information security officer. “These training sessions helped us make the transition for most of our staff from other video conferencing tools we have been using. However, we are still not there yet. So, to expedite this overall transition and enable our staff to utilize all the features and functions of Zoom better, we have scheduled ongoing weekly Zoom training sessions, which also include Q&A to address specific issues you might be experiencing.”
IT is also planning to do onsite in-person trainings for larger locations.
Information about Zoom including the weekly training schedules can be found at http://ucanr.edu/sites/zoom/Training.
Please email help@ucanr.edu if you have any questions about Zoom or the training sessions.
