Sharon Junge, second from right, is inducted to the National 4-H Hall of Fame. Photo by Edwin Remsberg

Junge, who retired in 2009 after nearly 40 years of working with UC ANR's 4-H Youth Development Program, was among 16 people inducted during the ceremony at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center on Oct. 9 in Chevy Chase, Md.

“Sharon is fully invested in 4-H and the powerful impact 4-H makes on the lives of youth, families and communities,” said Shannon Horrillo, associate director of 4-H Program and Policy.

The 2015 National 4-H Hall of Fame honoree became a 4-H youth development and nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for Placer and Nevada counties in 1972. She became county director for those counties in 1985. By the end of her career, Junge was ANR's Healthy Families and Communities Strategic Initiative leader and acting director of the UC 4-H Youth Development Program.

“As an emeritus advisor she continues to develop curricula for youth nutrition education and supports and mentors 4-H Youth Development academics and staff,” Horrillo said. “She continues to be a trusted colleague whose knowledge and expertise is valued and consulted.”

Most notably, Junge was a pioneer in afterschool programming, developing the first 4-H afterschool programs run by 4-H and Cooperative Extension in the nation and the largest California effort to reach more Latino youth in 4-H. More than 1,500 youth were reached annually in Placer and Nevada counties with a yearly budget of over $1.5 million.

Her state afterschool expertise led to her work at the national level on several projects, including director of one the 4-H Afterschool Centers for Action (1991-1995), and a member of the National Extension Network for Child Care Board (1995-1999), USDA's Extension CARES Initiative Steering Committee (1999-2003), the National School-age Editorial Board (2001-2002), and the Leadership Team for National 4-H Afterschool. She has written extensively on these projects and her curricula and evaluation findings are cited in many other works on afterschool programming. She authored other National Extension System afterschool resources such as Reaching Out to and Meeting the Needs of Diverse Audiences and Teens as Volunteer Leaders…Recruiting and Training Teens to Work with Younger Youth in Afterschool Programs and co-authored three other curricula with the National 4-H Leadership team that are used in 42 states.

Expanding on her 4-H afterschool work, Junge served as co-principal investigator for the multi-year Youth Experiences in Science project funded by the National Science Foundation ($980,000). As the 4-H Program Leader, she continued her efforts in afterschool and science education securing a grant to co-develop “Tools of the Trade I and II, Inspiring Young Minds to be SET Ready for Life,” which allowed 4-H to provide professional development to afterschool providers and enrich the experiences of nearly 114,000 youth statewide and countless more nationally.  

With Junge's leadership, the 4-H SET Leadership Team launched the state's 4-H Science, Engineering, and Technology Initiative. She provided expertise to secure funding to develop the “There's No New Water!” curriculum, a five-year CYFAR project focused on science through gardening, and other SET projects, resources and training.

She also launched California's Healthy Living Initiative. In 2010, Junge secured a $1.2 million gift to strengthen the 4-H club program through 4-H Thrive, which integrated cutting-edge research on positive youth development and growth mindset. This gift resulted in youth leadership development projects that reached 8,500 youth and 2,000 adult volunteers who contributed 9,746 hours of volunteer service to their communities. The volunteer service is valued at $1,101,267, essentially doubling the value of the initial gift of this ongoing project.

During the ceremony, honorees were presented with a National 4-H Hall of Fame medallion, plaque and memory book.

Are you covered? Open Enrollment is time to look at benefits, consider changes

Open Enrollment – which begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, and ends at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24 – is your annual opportunity to review your UC benefits to make sure you have the best coverage for 2016.

While there aren't major benefits changes in store for 2016, there will be some changes, including a few benefits enhancements. Complete details will be available beginning Oct. 26 when the Open Enrollment website launches, and employees begin to receive their Open Enrollment booklets via U.S. mail. The website also will offer videos, resources for answers to questions about UC benefits, and other online tools to help you decide the best coverage for you and your family.

Meanwhile, here are some highlights about next year's health benefits:

• UC has worked hard to maintain a full range of quality medical plan and pricing choices for employees, and to control costs as health insurance costs nationwide continue to rise. Next year, many employees will see less than a $6 monthly premium increase. View 2016 rates for employees here.
• All UC's current medical plans will be available in 2016, and UC added several programs to improve your care.
• UC makes sure you are covered for dental and vision care, and again these plans will be free to you and your family.
• Due to the Affordable Care Act, benefits eligibility will be calculated differently, and some employees not previously eligible for benefits will be eligible beginning January, 2016. More details about what the ACA means for you.
• The ARAG Legal Plan is open for enrollment. There will be no rate changes and the plan is very affordable, with a monthly cost of $10 to $15, depending on the eligible family members you choose to cover.

Medical plan enhancements

UC has added several programs to improve your care:

• For those who travel, all plans in 2016 will cover immunizations needed for travel. Check with your plan or the Open Enrollment website for the coverage your plan will offer. 
• For smoking cessation, Health Net Blue & Gold will add the “Quit for Life” telephonic behavioral coaching program, in addition to its current online program.
• Health Net Blue & Gold will expand the Omada Prevent program for people with pre-diabetes to support those who are at risk for heart disease.
• Blue Shield Health Savings Plan and Core will add “Oncology Practice of the Future,” a program designed to ensure comprehensive cancer care for its members.
• Core will add coverage for applied behavioral health services to support autism care.
• UC Care will add more Ambulatory Surgery Center providers in its UC Select tier with a $100 co-pay.

Wellness

UC Living Well, the systemwide wellness initiative, will continue to promote numerous wellness activities offered at each location, and in addition, will highlight wellness resources available through UC's medical plans. Wellness coaching and the $75 incentive earned through Optum will not be available in 2016.

Legal Plan

The ARAG Legal Plan is open for enrollment this year. Legal assistance, credit monitoring and expanded identity theft protection are among the many services offered through this plan. Slight changes will be made, which will result in fewer limitations and more benefits for certain services. For example, the limitation of one claim per benefit year per family will be eliminated. 

Open Enrollment is your opportunity to explore your options in order to make the best choices for you and your family. Review your Open Enrollment booklet for more information about what to consider during Open Enrollment and the steps to take if you decide to change your benefits.

The UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan became effective Oct. 1, 2015. It is important to note that the plan applies not only to UC personnel, but also to contractors/vendors doing business with and providing services to UC. The UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan also provides measures to ensure contractor compliance including a dedicated telephone hotline (1-855-WAGES-UC) and webpage by which contract workers may report complaints directly to the Office of the President.

As the first university in the country to voluntarily set a minimum wage, compliance with this requirement will be scrutinized carefully. To ensure compliance, effective immediately it is imperative that UC ANR personnel do not allow contractors and/or vendors to perform work or provide services to UC ANR unless and until a properly authorized UC agreement is in place. (Common types of UC ANR work or services that are subject to the Fair Wage policy include repair services, farm labor contractor services, agricultural services, construction services, etc.)

UC policy has always required that an authorized UC purchase order (or other appropriate form of contract) be executed before work begins. With the implementation of the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, however, it is critical that UC ANR obtain services only from firms that will execute a contract guaranteeing payment of the plan's minimum wage, as described in UC's factsheet. Accordingly, the vendor's willingness to do this must be confirmed prior to the start of work.

Allowing work to proceed before an appropriately authorized UC purchase order is issued will be considered a breach of UC policy (an unauthorized purchase), and is very likely to trigger new/additional administrative requirements, cause delay and impede payment to the vendor.

The following UC ANR administrative staff members are available to assist you with this and related matters:

Additional information is available at

• UC president announces $15/Hour Minimum Wage
• UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan Implementation Guide
• UC Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-43, Materiel Management

Thank you very much for your attention to and compliance with this new University of California policy. 

Catherine Montano
Director, Administrative Policies & Business Contracts

UC Office of the President recently announced the implementation of a new minimum wage policy for UC employees. All appointment types, 50 percent or more, are eligible with the exception of Student titles.  No UC ANR employees will be affected this fiscal year by the policy, however new vendor contracts will be affected and ANR will need to ensure compliance. The policy is effective on Oct. 1, 2015, and is described below. If you have specific questions regarding the policy or how it will affect the employees in your unit, please contact UC ANR Human Resources. 

John Fox
Executive Director, UC ANR Human Resources 
jsafox@ucanr.edu

Linda Marie Manton
Executive Director, UC ANR Human Resources Staff Personnel 
lmmanton@ucanr.edu

New hourly minimum wage policy

UC will increase the minimum wage for employees, including contract workers, on Thursday, Oct. 1, the first stage of a three-year plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2017.

Under the new UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, all employees hired to work at least 20 hours a week will be paid a minimum of $13 an hour starting Thursday, Oct. 1. That minimum will increase to $14 an hour on Oct. 1, 2016, and to $15 an hour on Oct. 1, 2017.

Contractors and subcontractors working on UC projects will be required to comply with the new policy.

UC is the first university in the country to voluntarily set a $15 minimum wage. The new rate will be higher than California's minimum wage, which is currently $9 an hour and will increase to $10 an hour on Jan. 1, 2016.

President Janet Napolitano announced the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan in July to support employees and their families, and to ensure that workers being paid through a UC contract are likewise fairly compensated.

“Supporting the employees — and their families — who help make UC a leading institution is an important part of our values as a public university,” President Napolitano said.

The new minimum wage is being implemented over three years to give campuses time to plan and budget for the cost increase. The bulk of the cost will be funded by non-core funds, such as sales from self-supporting programs like bookstores and food services. These are separate from tuition and fees, state resources and other core funds that support UC's core instructional programs.

As UC enters into new contracts or renews existing ones, the university will require contractors and subcontractors to pay their employees a wage that meets or exceeds UC's new minimum wage.

In addition, UC will enhance its oversight of contractors and subcontractors for wages and working conditions. This includes creation of a telephone hotline and online reporting system, both now in place, that contract workers can use to report complaints and issues directly to the Office of the President.

It also will include annual and interim audits of contractors to ensure they pay employees UC's minimum wage or better, and that they meet all local, state, federal and UC laws. Annual audits will be funded by the contractors, and implemented as new contracts are established and existing ones are renewed.

Learn more about the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work plan and read frequently asked questions.