- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
[The deadline to nominate staff for a STAR Award has been extended to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 17.]
Nominations are being accepted for the annual UC ANR Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) Awards until Monday, April 6, 2020.
ANR is going ahead with the annual program despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The STAR program is our opportunity to celebrate and reward the great contributions of ANR's people, and this recognition is as important as ever right now,” said John Fox, executive director of Human Relations.
The program provides one-time $500 cash awards to eligible staff in recognition of outstanding achievement. Managers may nominate individuals and teams demonstrating exceptional performance, creativity, organizational abilities, work success and teamwork.
Policy-covered ANR staff and members of the Clerical Unit (CX) are eligible to be nominated for STAR awards. Staff in other collective bargaining units, academics and members of the Senior Management Group are not eligible to receive STAR awards.
Nomination forms and program guidelines are available on the UC ANR Human Resources website.
Send your nominations via e-mail to humanresources@ucanr.edu by April 6, 2020.
STAR Award winners will be celebrated during an ANR recognition event on June 18, 2020, even if it's a “virtual” Zoom event.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The University of California invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy: Gender Recognition and Lived Name. It is proposed that the policy be fully implemented by UC campuses and locations by July 1, 2021, and it includes the following key issues:
- The University must provide three equally recognized gender options on university-issued documents and information systems — female, male and nonbinary.
- The University must provide an efficient process for students and employees to retroactively amend their gender designations and lived names on university-issued documents and in information systems.
The legal name of university students, employees, alumni and affiliates, if different than the individual's lived name, must be kept confidential and must not be published on documents or displayed in information systems that do not require a person's legal name.
The proposed policy is posted at https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Administration/Business_Operations/Controller/Administrative_Policies_-_Business_Contracts/Policy_and_administrative_handbooks/ANR_Administrative_Handbook/Recent_Updates/.
If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than May 15, 2020. Please indicate “Gender Recognition and Lived Name” in the subject line.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
UC Cooperative Extension advisor Rose Hayden-Smith has taught schoolchildren at 4-H summer camps about food, inspired Master Gardener volunteers to plant school gardens, led the UC Cooperative Extension office in Ventura County as its first female director, and encouraged fellow University of California scientists to collaborate more on sustainable food systems research as a statewide leader. In recent years, the historian wrote a book about Victory Gardens, created the UC Food Observer, and became a leader in using social media to expand the university's public outreach.
Hayden-Smith, who joined UC Agriculture and Natural Resources in 1992, is reinventing herself again after retiring Jan. 3, 2020. She has been selected to be a Fellow for the eXtension Foundation, to promote adoption of new technology by Cooperative Extension professionals nationwide. She is also launched her own consulting business, Shine Communications.
“I've loved the multi-faceted aspect of my UC career, which has enabled me to serve my community and my colleagues in creative and meaningful ways,” Hayden-Smith said.
Lynnette Coverly was a 4-H volunteer when Hayden-Smith joined UCCE Ventura County.
“Rose struck me immediately as a passionate and organized leader who easily motivated everyone she came in contact with,” Coverly said. “She motivated me personally to get more involved as a 4-H volunteer leader.
During a sabbatical leave, Hayden-Smith worked with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in garden settings. She teamed with the City of Ventura to pilot-test a curriculum for middle-school age youth about sustainability through fun garden activities.
Agriculture and natural resource journalism academies and on-farm programs for court-mandated kids were among other learning opportunities offered by Hayden-Smith, who served as a county commissioner for juvenile justice. She and UCCE advisor Ben Faber received a Distinguished Service Team Award for a career day they created for the county science fair.
“Most recently, I've been working in digital communications in Extension, which has been a wonderful fit for my skills and evolving interests,” Hayden-Smith said. “This work has also brought me back to my early career work in marketing and technology.”
An early adopter of technology, Hayden-Smith began blogging and using Twitter in 2008 as @VictoryGrower, a handle chosen to reflect her expertise in the war-time Victory Garden movement.
“It's a different ‘victory' now, but many of the goals are the same,” Hayden-Smith said. “Gardens connect people with food and food production. Food is fundamental. It's what everyone shares in common. As we are entering a more challenging era of increased population and pressure on resources, it is vital for people to understand how to cultivate food.”
While serving as a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow, beginning in 2008, Hayden-Smith developed a national media and education campaign to promote school, home and community garden efforts and public policies, publishing articles in the Huffington Post and Civil Eats. She served on the USDA People's Garden Advisory Group, visiting the White House garden groundbreaking and again in 2012, when she live-tweeted her experience.
As the social media maven's following grew, she began mentoring and encouraging UC Cooperative Extension colleagues to use social media for outreach and professional networking.
In 2011, Hayden-Smith, who had developed a reputation for being upbeat with a knack for cultivating cooperation, was tapped to lead UC ANR's strategic initiative in sustainable food systems. She was honored for her leadership, work ethic and integrity in 2013, when the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis presented her with the Eric Bradford and Charlie Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award.
To support UC's Global Food Initiative, Hayden-Smith was asked to curate a selection of news, reports and thought pieces from a broad range of sources that represent diverse perspectives on food. The intent was not to focus on UC, but to facilitate discussions about food that were occurring across many communication platforms. She launched the UC Food Observer blog in 2015 and complemented it with social media.
“Over the course of my UC career, I've worked with the best people: curious, driven to improve communities and inspiring all around,” Hayden-Smith said. “I've been blessed to work for a world-class institution that has fostered my creativity and need for new challenges. My biggest takeaway? It all goes so fast, the possibilities for learning new things are endless, and work – and the people you work with – are a blessing.”
Prior to working for UC, Hayden-Smith worked in the technology sector as a product manager, and public relations and marketing manager for a number of companies, including Tymshare, Wavefront Technologies and McDonnell Douglas Information System Group. She earned her bachelor's degree in English, master's degrees in education and US. history, and a Ph.D. in U.S. history and public historical studies. She began her UC career in 1989 as a student affairs officer at UCSB advising re-entry students.
“Transitions are hard, and I'm filled with both sadness and excitement,” Hayden-Smith said.
To read the full story, visit https://ucanr.edu/News/?routeName=newsstory&postnum=39641.
- Author: Jodi Azulai
"Wellness Spot" Leaders
Wellness in the human experience can be in any of these areas: Finances, physical fitness, environment, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual. (Dimensions of Wellness; (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Wellness spots will take place during our Third Thursday ANR Davis All Staff Meetings. You can provide one either in person or via Zoom.
Please fill out this survey to show your interest in leading an activity, short learning session, or your experiences of a wellness activity/process either in-person or via Zoom.
- Author: Brook Gamble
Extra special congratulations are in order for the 2020 Tuleyome graduating class of certified California Naturalists. On Friday, March 20, via Zoom, the California Naturalist Program certified its latest class of California Naturalists while practicing appropriate physical distancing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19.
Students met by video to present their capstone service-learning projects, including topics as diverse as nature journaling with kids, discovering soil types of field trip locations, cataloging game camera photos, unlocking the potentials of Zooniverse, building a new container for composting, and more.
California Naturalist Program Director Greg Ira remarked to graduates that he is encouraged to see people finding refuge in the natural world in this difficult time. "Who knew that social distancing would bring so many people closer to nature?," Ira said. "How wonderful would it be to see a blossoming of natural history from this event? And who better to help guide these potential naturalists than a newly minted California Naturalist like yourself."