- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Despite these achievements, Wright said he counts the relationships he developed with local farmers, pest control advisers, consultants, private industry, university researchers, students, UC and county staff as his greatest career accomplishments.
“When I think over my career, I think of the people who I was privileged to work with more than the projects,” Wright said.
A native of San Diego, Wright earned a bachelor's degree in plant science at Fresno State in 1972. Upon graduation, he and his wife joined the Peace Corps, spending three years working with Guatemalan native farmers.
“I did research and extension work on corn, wheat and potatoes,” Wright said. “That's what motivated me to come back to California and do graduate work at Fresno State. I wanted to work in extension.”
He praised the opportunities afforded to him during his college days at Fresno State.
“They had all kinds of farm projects we could do,” Wright said. “I had grain, cotton and vegetable projects as a student. I was doing everything from planting to harvesting. In addition to working for the school farm and private farms, I owe a lot to the professors there, who offered the applied aspects of farming along with their teaching programs.”
While completing his master's degree in agronomy in December 1980, Wright began work with UC Cooperative Extension in Tulare County. His education and work experience was immediately applicable on the job, where he was hired to work with cereal crops. Two years later, when the UCCE weed science advisor retired, Wright's research and teaching experience with weed management allowed him to take on this additional responsibility in Tulare County. When the UCCE cotton advisor retired, Wright stepped up and began to also work with cotton. Wright was later given the opportunity to cover cotton and cereal crops work with Kings County farmers.
Besides focusing much of his research on all aspects of cereals and cotton production, he also worked on weed control projects in rangeland, irrigation districts, the first herbicide-tolerant crops and later herbicide-resistant weeds in both annual and permanent crops.
“The job got bigger and changed all the time,” Wright said. “I enjoyed working in different disciplines, from controlling yellow starthistle in the foothills, to working with large- and small-acreage farmers in Tulare and Kings counties. I thrived on that.”
Wright was involved with administration and committees, serving as president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Academic Assembly Council, UC ANR Program Council member, and president and honorary member of California Weed Science Society. He also coordinated the building and management of California Youth Soccer Association soccer fields in Visalia.
In retirement, Wright said he plans stay in Visalia and spend time taking long walks with his young chocolate Labrador retriever. He is seeking emeritus status with UCCE and plans to work part time continuing with a few research projects that are underway. He is planning on pursuing his passion for international volunteer work and recreational outdoor activities, including camping, snow skiing, going to Morro Bay, and enjoying three grandchildren.
- Author: Jeannette Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension horticulture advisor Paul Vossen was dubbed the Godfather of California olive oil by members of the industry for his personal dedication to producing and promoting the state's olive oil as a healthful and flavorful product well worth a premium price. Vossen retires June 30 after 35 years with UC.
“California producers are now capturing the fresh fruit flavor of the olive,” Vossen said. “When I started, they were getting bad information from old-world producers. After visiting newer olive oil production regions and tasting good olive oil, I thought, ‘Oh boy, this is what we need in California.'”
Vossen launched a tasting panel and put on educational seminars. He studied and researched olive oil production, planted demonstration orchards and traveled around the world to learn from the most experienced producers and researchers.
California growers now use up-to-date farming methods, harvest mechanically or by hand to ensure fruit quality, and replaced antiquated oil extraction techniques with stainless steel decanters and centrifuges. The outcome is olive oil that tastes spicy, peppery and pungent; oil that serves more as a flavorful and valued condiment than an ordinary fat.
Vossen was immersed in extension education his whole life. His father was an extension agent in Minnesota for 40 years. His sister was an extension home economist. Though he went to the University of Minnesota with no intention to follow in their footsteps, he took a botany class and “totally fell in love with plants,” Vossen said. He earned a bachelor's degree in horticulture in 1978.
After graduation Vossen traveled to Happy Camp, near the Oregon border, to visit his brother.
“It was 70 degrees and sunny in the winter. I thought Northern California was paradise,” he said, and he decided to stay.
Vossen enrolled at UC Davis, earning a master's degree in pomology in 1981. Just a few days later he started his life's work as the pomology advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Sonoma County. He later added responsibility for specialty crops in Marin County.
Over his career, Vossen developed and implemented a comprehensive research and extension program. He wrote hundreds of articles and made many presentations on the production and marketing of apples, Asian pears, kiwis, hazelnuts, chestnuts, berries, heirloom tomatoes and other crops.
He authored some of the first UC Agriculture and Natural Resources publications on organic production, founded the Sebastopol Apple Promotion Committee and a Sonoma County ag marketing program to promote local products, and formed the California Olive Oil Council. His olive oil sensory panel was the first to be recognized by the International Olive Oil Council in the new world.
A significant achievement of Vossen's career was establishment of a UC Master Gardener program in Sonoma County in 1982. At the time, few California counties had Master Gardener programs in place. Vossen enlisted volunteer gardening enthusiasts to be trained by UC academics in research-based gardening systems. The program has continued for 34 years, training 30 new volunteers every year. There are currently 320 active UC Master Gardeners in Sonoma County.
“We were the first to put together a board of directors and develop original programming,” Vossen said. “We made a difference in the community, reducing landfill inputs of green waste, improving water conservation and reducing pesticide use.”
In retirement, Vossen said he plans to garden, travel and enjoy good food.
“I will judge at olive oil competitions, do some private consulting and enjoy continuous summers hiking all over the northern hemisphere May to October and the southern hemisphere November to April,” Vossen said.
The University of California Board of Regents today (March 24) approved a new retirement program for future UC employees proposed by President Napolitano, as part of a broader effort to maintain the university's excellence and sustain its long-term financial health.
The new retirement program will apply only to UC employees hired on or after July 1, 2016. Current employees and retirees are not affected by these changes because accrued pension benefits are protected by law and cannot be reduced or revoked.
The new program, which is consistent with the 2015 budget agreement with the state, will bolster the long-term financial stability of UC and its retirement program, while providing critical funding for many university priorities through savings generated by the plan and through additional funds UC will receive from the state.
Under the 2015 budget agreement, UC is receiving nearly $1 billion in new annual revenue and one-time funding over the several years, including $436 million to help pay down UC's unfunded pension liability. As part of the agreement, UC is implementing a cap on the pensionable earnings of future employees, mirroring the limit on pension benefits for state employees under the 2013 California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act (PEPRA). The university expects to save on average $99 million a year by implementing the pension cap, over half of which will go toward further paying down UC's unfunded liability.
“When we approved the budget agreement between the governor, the Legislature and this body, we did so committing ourselves to proactively developing a set of retirement options that are financially prudent, are oriented toward the long-term sustainability of the university and that allow us to effectively recruit and retain the very best faculty and staff,” Regent Monica Lozano said. “The [retirement] options on the table go a long way toward meeting those three very important objectives.”
Under the proposal approved by the regents, future employees will be offered a choice between two options:
- Option 1 – Pension + 401(k)-style supplemental benefit: The current UC pension benefit capped at the PEPRA salary limit (currently $117,020) plus a supplemental 401(k)-style benefit for eligible employee pay up to the Internal Revenue Service limit (currently $265,000), or
- Option 2 – New 401(k)-style benefit: A new stand-alone 401(k)-style plan with benefits-eligible employee pay up to the Internal Revenue Service limit (currently $265,000).
Maintaining a pension benefit — along with a 401(k)-style supplement (Option 1) — is important to attracting and retaining the caliber of personnel needed to maintain UC's excellence, especially faculty for whom the university often competes against elite private institutions that can often pay more than UC.
At the same time, UC's workforce is highly diverse and people have different retirement needs and goals. The new stand-alone 401(k)-style retirement benefit (Option 2) may be attractive to employees who work at UC for only a few years and want a portable retirement benefit they can take with them, and/or who prefer to personally manage their retirement savings.
The vast majority of future staff would not see any difference in their benefits compared to current employees. Based on current data, 79 percent of current employees would not be affected by the PEPRA cap.
You can read more details about the approved retirement benefits here.
Other elements of employee compensation were also discussed, including employee salaries and the university's ability to recruit and retain quality faculty and staff. President Napolitano noted for the regents that employee salaries remain an issue for certain employee groups and that she intends to propose ways to address competitive employee pay at future regents' meetings.
In addition to new retirement options for future UC employees, the president's plan will:
- Focus on overall employee compensation by (1) allowing UC to budget for regular pay increases for faculty and staff, and (2) making merit-based pay a regular component of systemwide salary programs to reward employees based on performance.
- Help preserve UC's quality by devoting resources to assist campuses in attracting and retaining faculty and key staff, and improve the student experience.
- Offer enhanced retirement counseling and education for all employees, including new hires, as part of UC's commitment to helping employees successfully plan for retirement.
Last summer after the 2015 budget agreement was finalized, President Napolitano convened a task force to recommend options for the new retirement benefits. The task force presented her with its recommendations in December 2015.
In January and February, the president solicited feedback on the recommendations from the UC community. She received comments from more than 300 faculty and staff, which she used to help inform the proposal she brought to the regents.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Employees have the opportunity to comment on the proposed renewal of the Phased Retirement Program. Originally offered in 2012 as part of the University's cost savings and succession planning strategies, and scheduled to sunset at the end of this year, the core provisions of the proposed renewed program remain the same as the original program.
The Phased Retirement Program is an optional tool that locations may choose to provide eligible policy-covered staff who are 55 or older a transition into retirement. Individual departments decide whether it makes sense to offer this program within their operations after evaluating business needs. For represented employees, that program is subject to departmental approval as well as collective bargaining.
The program document is posted at http://ucop.edu/human-resources/_files/phased-retirement.pdf
Please send all comments to Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu by Oct. 24.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
As you may have read in the news media, Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers unveiled a pension reform plan on Aug. 28, 2012, that would require many state workers to pay higher pension contributions and increase the retirement age at which new employees can receive maximum retirement benefits, among other changes.
This is to let you know that this proposed legislation does not apply to University of California employees, who are under a separate university pension plan, and the state’s proposal does not affect UC’s retirement benefits.
Sincerely,
Dwaine Duckett
Vice President
UC Systemwide Human Resources