In 2017, ANR learned valuable lessons amid events within the UC Office of the President making necessary our examination of policy and procedures regarding University-purchased portable electronics. As you know, in December 2017, we placed a moratorium on the purchase of electronic devices while we conducted that review. Thank you for your patience during this process. Now that the policy review and the development of compliance standards are completed, we are lifting the moratorium. Let me advise you of the changes in policy and plans for UC ANR's Endpoint Security Management Initiative.
UC Systemwide Policy G-46 Scope
UC Systemwide Policy G-46establishes requirements for the use of University-purchased cellular phones and other portable electronic equipment and outlines the appropriate circumstances for purchasing these resources, specifically cell phones, MiFi's and tablets (e.g. Kindles, Androids & iPads). This does not include tablet PCs, running full versions of desktop operating systems, laptops, or laptops that can be converted to a tablet mode (e.g. Surface Pro, Notebooks, ThinkPads).
UC ANR Employee Eligibility Form for University-Provided Electronic Device (ANR G-46 Eligibility): If an employee requires a portable electronic resource and providing that resource represents a reasonable use of public funds, the Department (Unit) Head can authorize the purchase using the criteria within the ANR G-46 Eligibility Form.
ANR has determined that due to the inherent program delivery focus of certain ANR positions, the ANR G-46 Eligibility form is not required for UC ANR Advisors, Academic Coordinators/Administrators, ANR-based Cooperative Extension Specialists and Community Education Specialists.
UC ANR Employee Agreement Form for University-Provided Electronic Device (ANR G-46 Agreement): Prior to receiving a portable electronic device, all employees must sign a usage agreement acknowledging that the primary use of the resource(s) will be for official University business and that any personal use of the resources will be incidental in nature. This requirement applies to UC ANR Advisors, Academic Coordinators/Administrator, ANR-based Cooperative Extension Specialists and Community Education Specialists.
Implementation
Currently the Controller's Office is piloting a web-based software to coordinate completion, tracking and storage of the new ANR forms. In support of our strategic goals to streamline administrative functions and modernize technology, we plan to make ANR G-46 Eligibility and G-46 Agreement forms part of this pilot. More information will be forthcoming in June. In the meantime, please use the paper forms found at the bottom of this page. There are FAQs within the G-46 policy describing preferred rate plans, approved vendors and other specifics regarding the purchase and use of cell phones, Mi-Fi's and tablets located here.
If you have questions about policy, contact Robin Sanchez, Controller's Office (rgsanchez@ucanr.edu). If you have questions about ordering a cell-phone, Mi-Fi or tablet, please contact either Emily LaRue, BOC-K (elarue@ucanr.edu) or Sally Harmsworth, BOC-D (sharmsworth@ucanr.edu).
The purposes of the above changes are to bring ANR into compliance with UC Systemwide policy and protect our academics and staff from incurring imputed income. Similarly, UC ANR's Endpoint Security Management Initiative is meant, in part, to comply with UC Systemwide IS-3 Cybersecurity policy. IS-3 will shield ANR staff and academics from external threats such as ransomware, information and privacy breaches, and data loss that could jeopardize our mission of public service, research, and education. What follows are details of the Initiative's goals and standards.
ANR Endpoint Security Management Initiative
In order to strengthen our cybersecurity posture and to comply with UC Systemwide IS-3 cybersecurity policy, ANR is launching an Endpoint Security Management Initiative covering all ANR-owned computers. The objectives of this initiative are:
- To better protect UC ANR-owned IT assets (hardware, software, data) via prevention, threat identification and detection.
- To automate computer updates and patch critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities in a timely manner to mitigate risks.
- To ensure computer security software is installed and updated to protect UC ANR-owned computers and data.
As a key component of this initiative, the ANR IT department will coordinate the computer procurement process and ANR will standardize on several Dell Latitude laptop and OptiPlex desktop computer models. All new computer purchase requests will be initiated using the ANR IT Help Desk ticketing system. ANR IT staff will consult with end users to determine appropriate laptop or desktop computer models to be ordered and will coordinate the placement of computer orders via the UC Davis AggieBuy system. New computers will be delivered to the ANR IT department in Davis to be configured and appropriate cybersecurity software installed before being shipped to the end user's location.
New ANR Procedure for Ordering Laptops and Desktop Computers
Effective immediately, all requests for laptop and desktop computer orders charged to ANR funds must be routed to the ANR IT department via the IT ticketing system. Due to ANR cybersecurity requirements, the use of UC purchasing cards or personal funds to purchase ANR-owned computers is no longer allowed.
Procedure:
(1) The end user will create a ticket in the ANR IT Ticketing System identifying the type of laptop or desktop computer to be purchased. The IT Ticketing System can be accessed in the ANR Portal via the “IT Help” button.
(2) As necessary, IT staff will consult with the end user to determine the appropriate laptop/desktop computer model and needed specifications. As part of this process, the end user will be provided an “ANR Computer Purchase Request Form.”
(3) The end user will complete and obtain unit financial approval on the “ANR Computer Purchase Request Form,” then upload the form to the IT ticket.
(4) The ANR IT department will place the order through AggieBuy and upload the "ANR Computer Purchase Request Form" as supporting documentation.
- The shipping location will be designated as the ANR IT department in Davis.
- As orders are entered into AggieBuy, standard ANR financial approval routing will occur.
(5) The ANR IT department will receive new computer equipment and provide appropriate ANR imaging and encryption and will then ship the equipment to the end user's unit location.
Detailed information on the ANR Endpoint Security Management Initiative and the ordering procedures will be posted on the ANR IT website by May 15. If you have questions about this initiative, please contact Tolgay Kizilelma at tkizilelma@ucanr.edu.
Sincerely,
Tu Tran
ANR Associate Vice President - Business Operations
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
All academics with ANR merit and promotion are invited to Project Board Trainings on May 2 and 3. Please note, CE specialists who receive merit and promotion through a campus will have a separate training in July or August.
Part One – What is Project Board?
Why was it built? What purposes it will serve? Participants will receive answers to these questions via presentations by Affirmative Action, Academic Human Resources, and Program Planning and Evaluation. There will be an emphasis on how Project Board has conceptually integrated the academic program review, civil rights compliance, and organizational reporting requirements.
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Offered two times: 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Recording: Part 1 Project Board overview https://bit.ly/2rhx1Ms
Part Two – How do I use Project Board?
Participants will take part in a hands-on training session by completing tasks in Project Board and getting live technical assistance.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Offered two times: 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Recording: Part 2 hands-on training
Welcome by Wendy Powers: https://bit.ly/2rAiafN
Training Recording: https://bit.ly/2jFYXFP
Zoom Information
Webinar link: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/114559912
Join audio by computer or by phone: 646-558-8656 (meeting ID is 114 559 912)
Questions?
- Visit the Project Board Help (in progress) webpage at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ProjectBoardHelp/
- Academic Human Resources questions, contact Kim Ingram at kcingram@ucanr.edu
- Civil Rights Compliance/Affirmative Action questions, contact David White at dewhite@ucanr.edu
- DANRIS-X retrievals/historical questions, contact Chris Hanson at Christopher.hanson@ucop.edu
- Author: Jodi Azulai
Be an active participant in your performance review discussion. It will empower you and shows that you care about your work and your development.
To prepare, review your:
- Job description
- Objectives set for the review period
- Any documentation, notes, status reports you have drafted or even a self-assessment
Continue reading here.
Check out the ANR Learning and Development website to explore learning resources, training topics, and career planning tools. Use the career planning tools to:
- Learn the difference between skills and competencies
- Identify UC Core Competencies
- Fill out a self-assessment to contemplate your skill strengths and skill gaps
SiteBuilder Training
The CSIT Web Development team is bringing several SiteBuilder training sessions to several locations:
- Monday, May 7, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in Davis
- Thursday, May 17, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Hopland (FULL)
- Thursday, May 24, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Kearney
The classes are designed for ANR people in need of proficiency in creating and maintaining websites.
Learning topics:
- The basics to get up and running with SiteBuilder
- Best practices in web design
- Search engine optimization
- Employing images
- Social media integration
- Web accessibility
- Introduction to new designs and functionalities of the future SiteBuilder platform
Register at http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=24549. A training location may be added in Southern California.
Register for the New Employee Administrative Orientation
Wednesday, May 23, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
UC ANR Building, 2801 Second Street, Davis, CA 95618
Learn more and register here.
Who should attend: All UC ANR employees (academics, staff and affiliated staff on campuses, counties and RECs) who have not participated in an administrative orientation in the past. Priority will be given to those hired by ANR within the past year.
- Learn about ANR's vision and mission
- Learn about ANR structure and individual programs and units
- Interact with ANR leadership and directors
- Meet and network with new colleagues from around the state
- Get answers to burning questions about health benefits, AggieTravel, and more!
You bring the coffee, tea, or beverage and we will bring you the first virtual WebANR Café Thursday on May 17 at noon: Planning makes Perfect: Best Practices for Engaging Webinars.
During this webinar, Brook Gamble, community educator specialist with the California Naturalist Program, and Steven Worker, 4-H academic advisor will help you:
- Improve your understanding of the critical steps for preparation, implementation, and post webinar follow-up
- Introduce ZOOM capabilities
- Introduce tricks of the trade to keeping webinar participants engaged and not checking their e-mail
Join us at:
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/963167636
(646) 558-8656 or + (669) 900-6833
Webinar ID: 963 167 636
WebANRs will be recorded and linked to the WebANR Café Thursday page.
Use Your Subscription to Corporate Executive Board Learning & Development
As a UCANR employee you have automatic membership to a top-notch professional development resource. Interested in cultivating your career to the next level of performance? If yes, check out Corporate Executive Board (CEB) Learning & Development. It takes seconds to register or reset a password and participate in webinars, download job aids and participate in discussion forums.
Here is a quick list of a few CEB resources:
Resources for All Employees – Develop yourself as a high-performing employee, not only effective at your tasks, but also as someone who contributes to others' performance and uses others' contributions to improve your own performance.
On-the-Job Activity Builder – Use this interactive tool to build employee development plans with recommended on-the-job learning activities, based on the competencies you select.
Manager Guide: Holding Effective Career Discussions – Guide your direct reports through identifying and progressing toward their career aspirations.
Manager Excellence Resource Center – Find manager development and employee development resources at this online portal (separate from the L&D member website).
- Author: Kristal Caballero
The trip brought together nearly two dozen 2018 Global Food Initiative Fellows, all of whom are working on projects that advance the mission of the UC-wide Global Food Initiative, including Nutrition Policy Institute GFI fellow Kristal Caballero. Caballero wrote the following story about the event.
This strategic initiative was started in 2014 by UC President Janet Napolitano to align the university's research to develop and export solutions — throughout California, the United States and the world — for food security, health and sustainability. The initiative funds student-generated research, related projects or internships that focus on food issues. All 10 UC campuses, plus UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, participate in the program.
“We need to start thinking of the interconnectedness of our research, and begin to implement place-based solutions that take into account the environment, food-security, and sustainability,” said UC San Diego professor Keith Pezzoli as he welcomed the GFI fellows. Pezzoli, who leads the UC San Diego Bioregional Center for Sustainability Science, Planning and Design, hosted the GFI fellows for the weekend. Pezzoli and his team led the fellows to multiple campus and community-based projects that are implementing collaborative, innovative solutions that advance food security, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity. GFI fellows were tasked to think of their projects critically and use the trip to gather ideas and inspiration for their own projects and in their work as future food leaders.
This year's GFI Fellows are working on projects that range from addressing food security and basic needs on UC campuses, to capturing the culture of eating through film, and from efforts to connect water salinity to crop yield, to creating energy-generating agricultural covers.
Dinner with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources - advising California for 150 years
The first day of the trip ended with a presentation by and dinner with advisors from UC's Agricultural and Natural Resources. Ramiro E. Lobo, small farm and agricultural economics advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in San Diego County, gave the GFI fellows basic information about the farming landscape in San Diego County and introduced the five UC ANR Strategic Initiatives. Lobo, who specializes in agricultural economics and marketing, talked about the challenges of farming in San Diego and the future of agricultural economics.
“San Diego,” Lobo said, “has the one of the highest prices of agricultural water in the world. The majority of our farms are small, specialty crop farms. So now, many growers and shutting off the water and letting their land dry up.”
In order to combat these issues and drive sales, Ramiro helps farmers market their products and share their stories.
“We're moving towards a ‘value-based' model of marketing,” said Lobo. “I help farmers figure out what their personal farming stories are and help share those stories with the public, a model that's really helping to drive sales.”
Fellows then enjoyed dinner with ANR advisors from throughout Southern California and discussed student-led topics related to food security, water quality, federal food programs and research ethics. With areas of work ranging from water quality to crop science, and from federal food programs to agricultural tourism, conversations were rich and varied as ANR advisors answered students' questions and shared their expertise.
“It was so interesting to hear the ANR advisors' perspectives on their particular issues. Also, I was really inspired by the wide range of expertise and backgrounds present among the advisors. Each one brings their own unique perspective to the work, and I enjoyed learning how each of their focus areas connected,” said GFI fellow Mackenzie Feldman, an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley.
“After this trip, I am full of new ideas, energy and confidence that can I make a difference. I now know I need to find the right partners and keep believing that solutions to food justice and environmental sustainability are possible,” said Holly Mayton, GFI Fellow and PhD student at UC Riverside. “My thoughts and ideas are really falling into place, and I am creating a new framework for action and results.”
Read more about the GFI tour at http://ucanr.edu/?blogpost=26971&blogasset=99473.
- Author: Jeannette Warnert
The $1 million UC Cooperative Extension Presidential Chair for California Grown Rice has been awarded to Whitney Brim-DeForest, UCCE rice advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Placer, Sacramento and Butte counties.
Brim-DeForest said she will use the funds generated from the endowed chair to hire a full-time technician to monitor a research study at UC Davis on weedy rice. Weedy rice is the same species as cultivated rice and it produces rice, however the grain falls off the plant before harvest.
She is part of a team of UC scientists that includes UCCE advisors Luis Espino and Michelle Lindfelder-Miles, and UCCE specialists Bruce Linquist and Kassim Al-Khatib who are conducting the five-year demonstration project to help farmers manage the problem.
“We don't know where weedy rice came from,” Brim-DeForest said. “It's a weed in every major rice growing area around the world. We were among the last areas to see it.”
In the UC Davis experiment, the scientists plan to demonstrate two potential weedy rice management strategies: rotate the rice crop with sorghum and create a “stale seed bed,” in which the field is irrigated and plants allowed to germinate, and then killed with an herbicide before the desired rice is planted.
“We want to demonstrate this in the field,” Brim-DeForest said. “In theory, it works. We want to show growers how long it will take to get weedy rice out of their fields.”
Half the funds for the endowed chair was provided by UC President Janet Napolitano; the other half was donated by the California Rice Research Board.
“The establishment of this endowed chair strengthens the long-standing public-private research partnership UC Cooperative Extension has had with the California rice industry,” said UC Agriculture and Natural Resources associate vice president Tu Tran, when the endowment was announced in 2016. “Continued research advancements will help the rice industry maintain its reputation for supplying a premium product for domestic and world markets.”
The chair appointment will be for a five-year term, and then reviewed and renewed or offered to another specialist or advisor working on California rice.
Brim-DeForest joined UCCE in 2016 after serving as a graduate student researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, working at the California Rice Experiment Station in Biggs. She managed the UC Davis Weed Science field and greenhouse trials, and worked with industry and academic scientists to design field and greenhouse trials for weed management in rice.
