- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Assemblymember Jim Wood, second from left, visited Kim Rodrigues and Greg Giusti at Hopland Research and Extension Center on Oct. 26 to learn about the research and outreach being conducted at the 5,300-acre site. Wood's district director Ruth Valenzuela organized the visit with Rodrigues, Giusti and Lucas Frerichs, UC ANR government affairs and community relations manager.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
ANR Learning and Development will offer an Essential Facilitation® workshop March 28 to March 30, 2017. The training will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the UC ANR Building at 2801 Second Street in Davis.
UC ANR employees who organize or lead meetings should apply to attend the training byInteractive Associates for Social Change.
The skills and techniques offered are designed to produce significant performance improvement, career development, and personal growth. Essential Facilitation® shows how to effectively facilitate in situations that have one or more of the following "three Cs":
- Complex or high-stakes content.
- Conflict — the situation is emotionally charged or controversial.
- Context — when you must balance multiple stakeholders' needs and points of view. (read more).
Seating is limited to 24. Register at https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=19310.
Applications will be reviewed to give opportunities to both staff and academics as well as people from different program and unit areas and job titles. Priority will be given to those in Northern California who have not participated in this training. However, others should apply and acceptance will be reviewed at on a case-by-case basis. Please clear with your supervisor for release time.
Registration fees for approved registrants will be covered by ANR Learning and Development funds.
Because this event is fully funded by ANR, we need to limit the possibility of last-minute, costly cancellations. Please provide a UC account number that can be charged in the event of a late cancellation. If you cancel within one week of the workshop, your UC account may be charged for meeting expenses.
For more information, contact Jodi Azulai, Learning and Development coordinator, at jlazulai@ucanr.edu or (530) 750-1239.
- Author: Aubrey Thompson
The Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis is accepting nominations for the annual Eric Bradford and Charlie Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award.
Nominations are welcome for UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists as well as UC Davis graduate students, faculty members, and in special cases, alumni, for their work toward agricultural sustainability. Award recipients will receive a cash prize and may be invited to give a lecture sponsored by the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis which manages the award and selection process.
The Bradford-Rominger award recognizes and honors individuals who exhibit the leadership, work ethic and integrity epitomized by the late Eric Bradford, a livestock geneticist who gave 50 years of service to UC Davis, and the late Charlie Rominger, a fifth-generation Yolo County farmer and land preservationist.
The Bradford-Rominger award recipient for 2015 was Isao Fujimoto, lecturer emeritus of Community Development and Asian American Studies at UC Davis. In 2014 Mary Bianchi, UC Cooperative Extension advisor and county director for San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara counties, was honored. In 2013, Rose Hayden-Smith, UCCE advisor in Ventura County and then-leader for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources strategic initiative in sustainable food systems, received the award.
Nominate a UC leader you believe deserves recognition. Nominations are due Jan. 16.
For selection criteria, visit the Agricultural Sustainability Institute website at http://asi.ucdavis.edu/bradfordrominger.
Recreational marijuana is now legal in California, but it's still prohibited at the University of California.
UC prohibits the use, possession and sale of marijuana — in any form — on all university property, including university-owned and leased buildings, housing and parking lots. Marijuana is also not permitted at university events or while conducting university business.
California voters on Tuesday, Nov. 8, passed Proposition 64 legalizing the use of recreational marijuana among people over the age of 21. Prop. 64 does not change UC policy.
Using and possessing marijuana is still illegal under federal law. The federal Drug Free Schools and Communities Act and the Drug Free Workplace Act require that UC, which receives federal funding, have policies that prohibit marijuana use, possession and distribution on campus and in the workplace.
UC students and employees who violate the university's policy may face discipline, with a maximum penalty of dismissal.
In addition, UC's Smoke and Tobacco Free Policy prohibits the use and sale of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products on all campuses and medical centers.
For more information, visit the webpage on UC's marijuana and drug policy
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The University of California invites comments on proposed revised presidential policy on nondiscrimination and affirmative action regarding Academic and Staff Employment and Proposed Revised Academic Personnel Policy Section 015, The Faculty Code of Conduct (APM - 015).
Proposed revisions modify language to comply with:
- California state law (AB 1433), by extending nondiscrimination and nonharassment protections to individuals applying for or engaged in positions as “volunteers, unpaid interns and trainees;”
- the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Pay Transparency Rule, prohibiting certain employers from discharging or discriminating against employees and job applicants for discussing, disclosing or inquiring about compensation; and
- amendments to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), requiring employers to develop and distribute anti-harassment and discrimination policies with certain required elements.
The proposal is located on the UCOP Academic Personnel and Programs website, “Policies under review,” under the “Systemwide Review” tab at http://ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/academic-personnel-policy/policies-under-review/index.html.
If you have any questions or wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than Jan. 30, 2017.