- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
[This story was updated July 5 to add Jennifer Henkens, 4-H community educator for UCCE Sacramento County, to the list of 4-H eLearning team members. Her name was inadvertently omitted in the original announcement.]
Eleven UC ANR teams and 21 individual staff members were among the winners of the 2017-18 UC ANR Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) awards.
STAR awards allow managers to nominate staff who demonstrate exceptional performance, creativity, organizational abilities, work success and teamwork. The nominations were reviewed by a panel, which made recommendations to VP Glenda Humiston.
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Aileen Trujillo, UCCE community educator, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program/Youth Families and Communities Program in Santa Clara County. Upon the retirement of the youth educator, Trujillo volunteered to keep EFNEP's partnership in schools by teaching youth lessons. Her extraordinary leadership skills in both the Adult and Youth EFNEP Programs resulted in high-quality nutrition education programs being delivered in Santa Clara County.
Amy Weurdig, EFNEP community educator, UCCE Inyo and Mono counties. Weurdig's exceptional management skills have enabled her to get the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program up and going in a very short time in Inyo and Mono counties. She is currently involved with creating a better way to provide food allergy risk management for youth.
Claudia Carlos, UC CalFresh/YFC community educator, UCCE Riverside County. In the past four years, she successfully implemented the Shaping Healthy Choices Program in two middle schools. Her work has shown a huge impact in the Alvord Unified school district by helping 11 schools win national awards from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy Schools Program, including one school that received the Gold Award twice.
Anna Martin, Nutrition Policy Institute policy analyst. She has done an extraordinary job managing a SNAP-Ed evaluation team. It is a large operation, with staff in Berkeley and Sacramento and with responsibilities in virtually every county in California. She assumed leadership of staff, established clear protocols, processes, and strong communications channels, and built a robust and productive team.
Danielle Lee, Nutrition Policy Institute policy analyst. Lee, who is proactive, has helped create common systems to improve tracking and coordination of NPI's many research projects, helped to create an onboarding protocol for new employees including the first NPI employee manual, leads the IRB team in developing human subject protocols, and has conducted several staff trainings. She also organizes the NPI seminar series featuring guest speakers up to three times per month.
Susan Lafferty, UC CalFresh Community Educator UCCE Kings County. She knows her county very well and recognizes its challenges and strengths. She is dedicated to meeting the needs of the people she serves. She is also an excellent teacher and has created lesson activities, games, displays, lesson visuals, and so much more to enhance lesson delivery in the classroom.
Evelyn Morales, UC CalFresh/YFC community educator, UCCE Fresno and Madera counties. She manages several projects such as Smarter Lunchrooms Movement, the Fresno State Dietetic Intern rotation, planning and organizing healthy food tastings, all while serving a large rural school. Morales was asked to join FreshGrub, a Fresno County Farm to School project, which was outside her normal scope of work. The success of this tasting event was highlighted by the local news media and is considered a best practice model for other school districts to procure food from local farmers and offer it to students in their school meals.
Janessa Hartmann, UC CalFresh and YFC community educator, UCCE Shasta and Trinity counties. Directly supervising nine employees working out of three county offices, she has done a tremendous job ensuring the UC CalFresh program is efficiently implemented in Shasta, Trinity and Tehama counties.
Marcie Valenzuela, assistant, Business Operations Center in Davis. In her capacity as the area telecommunications representative, Valenzuela has been able to adapt and resolve complicated and time-sensitive situations, including replacing lost or damaged cellphones.
TEAM AWARDS
Butte Cluster Nutrition: Jona Pressman, Suzie Lawry-Hall, Shyra Murrey, Chelsey Slattery, Sonia Rodriguez, Tracy Yang, Gail Bertagna, Alexandra Faulk, Jamie Chapman, Socorro Gutierrez, Melissa Vang, Rita Palmer, Karina Hathorn and Samantha Macomber
This team significantly contributed to UC ANR's Healthy Families and Communities Strategic Initiative through the coordination and implementation of the UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties.
4H eLearning: Jennifer Henkens, Dawn Fuller, David Alamillo, Russell Hill, JoLynn Miller, Claudia Diaz, Lupita Fabregas, Whitney Bell, Scott Mautte, Gemma Miner, Esther Rodriguez, Darlene Ruiz, Shannon Horrillo, Jose Campos, Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty, Brian Oatman and Julie Frazell
This team of county-based and state 4-H staff and advisors and staff from Environmental Health & Safety developed standardized trainings for volunteers. 4-H launched a new series of e-learning courses for new and returning volunteers in July 2017. Importantly, one of the courses in the series, “Interculturally Connected 4-H,” fulfilled a federal requirement for UC 4-H to offer a cultural awareness training to all 4-H adult volunteers. Approximately 8,000 adult volunteers have taken the courses and increased their skills as adult role models for 110,000 youths.
Alameda County UC CalFresh: Leticia Christian, Morgan Cooper, Max Fairbee and Yolanda Silva
The educators have helped thousands of high-risk Alameda County residents, from preschoolers to seniors, learn about the importance of eating healthy and being active.
4-H Latino Initiative: Yolva Gil, UCCE Riverside; Jose Campos, UCCE Merced;Esther Rodriguez, UCCE Kern; Araceli Hernandez, UCCE Orange; Diego Mariscal, UCCE Sonoma;Darlene Ruiz, UCCE Monterey; Andrea Borunda, UCCE Santa Barbara; and Janelle Hansen, UCCE Santa Barbara
This team, along with 4-H advisors and Lupita Fabregas, began introducing 4-H to California's Latino Youth. Their effort and impacts have been recognized by state and local officials, UC administration, volunteers and institutions. They have also been acknowledged at the national level by USDA-NIFA and 4-H Council for becoming the largest and most effective Latino initiative in 4-H in the United States.
ANR Davis Parking Lot: Michael Zwahlen, Rhett Woerly and Jeff Couture
The exceptional work of the Parking Lot Project Team provided not only a timely completion but also an additional 92 parking spaces, along with an additional storage unit. This project was done on an accelerated schedule with parking available three months after starting construction. The team saved over $42,000 by successful negotiation and donations. They did an outstanding job coordinating with the City of Davis, PG&E, the design engineer, the contractor and the users of the lot.
Program Support Unit: Sherry Cooper, Saundra Wais, Lauren McNees, Kellie McFarland and Rachel Palmer
“The PSU team is highly responsive and goes above and beyond to make sure that ANR is successful,” said Humiston. “They performed exceptionally in organizing the 2018 Statewide Conference as well as managing regional meetings and other events in the past year for both internal and external clients. Their dedication, creativity, organizational abilities, and teamwork, have given ANR the ability to share with its strategic partners and internally many opportunities to see and hear what staff and academics across UC ANR are doing and as well as share their own work during a wide array of events and workshops. Through the development of meeting agendas, facilitation, recording, logistics to working with the leaders of the Strategic Initiatives to plan, coordinate and conduct meetings, the Program Support Unit are solution-focused and add tremendous value.”
REC Rate & Recharge: Deb Driskill and Han Pham
In 2017, ANR Leadership asked the Research and Extension Center System to develop a five-year financial plan to reduce reliance on central funds, provide funding for maintenance and repair of centers and to re-invest in the RECs. As part of this plan, a methodology to increase cost recovery from research and extension activities was developed. Pham developed new rate paperwork tool, then he and Driskill worked with each center's leadership to determine the true costs of research, operations and crops sold for income. In addition to the intended purpose, the tool provides center management the ability to understand, budget, account for and plan the most effective and efficient way to use their resources. The updated rate paperwork tool can be used for all areas of REC operations including facilities, residents, laboratories and outreach, and is now being used by all ANR departments that are recharging for services.
ANR Staff Assembly: Nikolai Schweitzer, LeChé McGill, Jeannette Warnert, Lori Renstrom, Matt Baur, Christina Adamson and Karina Macias
Working voluntarily during lunch, before and after work hours, the Staff Assembly Council provides exceptional service beyond their normal job duties for the betterment of all ANR staff. They formed Staff Assembly Ambassadors, composed of representatives from almost all ANR offices who serve as liaisons between Staff Assembly Council and local ANR staff. In addition to sharing personal and professional development opportunities, staff can share concerns and issues with Staff Assembly.
Compensation/Payroll: Jennifer Crouch, Patricia Glass, Ann Pohl, Joyce Hatanaka, Cindy Inouye, William Moua, Linda Doi and Soo Hsieh
UCOP Reorganization Proposal: Jennifer Bunge, Yuhang Shi, Sonia Scott, Jing Yu, Monica Stuart, Kathryn Stein, Jake McGuire, Robin Sanchez, Anne Megaro
In January 2018, UC Office of President initiated conversation for reorganization of UC headquarters. In examining the relationship between UC headquarters, UC campuses and the UC mission, The Huron Consulting Group made recommendations that would, if implemented, make extensive structural changes to ANR and impair the ability to deliver our public service mission.
At the request of the UC president, the UCOP Reorganization Team produced an alternate proposal in less than three weeks, in spite of the amount of legal and organizational research, reviews of past audits, and consideration of every aspect of our organization required. The proposal requires regental approval, but it is sufficiently compelling that it is a center piece of the material to be used by the President's Advisory Committee, which will advise the president on the future state of ANR.
Yolo County UC CalFresh: Angela Asch, Lisa Gonzales, Ruth Chun Reyes, Mayra Diaz, Delynda Elridge, Christie Hedrick
The Yolo County UC CalFresh team created the integrated Yolo County 4-H and UC CalFresh Cooking Academy to bring the best youth development principles of 4-H and the best nutrition skill building resources of UC CalFresh to children in 4th and 5th grades throughout the community. They worked to help other counties to do the same, serving as mentors, developing additional materials, and evaluating the program.
The deadline for applications to serve as a staff advisor to the Regents has been extended to June 29, 2018, giving you more time to apply for this critical role.
The position is open to both non-represented and represented staff, or non-Senate academic employees, who have at least five years of UC service. You can learn more about the program and how to apply by June 29 on the staff advisor website.
George Blumenthal, chancellor at UC Santa Cruz, has seen the impact of the staff advisors to the Regents. "The staff advisor role has proven to be indispensable. The Regents want to know how policies impact employees. That's a huge challenge, requiring advisors to develop a deep understanding of the needs of a full spectrum of staff — from lecturers to dining staff. Having staff voices at the Regents' table is vital as a way of providing a staff perspective and as a reminder of the staff's importance. There's also great satisfaction in being that voice and knowing you are making a difference."
Sherry Main, assistant vice chancellor of Communications & Marketing at UC Santa Cruz, began her two-year term in 2017 and describes the role as life-changing. “There aren't many roles that allow you to learn from staff members from across the system and to engage directly with President Napolitano, members of the Board of Regents and senior campus leaders. I knew going in that this position would be a huge commitment, and I was right. But I am grateful every day for this unique opportunity to help shape decisions and policies that affect all of us.”
Staff advisors participate in open sessions and designated committees of the board of Regents, sharing the perspective of their fellow employees in UC Board of Regents deliberations and to decision-makers at the Office of the President. Staff advisors serve as non-voting members of designated Regents' committees; they attend and participate directly in committee and board meetings throughout their term of service, and visit many of the campuses to solicit input from staff.
The UC Board of Regents established the staff advisor position in 2007 in recognition of the critical importance of the staff perspective. Since 2007, staff from nine of ten campuses – and UC Davis Health, UCSD Extension and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab – have served in the role. Jason Valdry, director of technology at UC Irvine, is the outgoing staff advisor, serving alongside Main.
If you have questions about the staff advisor position or the application process, you can contact Juliann Martinez, UC Office of the President Employee Relations, at 510-287-3331 or via email: Juliann.Martinez@ucop.edu.
- Author: Matt Baur
The UC ANR Staff Assembly has established a scholarship program that is available to all UC ANR staff employees and county-paid employees. The scholarship provides financial assistance to UC ANR staff to pursue career interests, develop new career paths, and address knowledge or skill gaps needed to reach professional development goals.
This year's award dates are for courses taken between May 1, 2017, and April 15, 2018. Deadline for applications is close of business April 15, 2018. Late applications will not be accepted. Courses taken after April 15, 2018, will be eligible for reimbursement on the next scholarship cycle of April 16, 2018, to Nov. 30, 2018.
Scholarship criteria:
- Funding up to $499, dependent on amount of eligible applications received.
- Training activities must occur between May 1, 2017 and April 15, 2018.
- Scholarship allocation will be considered only for successfully completed training activities. Proof of completion with a passing grade must accompany applications for courses or seminars (i.e. grade report, transcript, certificate, etc.)
- Applications must be submitted by close of business April 15, 2018. Late applications will not be accepted.
- Receipts for all eligible expenses are required for reimbursement and must be submitted with application.
- Applications received incomplete or without required documentation will not be considered.
- The UC ANR Staff Assembly Council will review applications within 30 days of application close date. Award recipients will be notified within 60 days and receive reimbursement checks when notified.
For more information, please visit the Staff Assembly website http://staffassembly.ucanr.edu/Scholarships.
Attracting and retaining highly qualified employees is a top priority for UC ANR. To be more competitive among many diverse employment markets, UC ANR has developed a plan to address the competitiveness of our staff salaries.
As part of UC ANR's overall Strategic Plan, VP Glenda Humiston approved a four-year Market-based Adjustment Plan for non-represented staff to ensure salaries of existing staff are better aligned with the labor market. This is the second year of the four-year plan.
All non-represented staff are eligible to participate in this plan, regardless of their position's funding source. For some staff members whose compensation has fallen behind market rates, the Division is making a significant effort to address this issue, as long as it is fiscally viable and prudent to do so.
Using UC Career Tracks, UC ANR Human Resources will be able to identify, review and address the salaries of non-represented staff members whose pay is not in the targeted competitive zone. This strategy is being implemented over four years, which will allow us to better manage the fiscal impact of the salary adjustments.
Eligible employees will be notified individually within the next few weeks. These market-based adjustments are separate and distinct from any merit program approved centrally by President Napolitano.
For more information, please read the FAQs at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRSPU/Supervisor_Resources/Compensation/Equity_.
Nominations are being accepted for the ANR Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) program for the fiscal year 2017-18. Nominations are due March 29, 2018.
The STAR program is your opportunity to celebrate and reward the great contributions of ANR's people.
The program provides 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.
ANR staff in PSS and MSP titles, as well as members of the Clerical Unit (CX), are eligible to be nominated for cash awards. Nomination forms and program guidelines are attached. We've streamlined the nomination form this year to simplify the process.
STAR Awards will be celebrated during an ANR recognition event at the Second Street building in Davis on June 6, 2018.
Send your nominations to jlazulai@ucanr.edu.
The purpose of the STAR program is to recognize and reward outstanding staff individual and team performance within Agriculture and Natural Resources. Recipients receive cash awards as well as recognition.
Under the STAR plan, managers can recognize, acknowledge and reward staff employees for exceptional performance or significant contributions related to and supportive of individual, departmental, divisional or organizational goals and objectives.
The nomination form, STAR award guidelines & restrictions and local plan are linked to this text.