- Author: Michael Hsu
Document includes refreshed vision and mission, outlines challenges where UC ANR can make impact
Vice President Glenda Humiston and the Strategic Visioning Committee are pleased to announce the release of the UC ANR Strategic Vision 2040, which will guide our work, structure and resource allocation to optimize and align our research, programs and partnerships over the next 15 years.
The document is the result of a 15-month process, during which the committee synthesized thousands of comments and feedback from hundreds of UC ANR employees and community members, including agency staff, elected officials, nonprofit groups, California Tribes, industry partners, farmers and producers.
“The Strategic Vision 2040 represents a reaffirmation of UC ANR's commitment to serve as a catalyst for positive change – cultivating, co-creating and sharing science-based solutions on a wide range of issues,” Humiston said. “I want to personally thank the Strategic Visioning Committee and everyone who contributed to creating this truly grassroots document that shows where we can make a real difference for our state, nation and world.”
The visioning process produced a refreshed vision and mission for UC ANR:
Our Vision: UC ANR will be valued in every California community for meaningful engagement and making a positive impact in people's lives.
Our Mission: UC ANR cultivates thriving communities, sustainable agriculture, resilient ecosystems, and economic prosperity in California through development and sharing of equitable and collaborative science-based solutions that have national and global impact.
In addition, the extensive community input helped the committee identify seven distinct California challenges as priority areas in which UC ANR can make a significant impact.
On top of our core areas of Agriculture and Food Systems, Natural Ecosystems and Working Landscapes, and Thriving People and Communities, the Strategic Vision 2040 document lists four issues that overarch all our research and extension work: Climate Change; Innovation; Regulations, Policy and Compliance; and Systemic Inequities.
The Strategic Vision 2040 document is not intended to be a full strategic plan. This week, a new committee kicked off a series of meetings to develop UC ANR's 2025-2030 Strategic Framework with specific goals, objectives, metrics and deliverables designed to operationalize the Vision.
/h3>Every Tuesday during the month of August, UC ANR leaders will be hosting two-hour online meetings to share their draft 5-year goals and get your input into the ANR Strategic Plan Refresh 2020-2025.
Teams of goal owners will review challenges we face, briefly share accomplishments to date, and present draft strategies for the future. They want to hear what you think may be missing and your ideas on how to shape the future of ANR. There will be breakout groups to provide the opportunity for you to talk with colleagues and submit your ideas to inform the final ANR strategic plan.
See the table below with specific dates for certain topics and draft goals – and sign up!
All UC ANR staff and academics – including campus-based AES faculty and CE specialists – are invited.
Register at http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=31683.
Sessions are limited to 1,000 people per the Zoom meeting license. If you have constraints joining by Zoom, please talk to your supervisor and strategize how the local office/REC can help accommodate you.
Date/ Time |
Topic |
Presenters |
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Aug. 4 10 a.m. – 12 noon |
Increasing Program Resources · Goal 9: Generate Revenue and Optimize Resource Deployment · Goal 10: Expand and Diversify Fund Development · Goal 11: Improve Efficiency and Strengthen Infrastructure · Goal 12: Strengthen Communication and Advocacy
|
Tu Tran, Associate Vice President - Business Operations Lorna Krkich, Development Services Executive Director Linda Forbes, Strategic Communications Director Anne Megaro, Government and Community Relations Director |
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Aug. 11 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. |
Strengthening Partnerships · Goal 1: Strengthen Research and Extension Partnerships · Goal 3: Build Sustainable Economies for Working Landscapes · Goal 4: Scale-up the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program
|
Wendy Powers, Associate Vice President - Programs Glenda Humiston, Vice President Gabe Youtsey, Chief Innovation Officer |
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Aug. 18 10 a.m. – |
Fostering a Positive Work Environment · Goal 6: Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion · Goal 7: Recruit, Develop and Retain People · Goal 8: Support Volunteerism
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John Fox, Executive Director Human Resources Missy Gable, UC Master Gardener Statewide Program Director Gemma Miner, Academic Coordinator for Volunteer Engagement Bethanie Brown, Director, Human Resources |
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Aug. 25 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. |
Expanding Virtual Reach · Goal 2: Increase UC ANR's Virtual Reach · Goal 5: Modernize Digital Information Delivery System |
Mark Bell, Vice Provost of Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs Linda Forbes, Director of Strategic Communications |
Condition changes are those long-term outcomes of our work that are the evidence of how our work makes a difference. Condition changes are at a level higher than that of the personal benefit our clientele receive as a result of direct participation in our programs. Rather, the condition change represents environmental, health, or economic benefits at a societal level (e.g. improved water quality, improved nutrition and health, increased market opportunities, etc.).
How you can provide feedback
Program Team Leaders, Statewide Program Directors, Institute Directors and Strategic Initiative Leaders have worked together to develop the current list of condition changes. They will be reaching out to you to solicit your input. I would ask that you share your thoughts with those who reach out to you and they will collate all feedback they receive and provide it back through a Collaborative Tools site so that the development team can see the feedback as it is received. In early October, we will assemble all of the feedback and make decisions how to move forward.
Why this is important to you?
The final list of condition changes will be coded into the new Project Board (UC ANR program information system that will be replacing DANRS-X and integrated with the merit and promotion process for UC ANR academics. We will be asking academics to assign a percentage of time you spend working towards the condition changes. This will replace assigning your FTE to the federal Knowledge Areas. In addition, you will be tagging condition changes to your work when you write your outcome/impact narratives. You will be able to tag multiple condition changes to a single narrative provided you have quantitative evidence of the effected condition change.
How will this information be used?
The condition changes will be used in multiple ways. First, the condition changes and aggregated effort associated with each condition change will be used to determine if we have sufficient capacity working towards the changes needed to achieve our 2025 Strategic Vision. This will help guide future investments by UC ANR and help you, as an individual, identify priorities for directing your own effort. Second, the outcome/impact narratives that are tagged to specific condition changes will provide us the evidence needed to share all of your good work with supporters. The condition changes will serve as a sorting mechanism for the outcomes/impact narratives. The narratives themselves provide quantitative evidence of your outcomes including how they contribute to condition change indicators, as well as frame the work (what was done, where, why, who were the partners, etc.). Because of the intended uses of the information, it is important that we have a complete set of condition changes that represent the work we need to do to achieve our vision.
Why the rush?
The new Project Board is on track for roll out in March. In order to have the condition changes be part of Project Board and not a separate, additional reporting request, we need to have them coded in the system. The development team has indicated that they need the information in early October. Therefore, we are requesting that all Program Team Leaders provide their collective feedback (1 document per Program Team) by October 1. We will review the feedback, draw up a revised list of condition changes, and have that turned around to the Project Board team quickly.
What happens after the feedback is provided?
We will continue to talk about condition changes and condition change indicators throughout the fall and into spring. We are planning to offer training in the winter and spring to address condition changes, condition change indicators and how they tie to Public Value Statements that are currently in draft form. The Public Value Statements will be reviewed and modified yet this fall. If you have interest in being part of a small-ish group that will review and revise the Public Value Statements, please let me know via email. Note that condition change indicators and public value statements will not be part of the reporting in Project Board or any other form; only condition changes will be reported against in Project Board.
Tips to consider
- Condition changes must be measurable; condition change indicators are the metrics used to quantify the magnitude of change in a condition
- Condition changes should not be audience-specific but rather apply to any/all of our audiences as appropriate
- While I am an incurable ‘lumper' it is best to be a ‘splitter' when it comes to condition changes because it provides greater clarity as to what the evidence that support change really is and will allow for improved aggregation of your impact stories making it easier to share your work with others (easier to find, easier to understand and convey appropriately).
- Having more, rather than fewer, condition changes in Project Board will not cause you to have to report the same thing in multiple locations – the coding is planned to provide opportunity to use multiple tags for the same report.
A generic logic model used for reporting to USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture can be viewed at http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/files/270919.pdf.
Regards,
Wendy Powers
Associate Vice President
Recently I had the opportunity to meet with President Napolitano to review accomplishments and goals for ANR. Following a very upbeat and encouraging conversation, the president requested that ANR's leadership complete a more detailed five-year strategic plan. The draft is due at the end of October, with the final document due in December.
While this is a timely and useful exercise for the division, it comes with a very challenging timeline. The 2025 Strategic Vision will guide our work, and where strategic plans already exist within the statewide programs, strategic initiatives, Research and Extension Centers, budget plans, etc., we will draw from these plans.
Because of the timeline, it is not possible to conduct the extensive input and feedback processes that were used in creating the 2025 Strategic Vision. However, strategic plans, by nature, are dynamic documents. The intent is to position ANR to achieve the goals laid out in the 2025 Strategic Vision and address strengths, weaknesses and gaps in attaining those goals. The draft that is shared with the president will undergo a vetting process with ANR advisory groups and committees.
The primary planning group will be the Senior Leadership Team. However, other individuals have been invited to participate so that both programs and administrative units are well-represented.
We'll share the final document with you when we've delivered it to the president's office. If you have comments or suggestions for this process, please submit them to me using this link http://ucanr.edu/5yearplancomments.
Best regards,
Glenda Humiston
Vice President