- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
ANR is forming task forces to evaluate UC Cooperative Extension structure in the counties. Cooperative Extension advisors and county-based program representatives are being asked to nominate one person per county to join the county director for their respective county on a county structure task force. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 20.
The county structure task forces will be charged with collecting the data on staffing, facilities, transportation, information technology and administration for their county CE programs, including funding from UC, county government, grants and other sources. This information will be organized and will serve as the basis for evaluating our future structure of local delivery. The task...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
On March 8, VP Dan Dooley met with the county directors to discuss the budgets for the UC system and for ANR, multi-county partnerships and recruiting for advisors and specialists.
The governor has proposed a $500 million cut to UC’s budget. Dooley said that the governor won’t sign a budget that isn’t structurally balanced so if the tax extensions don’t get on a special June ballot and approved, UC may be faced with a $1 billion cut.
Referring to the state budget allocation, Dooley said, “The reality is we’re not going to know what our next fiscal year’s budget is until after the June election.”
A 15-minute video recording of excerpts of Dooley’s talk can be viewed at
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Dear Colleagues,
Across California, county governments continue to face a funding crisis. Last year, many local budgets were balanced with the help of one-time federal stimulus money. This year, the major difference between those counties that are “stable” versus those that are facing huge deficits is the use of any available contingency funds. Indicators suggest next year will be an even bigger challenge for our county partners and will directly impact our county programs.
Some of us hope that economic recovery is in our immediate future and that we will return to the early 1980s when Extension was at its peak in funding and political support. Others are convinced that we must chart a new course, and that the future...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Challenging issues, strong beliefs and lively dialogue marked the June 8 workshop including county directors and the Executive Working Group. The commitment to ANR’s future was evident with more than 50 participants working throughout the day to identify potential positive and negative consequences associated with various administrative and programmatic structures.
Results of the recent...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Dear Colleagues,
The Executive Working Group and county directors are meeting today (June 8) to discuss potential future directions of UC’s Cooperative Extension partnership with county government. We will be discussing how we operate and new expectations for roles, responsibilities and leadership for all of us.
The challenge from VP Dooley is to stabilize county funding and optimize the funds supporting programs. Inherent in this challenge is the fact that we’ve lost close to 50% of our academics and our county partners are currently reacting to lower revenues with an expectation that revenues will be insufficient to support the existing county governmental structures.
To gather input on how we might achieve...
