- Author: Deanne Meyer
Congratulations to Placer/Nevada Master Gardeners who rocked the house on giving day! This awesome group of volunteers certainly cultivated donors well to be responsible for many donations. You set an example for others to reach. Well done!
Last week was filled with evaluations, analyses and planning to move construction projects forward on three of our Research and Extension Centers (REC). On Monday,Darren Haver, Annemiek Schilder, Adam Novicki and I spent hours working through important conversations about the move from Falkner Farms to the new location. There is much planning to do and great opportunities for our future. Although every move has its disruptions, I can't wait to see the exciting new projects that will happen to address ANR program areas in Ventura County. Tuesday, at South Coast REC Darren and I worked with Chris Martinez (Center Superintendent), Adolfo Limon, Brian Krall, Brian Oatman, Jennifer Bunge, and Maru Fernandez with the ICAMP project lists (integrated capital asset management program). Items on the list are assets whose previous condition assessment fared poorly; repairs needed or falling apart. It's important to physically take the list to the locations and go through them line by line. We do not want to invest in a project that was either already completed or no longer existed. Then we braved traffic and headed southeast to Desert REC. Wednesday started early in an attempt and avoid the heat of the day. Jairo Diaz (Director) and Gilberto Magallon (Center Superintendent) hosted us as we looked at irrigation pumps/reservoirs, buildings, the feed mill, metabolism room and numerous other buildings.
Elizabeth Moon, Director of Workplace Inclusion and Belonging joined us on our journey. She was able to meet with County and ANR members at both locations and gain an appreciation for the depth and breadth of work we do. It's one thing to look at our websites. It's very different when you walk around and see, touch, smell, feel the work we do. Master Food Preservers were working on a project at SCREC. Turns out there wasn't enough liquid in what they were making so the recipe needed a modification. Everyone huddled around to figure it out. We didn't stay long enough to see their final products. I'm sure it was successful!
Academics know this is the time of year when the peer review process winds down. A HUGE SHOUT OUT of gratitude to colleagues who put in countless hours on the Peer Review Committee. The comments I've seen thus far are thorough, thoughtful, and professional. A big THANK YOU to Stephen Worker, Daniel Obrist and Anna Lee who worked made the process go as smoothly as possible. Since it's not quite done yet, there is more heavy lifting with final decision letters, updating UC Path and providing results to all applicants. I remain busy re-reading dossiers and all supporting letters while writing and refining final letters. My recommendation to all-- READ and FOLLOW the eBook guidelines. Although it may be easier for the academic to include all kinds of information in tables and lists that is outside of the review period, it leaves a poor impression on the individual reading the materials.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
Happy Mother's Day to one and all! It was nice to have a day for family and friends after a very intense week.
For those with an eye on the mountains, the snow melt continues. Concerns remain in the Tulare Lake Basin area. Thank you to a colleague who sent the link to these aerial images. The area will be water for quite some time. Hopefully, great recharge will occur as well.
The week started with a 2-hr debrief from the Peer Review Committee and a robust discussion on 71 dossiers. It's incredible to see the depth and breadth of programming within ANR. There were colleagues up for indefinite status and others doing a five-year review. Most academics did a good job describing their work and the changes clientele make over time as well as the public value of their work. We'll work with the Academic Assembly Council Personnel Committee to identify modifications to the eBook before our next merit cycle begins.
Many County Directors (CD) participated in the CD meeting Tuesday through Thursday noonish. The time was filled with many presentations from the various units that support academics. Vice President Humiston opened the meeting with an update. One of her many points was that ANR academics should be the go-to science adviser in all communities. We truly aspire to hire great people who will make a huge difference in their local communities. The human relations presentation and engagement was compelling. Information from the BOC gave CDs a chance to get detailed and specific questions answered. Vice Provost Obrist talked about the merit and promotion process and the importance of complete letters of evaluation from supervisors. One of my topics related to geography. Advisors are hired in an area. The county partners expect contributions from the Advisor. The boundaries of work are defined by the geographic area. Talk with your CD BEFORE you consider working outside your defined area. In addition to simple questions of resource use, there is a protocol to follow for anyone who works outside their geographic area. Likewise, if you are a Specialist working in county (ies), there is a different protocol to follow to connect your work to the County's needs. Reaching out to others within ANR prior to entering their area for collaborative work is a professional courtesy and an expectation. If you do work out of area, the objective is to help build capacity within ANR in the area. Hence, the importance of reaching out to Advisors or CDs and including them in your activities.
Welcome new colleagues who started in March:Krystle Hickman,IPM; Elizabeth Moon, Workplace Inclusion and Belonging; KatherineBiardi and JohnKobular Jr., Staff Research Associates; Lucas Chang andKengVue, student assistance; Joseph Simpson, Applications Manager, andKiera Scott, Lab Assistant 2. Many different people and job titles makeANRimpactful. Thank you for all you do!
Giving Day is coming this week. Stay tuned to your emails so you're able to donate to your favorite ANR program May 18-May 19.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
This was a roller coaster week. The ANR conference ended Thursday the 27th and the next morning Davis residents learned of the violent death of David Breaux (The Compassion Guy). Saturday night (April 29) the life of computer science major Karim Abou Najm was ended all too soon. Monday night Kimberlee Guillory was stabbed multiple times and remains in the hospital. By Tuesday mid-day you couldn't find a can of pepper spray in Davis or Woodland. The Police Department had all major TV stations' camera crews present each morning at 7am. Thursday afternoon police had arrested a suspect. Searching of the suspect's house included a helicopter for hours (presumably TV representation). Just a week later on Friday night, people were walking about individually or in groups. Some assemblage of normalcy appears to be returning after a surreal week. This is but one city that suffered unnecessary violence. Numerous others exist across the country leaving people to wonder WHY?
Communities are precious. Life is precious. In ANR, we're privileged to contribute to the goodness of making California a better place one person at a time. I'm reminded of this regularly as I review academic merit and promotion packages. Greatness is happening throughout California. For those new to the Division, UC academics are reviewed on a regular basis for merit or promotion. Expectations exist for each rank. I highly recommend academics read the eBook to understand the advancement process. These merits are not a means of granting a cost-of-living increase. These merits acknowledge improved technical and professional competence as well as development of an outreach program. Combined positive impacts are made to make California better. We're fortunate in UC to have merits built into our academic evaluation process. For many other Land Grant Universities, two types of salary increase exist: COLA (cost of living adjustment) or salary increase when a promotion is achieved. As our name suggests, increasing steps is a function meritorious work of delivering scholarship or scholarly activity, extension programming, university/public service, and affirmative action. A merit is not something one gets merely for living and breathing.
We're excited to extend a warm ANR welcome to new academics Dania Orta Aleman with Nutrition Policy Institute and Clarissa Reyes in Yuba/Sutter. Based on the email exchanges, we'll be welcoming new campus-based specialists soon enough. The following community education specialists were hired to work in counties: Victoria Sandoval, Stanislaus; Andrea Castillo, Kern; Karen Maggio, Contra Costa; Marilynn Click, San Diego; Larry Burrow, Merced; and Marlee Duane, Capitol Corridor.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
We had an incredible conference! More than 800 UC ANR members met in Fresno for our All ANR Conference. From individuals who start in fall, to those who are celebrating 40 years with ANR we had an incredible gathering. Secretary Karen Ross kicked off the event on Monday night with a captivating and challenging presentation. She also guided the Tuesday morning plenary panel. This set us up to participate in world café questions and provide input. This is the beginning of the visioning process. There will be many more opportunities for everyone in ANR to participate in the year ahead.
A HUGE thank you to everyone for participating. Gratitude and appreciation go to Program Support Unit. They made their lists and checked them multiple times. Kathy Eftekhari, Katherine Stein, the Strategic Initiative Leaders, various planning and steering committees and Strategic Communications had great input into and during the conference. THANK YOU all for your incredible efforts! Three field trips, many program team meetings, Governing Council and President's Advisory Commission, and many, many sessions. There was something for everyone! What did you like about the conference?
Recent hires included Community Education Specialists: Victoria Sandoval, Stanislaus; Andrea Castillo, Kern; Karen Joy Maggio, Contra Costa; Marilynn Click, San Diego; Larry Burrow , UC Merced; Marlee Duane, Capitol Corridor.
Saturday night before the conference I drove toTulare. This allowed plenty of time Sunday to see Lake Tulare. It's incredible how much water remains in the snow pack and how much water has flooded fields rendering crops unharvestable.
The electric poles are in water as far as the eye can see. There should be crops ready for harvest. I can't imagine the monetary loss from the flooding. Inability to harvest or plant crops will have a substantial impact to farmers' bottom lines.
A new week and month begin. Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day and Memorial Day all have much to celebrate with time with family and friends. Also, congratulations to those who have May graduations or advancements. Enjoy!
- Author: Deanne Meyer
What an exciting week! ANR advocated at the capitol Tuesday for all the great work we do. It was a day of pride as we shared our many stories with legislative staffers. We split into two groups and crossed paths occasionally. It was nice to see the capitol dome from a different vantage point. Anne Megaro and Sheron Violini did a fabulous job with the arrangements with some help from Lara Schroder. Sheron championed the team with VPHumiston, Hanif Houston (the Vine), AmiraResnick (Director of Community Nutrition and Health), Organics Advisor Stephanie Mar and 4-H Ambassador Sruthi Sudarsan. Anne's group included 4-H Ambassador Megna Nayar, Forestry Advisor Susie Kocher, Vegetable Advisor Zheng Wang, Lara and me. Thankfully there were a few breaks to catch up on emails. While Glenda worked on an important news release I continued negotiations on Specialist positions.
Wednesday we received the exciting news that Brent Hales will be our AVP beginning July 1. I'm excited to work with Brent as he assumes his new role. ANR has many moving parts and we're a bit more complex than most Land Grants where Cooperative Extension and the Ag Experiment Station reside on a single campus or at least co-locate across a system. Brent is up to the California challenge. He's excited to be joining us. I've enjoyed our interactions thus far and look forward to helping him in his transition. Please give him a warm California welcome when you see him at the conference.
We are in single digits countdown before the conference. So much organization is needed. Today PSU was in high gear just getting things done. Thank you Bridgett Alvarez, Maria Alvarez, Julia Kalika, PJ Kelly, Mariette Malessy, Kate Lyn Sutherland and Director Sherry Cooper. Kathy Eftekahri and Kathryn Stein spent the day immersed in all things conference. Katherine Hanke, Andrea Ray Ray and campus add ins (thank you Joyce Pexton and Lexi Martinez) rounded out the packing and arranging festivities. (Apologies if I've missed anyone). Getting ready for conference is similar to a big family party with all the preparations, and then it's over in the blink of an eye. Kindly join me in extending gratitude and appreciation to all who participated in the planning and execution of this conference.
The All ANR conference will be one for the records. It'll be wonderful to see new hires in person as well as old friends/colleagues. I'm especially excited to catch a minute with people who may be retiring to thank them for their contributions toANR, their county or campus, and California. Collectively we all contribute to great impacts for Californians. For the extroverts in the group this will be your energy source after a few years of zoom meetings. For my fellow introverts, please practice self-care during the conference. When the crowds and regular interaction get to be too much, take time to collect your thoughts. (It's ok to sneak into a quiet corner to regroup!)
