- Author: Wendy Powers
I hear that one of my colleagues who also resists homework assignments is now well ahead of me in reviewing positions. Now I could justify the fact that I haven't reviewed them yet by stating that I am traveling or I have too many other demands on my time, but the bottom line is that I haven't made it a higher priority than doing other things (writing a blog post, for example). No harm in just owning my actions. It will get done on Monday night, with time to spare before the Program Council meeting starts on Tuesday. After all, I don't really want to come into the meeting with my mind made up (that is not an invitation to contact me and lobby for your favorite positions) and I feel like I understand the 24 CE Advisor positions. Across all positions, I feel like I am better prepared to review than I was 2 years ago. That, alone, buys me some time. The other factor is that no matter what the final decisions are, all of the 46 positions, and at least 46 others that aren't in the pool, are needed. This doesn't make the decision-making process ‘difficult' or ‘hard', it just makes it less than ideal and unpopular because there are winners and losers.
The truth is that while we may not be able to move forward with all of the positions we would like to have, we are fortunate to have all of the talented and devoted people that are already on board. It's easy to lose perspective and get caught up in what we lack. It takes effort on my part to stay calm at times. I recall a conversation with an Educator at Michigan State University Extension where that didn't happen. He was lamenting how ‘hard' it was to enter his information into the reporting system. Finally I told him that he needed a reality check. ‘Hard' is not knowing where your next meal is coming from. ‘Hard' is living in a war zone. ‘Hard' is having a life-threatening or debilitating disease. I've never known ‘hard'. That's not the case for many, even some amongst us. I am so fortunate that it's things like budget shortfalls, personnel actions, REC charges, and a long ‘to-do' list that keep me up at night rather than things I really can't do anything about.
One of the speakers this week commented that “we're all just interim”. His approach is to just do the very best he can each day, doing what he knows is right and for the good of the broader organization and not worrying about what impact it has on his specific unit, much less him, in the long run. His comments were in the context of having collective, broader impacts as a result of Extension's work. It's something to think about for our new types of partnerships. Those approaches may not realize their potential success if either party gets too hung up on who gets credit, whose logo is on the shirt, and which sub-brand is depicted on the paperwork. I left that session wondering what the world would look like if the UC brand was critical in everything we do, the UC ANR brand was considered essential where possible, and the sub-brand became nice to have but not the focus. I think we know that if UC loses, we all lose. Would it be hard to take a leap of faith, even if only on a small scale, and test whether or not we all win if UC wins?
- Author: Wendy Powers
After reading about the Cornell professor, I decided to hang onto my thesis data just a bit longer, though I think after 20 years I'm suitably safe, particularly given that the sponsor of my Master's research was Jack Daniels and the Florida dairy industry funded my PhD work. Nonetheless, I took some time over the weekend to confirm that all of my paper towels (I wasn't much of a student so it never occurred to me to get a notebook) were safe and secured, each carefully dated and signed, then organized chronologically. On to the next thing on my list.
When we visited the UC ANR News and Outreach in Spanish (NOS) team last week, I learned that we are now halfway through Hispanic Heritage month (September 15 – October 15). That explains National Guacamole Day which, it turns out, I did not celebrate after all. Hopefully, Lupita pointed this out to her audience at the Engaged Scholar Consortium. One of the participants sent me a photo of Lupita talking to the group about her program. Along with the photo, the sender messaged “she's so passionate about her work!” Yep, we knew that!
NOS is located at the same site as the Citrus Clonal Protection Program at UCR which I had a chance to tour in March 2017, hosted by Georgios. I didn't get a chance to see Georgios this trip to UCR and, unfortunately, I will miss him at an upcoming event at the Lindcove REC on October 10. That day is shaping up to be exciting for Beth and the Lindcove team. Be sure to ask them about it.
I need to get going on my homework of reading through the 46 position proposals so that I am ready for the Program Council discussion of them next week. In the meantime, I am in Portland for the National Extension Directors Association's annual meeting. We talked about the Farm Bill (or lack thereof) this morning. We also talked about the value of our programs, across the U.S., in youth development, gardening, and nutrition/wellness and how the integration of those programs can serve to drive funds to Extension. Not to mention that these programs meet the goal of the Morrill Act. That's right, if you haven't read the Morrill Act, it is far more than just cows and corn. The intent was to improve the lives of people in rural communities by providing a public institution that included programs in youth development, home economics, agriculture, and mechanical arts. One of the things I've seen in my travels through our counties is that where these programs are highly integrated, we are able to have greater community engagement and, therefore, the potential for broader impact (i.e. changing lives). Our conversations this week have focused on how we ratchet that up a notch and accomplish even more, by leveraging all of the other resources at our respective land grant institutions. It so happens that UC's Global Food Initiative is looking for a means of greater systemwide connection. Maybe there's an idea forming…
Lots more to share, but this post is already long and already lacking cohesion. So many thoughts, so little time to pull them together.
- Author: Wendy Powers
We spent yesterday in Riverside meeting with the teams from both UCCE Riverside and UCCE San Bernardino. It was very informative, particularly seeing the fresh ideas that are coming from some of the new staff. We were able to hear about the tremendous success that both counties are having truly working as a team across program areas and layering their efforts for increased program success and support. Yes, I said ‘support'. San Bernardino County UCCE, in particular, has been increasing partners and support in terms of positions programming dollars. If you happen to have met either Maggie or Dee you can certainly understand why – their energy and passion are infectious. Chutima and her team are conducting impressive work with nutrition education for both adults and youth with great synergy across the EFNEP and CalFresh programs. We were fortunate that some of her new team members were able to join us. We were also joined by a Riverside participant of the 4-H Juntos program and her mother. Truly moving to hear the emotion in this 4-Her's voice as she spoke about what the program has meant to her. Sonja, Jose, Janet, Chris, Eta, Carmen, and Michael all shared their programs with us and I was struck by how obvious it was that this group works very closely with other CE Advisors but also across the continuum of clients, CE Advisors, CE Specialists, and AES faculty. A really rewarding day and we are so appreciative of those that traveled from both far and near to meet with us.
We use the word ‘innovation' often in UC ANR. Sometimes I feel like that term is a bit out of reach for perhaps the work I've done over my career and certainly the work I do now. But Jose reminded me just how innovative we all are. He shared with us the story of Ernesto Lopez, Jr., a vegetable crops farmer in Coachella Valley who took a risk and started growing spinach in a new way. Despite the critics that said it would never work and powdery mildew would be a bigger problem and one among many problems if this new way were pursued, Mr. Lopez persevered with his non-traditional production methods and proved his critics wrong. Now, spinach in the area is grown in wide rows, just the way Mr. Lopez said it could grow. It's not always easy to try something new, and no doubt critics are quick to line up, but eventually even the ‘new' ways often become the norm. Remember, decades ago some laughed at the idea that every home would have a computer.
I've received a number of responses, comments and inquiries about my recent post on research integrity. It seems that liability may be a topic where we could all use a bit more information. Thanks to one of you who sent a link to a fascinating and eye-opening story about a widely-acclaimed Cornell researcher. It was another reminder for me that ‘intent' not always be a component of research misconduct and that ‘reckless' behavior may be characterized by acts that don't seem very extreme. A good reminder for us all about due diligence and the need to keep the bar very high if we want the public to trust science. I have to think through how innovation fits into the equation.
On to LA County UCCE in the morning.
- Author: Wendy Powers
The first half of this week I've been in CLE at CWRU to attend the ARIO conference because I'm the RIO for UCANR. During the meeting we have really focused on not just RM but also FFP, hearing from ORI and NIH, both units under HHS. Did you get all of that?
Fun fact: CWRU is Case Western Reserve University. My oldest sister earned a BS and MS from CWRU. This is my first time on the campus and it is huge! I thought MSU and UF were spread out but when you throw in the Cleveland Clinic and all of the museums, etc. they don't even come close to the CWRU footprint.
The important one to know: FFP which stands for Fabrication, Falsification, and Plagiarism. FFP is a component of RM (research misconduct) which also includes determination of who was involved and how. I think the reason it's important to know is obvious, particularly for an organization that has integrity as a core value and whose brand is grounded in providing unbiased, science-based information.
One more acronym I learned – COPE. No, this is not related to after hour activities to relieve stress from the day. It stands for Committee on Publication Ethics and is a group based out of England that supports and develops ethical guidelines for publication, including procedures. We talked quite a bit about the challenges journal editors face in addressing research complaints including responsiveness of the institution's RIO (Research Integrity Officer), balancing journal confidentiality with the ORI (Office of Research Integrity – a federal agency) investigation, and the time needed for due diligence versus a complainant's desire for quick action.
There have been interesting conversations and case studies. Sadly, I have dismissed graduate students because I questioned their research ethics and my concerns proved valid. In another case, I didn't accept an applicant because the research proposal that I required as part of my consideration process for prospective PhD students was plagiarized (yes, I checked these things). It is unfortunate that such things happen in science. This doesn't help the general public trust science.
We also talked about RCR (Responsible Conduct for Research) training requirements. This was something that I had to complete as a researcher – usually an online training requirement. Graduate students had to complete a semester of seminars or take a course to meet their requirement plus I had to provide a minimum number of hours training during lab meetings. Even though I just renewed my annual trainings for UC ANR 5 months ago, I can't remember if this was one of the trainings. I need to confirm that it was and that all of our academics are taking these trainings. In particular, something that helps us better understand our rights and obligations as coauthors and co-PIs. Or perhaps something that improves understanding of the need for publishers to provide transparency in peer review processes. It's another training, yes. But it's a small price given our commitment to integrity.
My biggest take home is my own liability if a PI misuses funds. While I knew that, I wasn't aware of the conspiracy clause or the impact of the Yates memo in holding individuals accountable, including criminal charges, in addition to the corporation/institution. Yikes! I need to ask more questions of PIs, more frequently.
This evening I head back to CA to visit with the Riverside and San Bernardino County UCCE offices tomorrow. No more rainy Cleveland (CLE).
- Author: Wendy Powers
My mind remains where it was last week – wrestling with the reality that central funding does not facilitate growth and reliance on it becomes a shrinking proposition. Unfortunately the academic footprint numbers are a stark reminder of this. Take a look.
Now it's key to remember that these numbers were collected in July, following ‘retirement season' and in advance of when new CE Specialists and AES faculty start their positions (August). AES numbers also dropped by 9 persons and 5 FTE.
I hesitated to even show these numbers because they aren't what any of us want to see and I would expect them to go up next quarter, but there's no point in hiding from the reality. Clearly, we must think more creatively about funding positions and more creatively about how we reach more people through the work we are already doing (remote delivery of programming, stronger on-demand online presence, etc.). Perhaps the increase in the ‘Other' category, in fact, reflects different thinking about how to accomplish our work. This might be worth exploring a bit more. No doubt, though a small number, this category represents a mighty force of talent and expertise among us.
There is good news, though, and that is that Michael Jones starts October 1st as a Forestry Advisor, based in Ukiah, with programmatic responsibilities in Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma Counties. That same day, Daniel Sanchez begins as a CE Specialist in energy technology, innovation and climate policy at UC Berkeley. So that should certainly help the numbers next time I share an academic footprint update. Be sure to take some time to welcome our new colleagues.
I hope fall is off to a great start for everyone. I'm headed to where it certainly feels a bit more like fall – Cleveland. But perhaps when I return to CA late Tuesday night it will be a bit cooler, though I am landing in ONT and there seems to be a growing fire not far away. At least the Mendocino fire is under control. Hopefully others don't pop up and those burning are on the downside. We don't want a repeat of October 2017.