- Author: Wendy Powers
I've seen rain! In fact, I saw a horrendous downpour. I flew to Nebraska Monday morning to participate in the Multistate S1032 project. While I have been a member of this group my entire academic career, I now have the pleasure of serving as a co-administrative adviser with Ron Lacewell from Texas A&M University. We started the meeting with a tour of the University of Nebraska Agriculture Research and Development Center in Ithaca, NE. This is comparable to a UC ANR REC. Galen Erickson a professor in Animal Science and someone I've known since he was a graduate student at UNL, met with us and talked about the environmental management work underway at the feedlot as well as some of the methane emissions research they are conducting using the LI-COR instrument. Bryan Woodbury from the Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, NE talked about the manure storage seepage work he is doing under a Phase I SBIR grant. It was nice to spend some time immersed in my technical area – manure, that is.
Today my graduate student presented her M.S. thesis work to the group. Brooke's project was directly tied to the causal loop diagram that is the foundation of the S1032 project. She met with the group in 2015 and talked about her thesis plans so it was nice to see it come full circle with the presentation of her findings. Equally nice was the interest in her work and building off her model to answer more questions and expand the coding of the causal loop diagram. Brooke had to leave the meeting early to fly to an interview but I bet she was more confident about her interview seminar having just made a strong presentation to the S1032 membership and observing the interest in her work – always a good motivator.
Tomorrow the meeting wraps up with plans to rewrite a new 5-year project. From Nebraska I'm heading to Michigan for the long weekend and will actually meet back up with Brooke Wednesday night in Minneapolis for the flight to Lansing – pure coincidence. On Friday I'm having lunch with what remains of my lab group and we will all get to hear how Brooke's interview went and what plans the others might have in store. Between now and then I need to get started reviewing merit and promotion packages as well as catching up on ‘to-do' list items. Full engagement in the S1032 meetings has set me back a bit but it's been well worth it; downpour and all. I'm grateful my position allows me an opportunity to stay engaged with this project, even if my role is quite different from what it has been.
- Author: Wendy Powers
I'm a far cry from California right now – haven't seen sun or temperatures above 70 all week! And the weekend doesn't seem to be shaping up to be much better. I think some sun is planned for Sunday and it may peek out between now and then but I certainly don't need to consider sun block. No wonder the peonies are a few weeks from blooming. Last week must have been dry in the Midwest because it looks like fields were recently crossed (planting, I presume).
It's that time of year when we start hearing about colleagues who have decided that they are ready to enjoy what they have worked so hard for – retirement! And while it is certainly sad to think about not having that person nearby for regular interaction and gaps in programming that may exist we acknowledge how happy we are that our colleagues have the opportunity to kick back a bit, maybe travel and certainly have more time for family and hobbies. Certainly we can look forward to new colleagues. Next week Ali Montazar begins working as an Irrigation and Water Management Advisor out of Holtville, with responsibilities in Imperial and Riverside Counties. Then on June 5, Mariano Galla starts in Glenn, Butte and Tehama Counties as an Agronomic Cropping Systems and Weed Science Advisor. We're fortunate that we are hiring at a faster pace than we are seeing departures (estimated at 2 to 3 more Advisors and Specialists, combined, per year) but at this time of year when retirements come in at once, it can certainly appear that gaps are created, taking focus away from the fact that the academic footprint is growing. In addition to our Advisor searches, the campuses have the most activity underway in Specialist searches that I've seen in my 11+ months – I seem to hear from one or more of the campuses a couple times a week for the past month or so. We could always use more people, the challenge is how to find sufficient resources to both hire and support people and what approach to take when unexpected vacancies occur given the current input-driven process for filling academic positions.
Next month is Chris Greer's last month in Davis so I will have to make a more concerted effort to stay up on where we are in search processes. Chris will be relocating down to San Luis Obispo but will continue in the Vice Provost role through the end of September. Hopefully we will have a new Vice Provost on board by October 1 but I am thinking through a contingency plan in case there's a gap. Advisor searches are a big part of Chris' responsibilities and we don't want a gap in coverage to slow things down. Chris also meets with Specialist candidates when possible, another important task to be filled should there be a gap period.
There seems to be quite a bit of discussion going on around UC ANR about addressing gaps in getting our information out as well. I know Mark has been in conversation with several groups and it's something that is of great importance to me, not just because of Goal 2 (Improving our reach) but because providing our science in a way that is easy to find and all in one place not only helps with our brand recognition but helps us make a difference in the lives of 40 million Californians everywhere. No doubt that is where the strategic communications team is focused and likely a part of the conversation that took place when the Communications Advisory Board was in Davis last week. As we weave these conversations together and reach to achieve Goal 2, I'll keep you up to date on progress.
In the meantime, have a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. And please remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep America great. I hope things down in Monterey County aren't too hectic following the landslide.
- Author: Wendy Powers
I hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend. Summer seems to have kicked off with nice temps throughout CA – not too hot; not too cold. This week is a bit of a slow week for me. Tuesday is pretty full with meetings, including a meeting with Specialists at UC Davis. I don't think I've met with the Specialists there since the fall so I am long overdue. I am hoping to spend more time on the campuses now that Mark Bell is on board but with the information sessions throughout the summer and a host of other things already on the calendar, it looks like it will be fall before I can act on that goal. But I suspect most Specialists will be in the field or trying to take some much deserved R&R before students head back and campuses are in full swing again in the fall. The rest of the week will be used for preparing for next week's Program Council meeting and a few other things that will be occurring throughout June. Not to mention I need to put aside a fair bit of time to read through merit and promotion packages. I plan to get started on that yet this week.
The June Program Council meeting has a full agenda. One item is to talk about the Position Call process that will begin in early 2018. Though I haven't been through a complete process yet, it sounds like each round has been considered by many as an improvement over previous calls. That's certainly the goal for the upcoming round – identify where we can make improvements to the process to thereby improving the outcome. I am l to looking forward to the Program Council discussion to hear how those who have been involved for a few cycles perceive the present process and hear their thoughts on moving forward. The Strategic Initiative Leaders will be meeting before Program Council meets and I believe one item of discussion will be rotation of SI Leaders. The two topics certainly aren't independent of each other given the time commitment the SI Leaders provide to Program Council and associated activities such as the review process for the various grant programs with their panels. My understanding is that the position call process and the grants program shifted to alternate years in order to make the time commitment for the two activities more manageable. It's not unusual to run into a new challenge as a result of removing a different barrier. One challenge I see with an every other year position call process is that laying out 2 years of positions to be filled presents little flexibility in addressing those unexpected vacancies. Perhaps we will find a way to address this.
Later this month UC ANR has its annual review meeting with the President. This gives us the opportunity to provide an update on strategic plan progress. Once those materials are prepared, they will be shared on the website for all to see. The meeting with President Napolitano is late June so be sure to check the website at the end of the month. Updates on Goal 5 should appear before then, now that there are Public Value Statements available as a first cut. These will continue to evolve, another example of improving as we go through the process.
- Author: Wendy Powers
This week flew by and I wasn't even traveling (much). I flew back to CA on the holiday and headed to the Davis office Tuesday morning. That day ended with participation at the Annual UC Davis Specialist meeting. I was asked to talk about efforts to cultivate the strategic initiatives. Because this ties into Goal 5, I shared the graphic that I have used to illustrate the process (below).
At the UCD Specialist meeting, I provided an update on the Public Value Statement workshop held a couple of weeks ago and some thoughts about workgroups, program teams, statewide programs and institutes, and the strategic initiatives similar to those I shared in a previous blog. My thoughts continue to evolve (see graphic below) over time and with continued discussion that is welcomed. I recognize there are very different perspectives across UC ANR of the value of the different groups. Personally, they are all mission-critical. I wonder if there isn't a need to better define the role and responsibilities of each group just for clarification purposes so that we are all using the same language and understand how each group contributes to the overarching mission. As I made my way over to the UCD Specialist meeting I had Ruth Wallace, a professor from Charles Darwin University as my passenger and it was obvious that while the impact of UC ANR is well recognized, it is a bit of a challenge to describe how we are organized. At the end of the day, it is the work that is paramount; but it doesn't hurt to have a common means of describing the organization and its structure as well as its function.
Ruth is a Fullbright Fellow studying the US Extension system. I found it interesting to learn that the tagline for Charles Darwin University is ‘Change Your World'. As many know, Cooperative Extension is recognized around the world for the impact it has had in connecting science to citizens. Many countries seek to emulate what we have here in the US; Glenda spent time in China back in March as part of a team that is working with the Chinese government to share how Cooperative Extension works. Similarly, there is new effort in Mexico to strengthen the role of universities in extension and economic development programs and those states that are border states have an opportunity to showcase, strengthen, and build upon our current efforts across the border. Initial planning is underway for a conference (fall 2017) between several universities in Mexico and border state Cooperative Extension programs to talk about common issues and how we might work together. Having seen, during my visit to Imperial UCCE and DREC, how important the cross border relationships are I think people within UC ANR could make strong contributions to the event. As the event develops I will keep everyone informed.
Next week is Program Council. I am certain I will leave the meeting with many things to think about.
- Author: Wendy Powers
Time just flies by – and I seem to get further and further behind on things, despite my best efforts! Sound familiar? I consider myself proficient in time use but am always open to ideas how to become more efficient in accomplishing tasks. If anyone has some tips, I would love to hear them.
At Program Council this week we had a presentation from Brad Hanson about the Research and Information Centers. After almost a year at UC ANR, I have only recently been exposed to these information hubs. What a great platform to pull together expertise across UC ANR (multi-campus, multi-county, UCCE, AES) and lead delivery of on-demand, science-based information to clients everywhere. I'm looking forward to some plane time so that I can dig into the 2016 annual report Brad provided and learn more about the reach and impact of the RICs. The discussion hit on topics that are likely pervasive throughout UC ANR; that is, keeping content current, resource allocation to manage content, and making information easy to find. At the end of the day it's all about the end-user – determining how best to make it easy for that end-user to find trusted information and tools that translates to making a difference. And the greater our reach, the bigger the difference we can make. Efficiency is at least a piece of the equation. Competition doesn't have to be.
Program Council discussed the differences between academics with and without equivalent status. Not surprising there was strong commitment to the fact that the work of UCCE academics is as important as that of academics with professorial and agronomist titles. We talked through a matrix that outlined differences and similarities between different titles and I think we all learned some things. We also talked about the 2018 position call process and affirmed the value of broad input to identify position needs as well as thoughts around providing some guidance about broad based groups vetting ideas early as a means of helping Program Council prioritize the many needs within the division. The Program Council will also look at ways to gain more of a statewide perspective and assessment of strengths and gaps as part of the upcoming process. More discussion is needed on this topic. Other topics were identified for upcoming meetings. Each month it seems like we should end early on the second day of Program Council – we start out ahead and then slowly lose time as the day progresses. But the discussions are robust and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of topics. It leaves me with a long list of ideas to ponder for action.
It's time to look forward to rain now; quite a change from a few months ago. If it doesn't rain soon I am going to have to find a car wash before it is impossible to tell that the license plates are finally changed.