- 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
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
We are starting to see some progress on implementation of the strategic plan. This weekend I need to spend some time updating status of the 3 goals that I ‘own'. The ownership is really a misnomer for each of these goals (#1, 2, and 5) because they each are so heavily dependent on everyone in UC ANR if we are to achieve them. The exciting part about it is that if we do accomplish what has been laid out in the plan, we will be able to look back and say “Wow!” What's more, and what's even more exciting – our clientele will say the same!
Did you know that there's a website now where you can check in for updates on the strategic plan progress? It's new, and an outcome of recommendations from the VP Council (great idea Council members!). I will be loading some recent happenings in the next couple of weeks; I need to get caught up on some things in the Inbox first.
The highlight of updates related to Goal 5 is that I spent the last 2 days in a workshop with the Statewide Program and Institute Directors and Strategic Initiative Leaders to develop a set of Public Value Statements. We were led by two facilitators, Nancy Franz who has worked in this area with Extension for over 15 years and Raj Kapur who worked with UC ANR when the division first moved into the Davis building. Raj will be with us through the next few months of Goal 5 so if you haven't met him, you will have a chance at the Goal 5 information sessions throughout the summer. The workshop was tiring and inspiring at the same time. I can't tell you how impressed I am at how well the group worked together towards a common goal despite the skepticism, in trepidation, and curiosity that came with the participants. If you've ever pulled together a group of people that came from different perspectives and had never worked together to achieve a defined outcome in a short period of time, you know how difficult it can be. But while personalities and perspectives were evident, overall the group seemed comfortable with the outcome. Nancy did tell us that the group was perhaps the most critical thinkers she had encountered. We took her a bit out of her experience by doing this at a division level rather than a program level, adding to the complexity of the process. But I knew that if any land grant institution could do this, it's UC ANR. Similarly, I firmly believe that if any Cooperative Extension system can impact the lives of every person in the state, it's UCCE.
The public value statements, in their current state, will be posted on the strategic plan website by Memorial Day – I will likely be the hold up in getting them posted. Be sure to check back on the website but also talk with any of the participants and your colleagues to determine if we've missed anything that is critical to achieving the 2025 Vision.
In late August we will be inviting in the same participants plus a leader from each of the Program Teams to develop condition changes associated with the public value statements – now would be a good time to refresh ourselves on the logic model with learning (short) , behavior (medium) and condition (long term) changes? I need to get that invitation out as well - a weekend task.
The peer review committee met this week. I didn't get in to say hello but I ran into Mark, Jim and Ben in the parking lot. It sounds like the meeting (2 ½ days) went well and Chris and Kim kept things moving along such that all 70+ portfolios were reviewed and recommendations developed on schedule. Thanks to everyone who reviewed merit and promotion packages, wrote letters for packages, or helped colleagues pull their materials together. It's a ton of work but the process contributes to the caliber of the people and the division.
I have more meetings today. I realize now that I need to do a few things that generate some nice photos to break up all the text in these posts. Perhaps there will be more bees in Davis to result in a photo.
- Author: Wendy Powers
As always there are many great things going on at UC ANR. Last week was the Academic Assembly Council meeting. This was the first time I attended the meeting in its entirety. Jim Farrar ran a great meeting. There were a large number of topics including a proposed salary plan for advisors, to accompany the plan that has been approved for staff. The advisor plan has yet to be finalized and approved but everyone agrees it is needed and now is the right time. We planned for the salary adjustment when we made position decisions at the end of 2016. And it is very much part of the thought process as we continue to review budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year. We will be reviewing budget requests again tomorrow and bringing final recommendations to Vice President Humiston the first week of June.
Last week we had a good meeting with County Directors. A guest speaker came in and gave us some tips on time management. As busy as the County Directors are with both administrative and academic responsibilities every tip helps. The CDs worked in small groups to develop some action items that followed a meeting in February, including strategies to ensure success of newer CDs in managing multiple priorities.
If you are looking for an interesting read, consider this article on research integrity that Kathy Nolan sent me. Mentoring of graduate students is a key theme throughout the article. Some of the points made had me remembering an exercise during our strategic planning meetings to identify values of UC ANR. Integrity was one that rose to the top and gained consensus of the group almost immediately. The article has me thinking that we need to work to keep integrity at the forefront of everything we do and not take for granted that it is inherent in our work. The article is a quick read and worth the time, regardless of how tight on time we all are.
The pollen in the air is driving me crazy to the extent that I look forward to a reprieve when I am in the concrete jungle (Oakland). But without the pollen there wouldn't be all the cherry stands in the Lodi area or the strawberry stands throughout the state. It seems strawberry season is in full swing. Congratulations to Surendra Dara and team for a successful strawberry field day. During the event the hosts were visited by a local news station. With over 160 attendees there is no doubt there will be strong outcomes from the event.
Ricky Satomi starts tomorrow as the new Forestry and Natural Resources advisor based in Redding with program responsibilities in Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou counties. Like Larry and Steve, we are excited to have Ricky on board.
I am looking forward to seeing the Statewide Program and Institute Directors and the Strategic Initiative Leaders this week when we craft public value statements. I think these will have many uses, not just Goal 5. I will let you know how it goes.
