- Author: Wendy Powers
This week I am attending the virtual APLU (Association of Public and Land Grant Universities) meeting. This is one of those meetings that should always be virtual. For some reason, they spread the meeting over a 2-week period this year. Let's just say that didn't improve my opinion of the meeting. And to make things worse, every session has a unique Zoom ID and I don't have them in my calendar. I suspect participation may be down this year. I will miss Wednesday's sessions to attend jury duty. Who knew I would welcome a summons?
Other activities include preparing to repost a Vice Provost position, some prep work for next week's meetings, and planning for the December Program Council meeting. I know many continue to work hard on Advisor and Specialist position descriptions that are due in less than a month. Time sure does fly by! It seems impossible to think that next week is Thanksgiving already. This means that Giving Tuesday is right around the corner. Speaking with Scott today, it sounds like the giving has started early. It is always nice to hear such things.
There's much going on at the RECs this time of year. Ashraf and team are busy preparing for the Citrus Tasting at Lindcove. To add to the planning this year, the President's Advisory Commission (PAC) are holding their winter meeting during the tasting. Karmjot and her team will be sharing some of their efforts with the PAC. It's a busy time for Hopland as well. Take a look at all that John and team have been doing. It's great to see local coverage of the efforts! The projects at Hopland REC continue to grow.
Later this week, I have a chance to meet with some of our newer hires that opt to participate in office hours. And, the monthly Town Hall is Thursday, which is always a chance to hear what's on the minds of people across UC ANR. I have a number of meetings related to national Extension commitments as well. The schedule feels a bit lighter this week because there is no travel to schedule around.
I have procrastinated on the weeds for a couple of months now, but likely must get into the yard this weekend. The rain has been great and while perhaps insufficient for addressing the drought, my weeds flourish. Perhaps if I ever get ahead of the weeds, I will expand my hobbies. Somehow I doubt I will have the same level of artistic talent displayed by others who teach themselves to draw when they can't sleep.
- Author: Wendy Powers
Welcome to Dr. Hung Doan who started Monday, November 1st as a Small Farms Advisor, based in Moreno Valley, with programmatic responsibilities in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. We are excited that Dr. Doan is here; please reach out with a warm welcome!
I anticipate we will see a number of welcome announcements over the remainder of the fiscal year. While a tremendous amount of work for everyone across UC ANR, the circumstances are both exciting and long overdue! Mark Bell and the HR teams are doing a great job working with committees and keeping things moving, despite the many moving parts. I am not sure I could keep all of the various searches straight in my head! Those serving on multiple committees may have the same challenge. Thanks so much to all who are participating!
This is a short week for me. In addition to our scheduled holiday, I am taking two days off. Before I get to that, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities will have the annual Excellence in Extension Awards ceremony. Of all the meetings on my schedule this week, this is a highlight of the week for me though there are no California winners this year. We can't win every year.
Another highlight of the week is a chance to meet with the Academic Assembly Council Specialists and Other Titles committees. Last week I met with the Academic Assembly Council. Each conversation focused around resources. While it is hard to imagine that such a sizable increase in state funding did not get us everything we all want, that is the case due to a long history of deficit budgets. We have work to do to get our support levels from all funding sources to a point where we have the capacity necessary to tackle all of the big challenges facing Californians. We have made tremendous progress, and the work doesn't stop there. Nationally, Extension directors are discussing strategy to build resources across the entire 1862, 1890, and 1994 Extension System. Now is the time to do so. And, working together, our collective impact can be strong. I will ponder strategy while spending a couple of days staring out at big water.
I have a few agreements to review over the week. We continue to hear from prospective partners for positions and program resources. Next Monday, I meet with a new donor who has a fascinating background. I look forward to many more such opportunities. In the meantime, a bit of rest while we hope for more rain.
- Author: Wendy Powers
I am traveling! Last week almost seemed normal, with back-to-back trips between Monday and Friday. This week was even more ‘normal' with a flight cancellation. I have more travel scheduled with a few days off with in-state travel over Veteran's Day week. By mid-November, I suspect I will be complaining about travel disruptions. I think it is human nature to complain about things even when we have longed for such circumstances. Traveling has changed a bit since I was last frequenting airports. I like that we no longer show our boarding passes at security; less fumbling around with ID plus my boarding pass. I have even applied for my Real ID, just in case leaving my garage becomes customary.
It is getting difficult to keep up with all of the new hires! What a great situation to be in! Curt Pierce started last week as the Area Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor, based in Orland, with programmatic responsibilities in Glenn, Tehama, Colusa, and Shasta Counties. Welcome, Curt! Please reach out to Curt to send your welcome.
While I try to keep up with new hires, I also try to stay on top of the successes of past colleagues. Take a look at this fantastic article about Lupita and her impressive story. Congratulations to Lupita and the CA 4-H team that will receive an award in a couple of weeks. I get confused with the various meetings, but this may be one of the awards I will virtually present to recipients on November 9. If so, that will be special for me.
Another great story appeared recently in the Morning Ag Clips. Be sure to read Laura's story. Her commitment and passion for her work are evident throughout. And, it was nice to see her faithful companion featured as well.
This week I have followed the rain from California to the East Coast. I am part of a committee interviewing advocacy firms for our national Cooperative Extension and Ag Experiment Station Sections. The firms are all located in D.C. so it is only committee members impacted by the intense rain. Hopefully the storms are past before I head back west on Thursday evening.
I hope everyone is starting to dry out. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sandhill Cranes back in our back yard. It will take some time for all of the water to drain. While the photo is of Mark and his wife paddling the delta, no doubt we could have used the kayaks to navigate our property after the rain we had on Sunday. Let's hope the 2021 fire season has ended as a result.
- Author: Wendy Powers
I am attending a virtual conference this week. This makes for long days, because the ‘at home' work continues. I miss the old days when traveling to a conference meant you did not have to do double duty – the conference, and the usual meetings back home. Next week, I travel and continue to participate in a number of Zoom meetings. I am certain I am not alone in having difficulty finding a way out of what seems to be perpetual 10+ hour workdays. Always looking for the upside, I know I will not have too many meetings scheduled the last week of October due to jury duty. Time flies and my county clearly keeps close tabs on when my reprieve expires.
The Strategic Plan goal owners met this week. I believe we are making good progress, though there will always remain much to do, and then there is the homework. In particular, there are some interesting discussions underway with new partners and prospective donors. Then there are the efforts around DEI that continue to expand with learning opportunities and hiring practices, in particular. The new state funding will go a long way in expanding who and how we reach new audiences, through an expanded CE Advisor and CE Specialist footprint and new resources targeted at reaching our clientele in with modernized methods, while simultaneously offering advancement opportunities for some of our critical program staff. Finally, I am excited that we will take steps to right size our business support units with over 20 new hires. Again, improvement is never-ending, but we are clearly gaining ground.
This is a big week for a couple of our own. On Friday, the California Ag Leadership Foundation holds the ceremony to announce the 2021 Profiles in Leadership Award recipients. Introductions to this year's Leadership class will occur during the ceremony as well. Congratulations to Tracy and Betsy for their remarkable accomplishments!
I witnessed about 15 minutes of rain last week. Hoping to see more of it soon. In the meantime, in between presentation preparations this weekend, I need to take care of some weeds. While the rain won't help with weed control, the cooler temperatures sure make a difference.
- Author: Wendy Powers
I am thrilled to see the ANR portal back up and running. This signifies that we have transitioned to a new server. Thanks so much to Sree and team for their extraordinary effort this week to combat the bot attacks and get everything migrated over so that we can function again. Isn't it amazing how quickly things come to a halt when a server is down? As a society, we have certainly become dependent on virtual environments.
Glenda and I have been at a conference this week. The is the national conference for ag experiment station directors. Glenda is attending in person while I opted for the virtual route. No surprise, there have been a few technology glitches. But given the theme of the conference which focuses on transitioning to the new, post-COVID world, the glitches seem apropos. We heard from 3 university presidents about their approach to managing their institution through the pandemic. I can't say that I gained any keen insights to share, though it was evident that many campuses are back in-person to a greater extent than UC. I am a bit envious. The flip side is that we may have fewer COVID cases per capita.
What surprises me at these meetings each year are the familiar faces in new places. Several participants have moved to new locations. I suspect it is the nature of the positions, but also a good opportunity for an organization to have fresh ideas.
One of the sentiments I have heard repeatedly is the need to consider new partnerships in this post-COVID world. In particular, partnering with medical schools and health departments beyond nutrition programming has been a consistent message. In addition, the idea that we should be open to new types of partnerships with those we have known and perhaps worked with for some time. As uncomfortable as it may be at times, I feel that UC ANR is way ahead of the curve on this one. This doesn't mean that we transition away from existing partners; just be open to additional opportunities. The partnering message is particularly timely; I have a couple of meetings yet this week to talk about new partnerships.
It is time to start preparing for a couple of other conferences that will be here well before I am fully prepared. One is the national extension directors' conference. The other is a presentation I am giving in another state, for that state's annual extension conference. I am still a couple of weeks away from a final decision if that will be delivered from my garage or if I will transition back to traveling for such things.
In the meantime, I am going to enjoy the fall weather now that we have transitioned away from summer temperatures.