- Author: Deanne Meyer
It's that time of the year where all the hard work of cultivating and tending crops culminates with harvest. Whether it's pomegranates, sorghum, pumpkins or walnuts, crops are working their way to consumers for enjoyment. Soon nutrient management considerations for the next crop will be determined and implemented. Researchers are taking end of season plant tissue and soil samples or measuring gaseous emissions. And so, the cycles continue. From seed to crop to consumer. For those engaged in natural resources cooler weather brings promise of rains.
Pumpkin patch visit
October 15 ended our month-long celebration of Hispanic Heritage month. There have been news stories, blog posts, and presentations among others. The variety of activities provided many ways to share culture and current careers. Thank you all for taking time to participate.
One of the highlights of any day is to meet with candidates for Specialist positions. This last week it was for a position at UC Davis in Agricultural and Resource Economics on the Economics of Food Supply Chains. This is an incredibly timely position given all we've learned during Covid.
Last week zoomed by in the blink of an eye. Program Council met. One of our topics focused on onboarding and mentoring. With the hiring frenzy it's imperative that we are effective at onboarding. Did you know how well we onboard new academics is directly correlated to retention and productivity? The ANR Learning and Development website has great resources for onboarding. Since onboarding begins the minute we receive the signed offer letter, it's worth taking time to look through the materials. Supervisors, peers, co-workers and everyone else in the organization is part of the onboarding process. Thank you to our great Human Resources colleagues and Jodi Azulai who have worked to collect and prepare onboarding documentation. A big shout out to Jona Pressman who provided a convincing presentation about the importance of onboarding during the recent Vice President's council meeting. We're in this together and it takes effort from everyone to make people feel welcome.
In the category of Humbled and Happy, HUGE congratulations to Katherine Web Martinez and the work of Program Planning and Evaluation. Their work has been recognized by the National Association of Extension Program and Staff Development Professionals with the Extension Staff Development Award. “This award recognizes individuals who use creativity, innovation, and evidence to develop and deliver staff development initiatives that strengthen the employee capacity of Cooperative Extension systems. Efforts may focus on innovative initiatives, tools, assessments, practices, and/or other products for staff development at the local, regional, state or national level.” Way to go Katherine and team. You all do amazing work!
Welcome to ANR! Three new Advisors joined ANR in September. Ashley Hooper (Urban Community Resiliency; Los Angeles), Cindy Chen (Woody Biomass and Wood Products, Central Sierra Nevada MCP, Alpine and Mariposa Counties) and Matthew Rodriguez (4-H Youth Development, Nevada, Placer, Sutter and Yuba Counties).
- Author: Wendy Powers
A couple of weeks back, I had a chance to see the Hispanic Heritage Month video that featured DREC director, Jairo Diaz. I meant to find other videos, but I lost track of the thought. Today I had a chance to see those videos featuring Fe Moncloa, Maria de la Fuente, and Aileen Carrasco –Trujillo. They were as inspiring as any TED talk I have heard lately. I highly recommend you take the 12 minutes to review the four videos. Each of the featured ANR team members talks about their values and what brought them to UC ANR. Immediately I thought how fun it would be for people throughout UC ANR to have a similar video on their ANR portal page. Then I remembered that JoLynn Miller is working on something just like this for the County UCCE page (and that I owe her something). Perhaps this is a new trend.
Equally inspiring was a conversation I had with Devii Rao and Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty today. Devii is working on a vision for UCCE in San Benito County, to share with key County administration and perhaps a couple of Supervisors later this month. She has some great ideas, building off what peers have shared and her knowledge of what County needs and priorities are. I like the phased approach she is building and the connection to partners. I know Devii is putting much effort into this; hopefully, the prospects energize Devii.
Program Council produced some homework. For some reason I can't quite define, this month's meeting left me a bit tired. We spent a fair bit of time talking about needs across UC ANR (people, support) and how to prioritize and meet those needs. Lorna Krkich spoke to us about the nuts and bolts of working with the Development Services team (how, who's responsible for what, what are their goals, etc.). Jim Downing and Linda Forbes met with Program Council to talk about their strategic plan development for both the Publications unit and the Strategic Communications Unit. Jon Wilson joined them to talk about the vision for a much-needed overhaul of the web presence (Integrated Web Project). The Council welcomed the presentations as nice breaks from other topics.
Not unlike most weeks, it has been a 'learning week.' I am looking forward to the rest of the week.