- Author: Wendy Powers
This is a bit of a sad time of year, when I learn of all the pending departures due to retirement. Don't get me wrong, I fully recognize the excitement associated with retirement. Bill, Lorna, and others keep me well aware of the advantages. I can't help but feel a bit sad about the exodus of talent and the possibility of not interacting with those who are moving on. Fortunately, we have this ‘recall' mechanism to prevent many from really ever getting too far away.
I heard from one of our emeriti, Rose, today. She alerted us that Mike Hsu and Pam Kan-Rice offered a webinar today for Extension Foundation about using Twitter and social media for media relations. Rose said it was “absolutely wonderful and nearly two dozen Extension professionals from around the nation participated. The UCANR team is so skilled at social media use, and really models positive things for other Extension organizations.” Thanks Pam and Mike for providing that training!
This is also the time of year when I am deep into reading merit and promotion packages. I have 8 remaining to read for my first review! Following, I start going through the supervisor comments, evaluator letters, ad hoc committee reviews, and Peer Review Committee recommendations. This first read through is my favorite part – hearing about the wonderful accomplishments, the aspirations, and the impact of those who have worked so hard to make a difference. Every year, I believe I share with you how nice it would be to share the narrative highlights with you. At least our Federal partners have the opportunity when they receive our annual impact highlights that is compiled by the Program Planning and Evaluation Team.
In other good news, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) announced the recipients of the 2021 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award, an award granted to early career scientists supporting research in one of FFAR's Challenge Areas. Congratulations to Ellen Bruno, one of the recipients: Meeting future food needs requires effectively managing scarce groundwater. California is addressing this problem through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which ensures better groundwater use and management. Bruno's research is using the act as a case study to identify policies that enhance water sustainability and minimize regulation costs. No doubt important impacts will result!
Congratulations to Linda Forbes and team! They just received word that the team won three Association for Communication Excellence awards:
- Bronze award in organic social media campaign (CA wildfire campaign)
- Gold award in electronic media and audio for targeted audiences (vaccine campaign to Latino and indigenous communities)
- Outstanding Professional Skill award in electronic media and audio for targeted audiences (vaccine campaign to Latino and indigenous communities)
Next week I spend a couple of days at South Coast REC and at Desert REC. It truly is wonderful to get out of the garage.
- Author: Wendy Powers
The U.S. is in a strange place. If it weren't enough to have a pandemic we can't seem to get under control because we can't stay away from crowds, now we can worry about what might happen between now and Inauguration Day. I don't know what to make of the assault of the Capitol. I can't describe how disturbed I am by the overt displays of racism by those who see the incoming administration as a threat to White culture. I sometimes wonder what rock I live under in that I can't even imagine feeling that way towards another person. It doesn't have to be that some lose while others advance; all boats can rise together if we make the commitment to implement appropriate practices and policies.
I echo the sentiment of others that the work of UC ANR is needed now more than ever. Just take a look at this recent video put together by the Strategic Communications team, outlining UC ANR accomplishments despite the pandemic! The Governor's budget brings hope that our efforts are recognized and valued by state decision makers. Our work with small farms and fire, in particular, were acknowledged. While it is early yet in the annual budget process, I have high hopes that UC will do okay in this year's budget discussions, despite the economic challenges brought on by the pandemic.
This week we made strides to finalize the strategic plan update and prepare to present it to President Drake on February 1st. I need to work on my comments and get them under 1 minute in length – time goes faster than you would think! We talked about metrics today and identification of key performance indicators (KPI) for the plan as a whole. I came across an interesting metric in my reading over the last week - authentic laughter is a metric for measuring inclusivity of an organization. I don't know how one measures authentic laughter, but perhaps this is something to think about in the future when we aren't primarily on Zoom.
Conversations to explore new partnerships, with new and existing partners, present exciting opportunities for us. I enjoy these conversations and look forward to further discussion and brainstorming. I have had a couple of such conversations this week and last, with more to come in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to all who have spent time putting ideas onto paper as either logic models or concept notes. Some of these concept notes yielded results when the Governor released his budget. I fully anticipate there will be continued return on those investments of time.