- Author: Deanne Meyer
Last week was the American Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) meeting in Denver. Presidents, Provosts, Vice Chancellors, Directors, Government Relations staff and others attended the meeting with more than 1,200 people present. I participated in two basic tracts. The first focused on hiring and maintaining employees in a market of poachers where other branches of the University are trying to move great employees from your domain to theirs. Similar problems exist throughout the United States. Panelists spoke about a change in culture with existing people still being a team in the remote environment. They identified challenges to onboard new people into a remote team. Retention of new team members was difficult. There are great synergies when staff and academics work in the same space and interact regularly. A positive onboarding experience remains key to retention. We can all play a role to make new employees welcome within ANR.
Mental health was the second tract I attended. Covid meant isolation for many. Some employees realized how silent life can be absent human contact. Individuals suffered from one or multiple deaths in the family. Jobs were lost by relatives or friends. Supply chain issues upset purchasing ability leaving some stranded (no cars available at a reasonable price) or out priced in the marketplace. Those who reenergize by being around other people (extroverts) suffered from the lack of human contact. Those who reenergize by being alone (introverts) found themselves exhausted from zoom calls where they had videos on and were “on” themselves. Good nutrition, quality sleep, regular exercise and interactions with others remain important for mental wellbeing. It was great to know that our staff and academics in Community Nutrition and Health, Nutrition and Consumer Science, 4-H and the Master Gardener Program have continued their programming providing great tools for people. Did you know both plants and animals have therapeutic values? It's great to know that ANR programs have the ability to help people throughout the community, in nearly all communities in California.
Last week we had an in-person County Director meeting. It was great to see so much energy in a room. As you can imagine, mentoring new employees was part of the discussion. New Advisors are hired for three two-year terms. Simplistically, these terms are to become established in the community and assess needs (term 1), evaluate a path to add knowledge where knowledge gaps exist, develop extension programming, and cultivate relationships with stakeholders (term 2), and develop and deploy a research program to address questions identified in the needs assessment, feed information into extension work and continue relationships with stakeholders (term 3). This methodical approach to extension programming sets academics up for a career with great impact for local communities. Thank you to all the participants who provided content and attended the meeting! Please share your feed back with Lynn who did a great job at organizing the meeting.
For a four-day work week much was learned and accomplished. Welcome to all who are new to ANR. Don't hesitate to reach out to anyone in the organization if you have questions!
- 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: Deanne Meyer
We all had the opportunity to enjoy the equinox this last week. This marked the official end of summer and reminded us that cooler days are on their way. Davis had more than 3.5 inches of rain with our first storm of the season. Although rain was welcomed by those fighting the Mosquito and other fires, it wasn't as welcomed by some growers with crops remaining in the field (tomatoes, grapes, almonds, etc.). As with many other things in life, things come with degrees of goodness.
Here's a shout out to Yu Meng our Youth, Family, and Community Advisor in Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Teams she works with received awards from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences for Communication Video ( Garden Video Project “Grow Healthy Foods, Harvest Healthy Families” (“Cultiva Alimentos Saludables, Cosecha Familias Saludables”) and Family Health and Wellness. Videos are in English and Spanish. For more information contact Yu directly.
The CalFresh Healthy Living, UC and Farm Smart teams delivered garden kits to preschools. From left, Yu Meng, UCCE Youth Family and Community Advisor; Stacey Amparano, Farm Smart Manager; Stephanie Collins, Farm Smart Outreach Assistant; Chris Gomez Wong, CalFresh Community Education Supervisor II; Vincent (contract gardener), Paul Tabarez, CalFresh Community Education Supervisor II; Rigo Ponce, Community Education Specialist II-CalFresh; and Martha Lopez, CalFresh Community Education Specialist II.
A bit ago, VP Council met. This group includes directors of each unit within ANR as well as our statewide program directors. We meet quarterly to provide input to the Vice President. It was a jammed packed meeting. I'll just cover a few take-aways from the day. Kathy Nolan reported out on the UC ANR Customer Satisfaction Survey. For those new to ANR this is a recent annual opportunity for us to identify areas for improvement in operational services within the organization. Great improvements have occurred as a result of the findings of the first survey. It's exciting to work for an organization seeking continued improvement.
We focused one session on onboarding. With all our new hires this is an essential activity. Jodi Azulai and Jona Pressman (Butte County Nutrition Education Program Manager) shared best practices to help onboard new employees. Do plan ahead and be prepared to spend time with your new hire on their first days! Human Resources is working on a great to-do list to aid in onboarding new employees. Do make time to introduce them around and make them feel welcome. Be sure the workstation and equipment needed are set up and ready. We're excited to be growing our ANR family and we want people to stay for a career!
Please extend a warm ANR welcome to our new colleagues! There were a few limited hires for camp counselors including Klacey Worthington, Glenn; and Norman Alberti, San Joaquin; student hires included Granville Goza, Santa Clara; Cedric Renaudin, Megan Cross, Nutrition Family and Consumer Science; and Evelyn Mandujano Capitol Corridor MCP; and staff research associates Efrain Barrera, Fresno Madera MCP and Daylin Wade, Central Sierra Nevada. We are happy you've joined the ANR family.
We are ANR. Together, we effect positive change in California.