- Author: Samantha Dowdall
- Editor: Jennifer Hopkins
Are you interested in volunteering for the UC Master Gardener Program of San Luis Obispo County? Applications for the 2024 training class are now being accepted!
If you would like to apply in person, pick up and return an application to:
UC Master Gardener Program
2156 Sierra Way Ste C
San Luis Obispo CA 93401
Fee waivers for this 18 week training course are available!
UC Master Gardener Program training class fee waiver . Please note, a limited number of fee waivers are available.
During our comprehensive 18-week training program, you will learn scientific, research-based techniques in home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices. You'll learn about plants that will encourage beneficial insects and provide food and safety for birds and other pollinators. This course will help prepare you for sharing your knowledge with others in our community so that they, too, may become successful and environmentally responsible gardeners.
Our volunteers share a keen interest in gardening but we also value the rich and varied skills they bring to the program from their own work and personal experiences. You are encouraged to use these talents to help us improve and enhance our outreach efforts. Examples of these are:
- public speaking
- teaching and training
- research
- being bilingual/multilingual
- organizational skills
- fundraising
- writing
- photography
The following steps are required to become a certified UC Master Gardener Program volunteer:
- Apply online or pick up and drop off an application at 2156 Sierra Way San Luis Obispo CA
- Interview
Upon acceptance:
- Complete a Live Scan fingerprinting and Department of Justice background check.
- Attend an 18-week training class, once a week from January to May.
- Complete weekly reading and home-study assignments and participate in hands-on learning activities.
- Pass an open-book cumulative exam with a minimum score of 70%.
After graduating, certified UC Master Gardener Program volunteers must complete:
- 50 hours of volunteer time in support of any program-related functions within the first year
- In subsequent years, 25 hours of volunteer time and 12 hours of approved continuing education hours per year to enhance their knowledge base to maintain certification
IMPORTANT DATES
To help you decide if this program will fit into your schedule, please review the upcoming deadlines and time commitments:
June 2023 Applications open
September 30, 2023 Applications due
October 2023 Interviews
Early November Acceptance notifications sent
November 14, 2023 Orientation meeting
January – May 2024 Training classes every Tuesday from 12:30-4 PM
May 2024 Graduation
INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS
If you would like to meet some of our volunteers and learn more about the UC Master Gardener Program, please come to one of our informational meetings:
Saturday, September 9, 2023 2:00pm (Zoom)
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 (in person)
2156 Sierra Way, San Luis Obispo 93401
We will be posting updates and reminders as these dates get closer. We hope to see you soon!
If you have questions, please email our help line at anrslomg@ucanr.edu
/span>Visitor clearance survey
UC ANR has been using a web-based daily “clearance to work survey” to ensure that employees who are working onsite or engaged in in-person field work, research or extension activities are free of COVID-19 symptoms. An offline or paper version of the survey is also available for volunteers or employees who cannot access the online survey. Symptom screening is a statewide recommendation for all employers and is required by UC guidance for campuses and ANR locations that have personnel working onsite. The UC Symptom Screening Task Force guidance also states that arrangements must be made to require the same or equivalent screening not only of students, academics and staff but also guests, contractors, vendors and members of the public who are permitted access to UC facilities.
To comply with this UC systemwide guidance and to increase the protection of our employees, beginning August 3, all visitors to UC ANR facilities must also complete a Visitor Clearance Survey prior to entry. Only visitors who receive a “Cleared to Enter” result will be allowed access. Visitors who are denied entry should be provided information about other ways to interact with UC ANR remotely, such as information available on websites, scheduling a phone consultation, video meetings, etc.
When visitors from a UC campus or vendors whose employer has a symptom screening process can demonstrate that they have already passed their institution's screening, those results will be acceptable to enter the UC ANR facility. Additionally, for UCCE offices, a county's symptom screening process will be acceptable to enter the UC ANR spaces.
To maintain privacy, UC ANR personnel will not record or retain the responses of any person's Visitor Clearance Work Survey, but will only keep a record of the final survey result, i.e.: “Cleared to Enter,” or “Stay Home,” using a daily visitor log or sign-in sheet to record survey clearance status.
The UC ANR Visitor Clearance Survey and additional instructions and details about the survey are posted on the UC ANR COVID-19 webpage: http://ucanr.edu/covid19 under “Standards for Resuming In-Person Activities.”
Celebration Corner
Starting in March 2020, Nutrition Policy Institute researchers rapidly adjusted existing projects and joined forces with partners to respond to the pandemic by providing guidance on adjusting school meal service and other school operations to meet the needs of families during school closures; providing guidance on food security measures among people experiencing homelessness; and supporting the strengthening of food assistance programs.
CalFresh Healthy Living, UC provided oversight, training and technical assistance to San Luis Obispo County Disaster Service Workers at essential farmers market sites to ensure that safety guidance was followed by vendors and the public. These efforts enabled farmers markets that serve low-income patrons through EBT Acceptance and Market Match programs to remain open and address food insecurity in these communities.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President