- Author: Jodi Azulai
Join us on June 21 at noon for our next WebANR Café Thursday: “How Your Work Builds ANR's Public Value” (or, how we impact California).
Learn about the public value movement and how it is being embraced by Extension and research, become familiar with the UC ANR public-value statement development process, and explore practical uses for public value statements.
Speakers include
- Nancy Franz, Professor Emeritus, Iowa State
- Wendy Powers, Associate Vice President ANR
- Mark Bell, Vice Provost Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs
- Katherine Webb-Martinez, Associate Director Program Planning & Evaluation
For more background on ANR public values, see ANR Public Value Statements.
Join us at:
- https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/963167636
- (646) 558-8656 or + (669) 900-6833
- Webinar ID: 963 167 636
- WebANRs will be recorded and archived at WebANR Café Thursday.
It's employee appraisal feedback season. What if an 18-minute learning module could steer you into successful feedback sessions and help you navigate through negative reactions?
Is it worth your time?
CEB Now Garter has an excellent module called Dealing with Negative Reactions to Performance Feedback. It provides two scenarios, one to avoid and one to employ. If you have not taken advantage of CEB Now Gartner, you can register for free. ANR pays for an annual subscription for all ANR employees.
This module will help managers:
- Understand the types of reactions to feedback they may encounter
- Recognize that avoiding conflict is not the solution
- Prepare themselves to handle possible negative reactions effectively
For more information on registering, just go to the Welcome page and start using this great resource!
MSAP mobilizes ANR people managers into professional development and helps MSAP assessors catch trout
For four days, ANR supervisors Christine Davidson, EFNEP program supervisor in Riverside and San Bernardino counties; Shirley Salado, EFNEP community education supervisor in San Diego County; and Emma Sandoval, UC CalFresh program supervisor in Riverside County; shared an amazing experience at a systemwide program for UC people managers at the gorgeous retreat grounds of the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center. The goal of the Management Assessment Skills Program (MSAP) is to address skill gaps and grow competencies that will prepare employees for future leadership roles in their workplaces and within the UC system.
shared an amazing experience at a systemwide program for UC people managers at the gorgeous retreat grounds of the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center. The goal of the Management Assessment Skills Program (MSAP) is to address skill gaps and grow competencies that will prepare employees for future leadership roles in their workplaces and within the UC system.
During the April 2018 training, Salado, Sandoval and Davidson participated in simulated UC management scenarios, received behavioral feedback from trained assessors, attended career development workshop and connected with colleagues from throughout the UC system. Before arriving at Lake Arrowhead, they participated in pre-assessment components and will be involved post-program activities to continue their professional development.
“Being a people manager is not easy and that is why it is important for supervisors to participate in evaluation,” Shirley remarked of her experience. “MSAP provided me with that evaluation. It assessed my people manager skills, highlighting my strengths and identifying areas in which I could grow. Working through the MSAP process, I found I could stretch myself because I care about my work, staff and the entire UC system. The way I will do that is by setting goals through my continued professional development as a people manager.”
Emma emphasized the value of objective feedback: “My experience at MSAP was great; it helped me be aware of the way I supervise my team. I recommend the training because it supplied me with objective feedback about my performance from a professional, which was spot on. Since I am a new supervisor, my goal is to work on leadership with my employees. This assessment program has helped me be more self-aware and given me the tools to identify areas for improvement, so I can reach my goals.”
Christine echoed the others, saying, “MSAP was a great experience. The program gave me an opportunity to really focus on my personal development as a supervisor. It was very encouraging to highlight my strengths and be given tools and small goals to improve weaknesses.”
A big THANK YOU is in order to Tunyalee Martin, associate director for UC IPM Communications, for serving as an assessor at the April MSAP.
“My second experience as a MSAP assessor was even better than my first wonderful experience,” Martin said. “The assessees I worked with are amazingly talented and truly dedicated to their teams. They were there to learn about themselves and practice their communication and team-building skills in a safe environment. My assessees were kind enough to open up to me so that we were able to have in-depth discussions about the action plan they'd implement when they returned to their jobs. I commend my assessor partner, the assessees, and the MSAP trainers and coordinators for a job well done.”
The next MSAP will be held Oct. 8-11. Contact Jodi Azulai at jlazulai@ucanr.edu if you have any questions about being an assessee or assessor.
Each week presents a new opportunity for you and your team to learn the skills necessary to take on your next big ANR challenge. Lynda.com provides the help to make that happen.
Each week, Lynda adds to a 12,000+ course library. Below are new courses covering everything from IT networking to Microsoft Excel to how to make a career change.
These new courses are now available on LinkedIn Learning:
Giving and Receiving Feedback
Time Management
Managing Your Calendar for Peak Productivity
Business Software
Excel: Statistical Process Control with Curt Frye
Microsoft Teams Essential Training with Nick Brazzi
Microsoft Teams Tips and Tricks with Nick Brazzi
Career Development
Making a Career Change with Stacey Gordon
Customer Service
Customer Service: Handling Abusive Customers with David Brownlee
Education and Instructional Design
Photoshop for Teaching and Learning with Chris Mattia
Leadership and Management
Delegating Tasks with Dorie Clark
Presentations
PowerPoint: Designing Better Slides with Heather Ackman
Marketing
Learning Web Analytics with Matt Bailey
Social Media Marketing: Social CRM with Megan Adams
CAD (AEC)
AutoCAD Civil 3D Essential Training with Josh Modglin
Graphic Design
Design Thinking: Data Intelligence with Randall Elliott
InDesign CC 2018 New Features with Anne-Marie Concepción
Video
Online Video Content Strategy with Roberto Blake
Video Script Writing with Rick Allen Lippert
Back-end Web Development
Advanced SQL for Data Scientists
Machine Learning & AI Foundations: Recommendations
Data Science
R Programming in Data Science: Set up and Start
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- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
When the weather cools in the fall and the holidays draw near, orange orbs ripen on persimmon trees in California to offer a fresh autumn sweetness in time for Thanksgiving recipes and holiday décor.
At the UC South Coast Research and Extension Center (SCREC) in Irvine, a collection of 53 persimmon varieties are at their peak in November when the public is invited for tasting and harvesting at the annual persimmon field day.
“We want to raise awareness about persimmons,” said Tammy Majcherek, SCREC community educator. “It's a beautiful tree and a great addition to any landscape. Persimmon trees provide shade in the summer, healthy fruit in the fall, then drop their leaves and allow the sun's warmth to come through in the winter. It's a win-win situation as far as landscape trees go.”
The persimmon collection came to the research center in the 1960s, when the late UCLA subtropical horticulture professor Art Schroeder arranged to move his collection of persimmon varieties to another venue because the pressure of urban development at the Westwood campus became too great.
Persimmons are native in two parts of the world, China and the United States. The Chinese persimmon made its way to Japan, where its popularity soared. The American persimmon comes from the Southeastern United States, however, most California persimmons trace their lineage to Asia.
California leads the nation in persimmon production, according to the California Department of Agriculture Crop Report, but with a value of about $21 million in 2012, it represents just a small fraction of the state's $19 billion 2012 tree fruit and nut value.
Nevertheless, to the visitors who came out to tour UC's collection at SCREC, persimmon is a choice fruit. Participants on the early-morning VIP tour received a large shopping bag to fill with various varieties of fuyu and hachiya persimmons. Fuyu are flat, yellow-orange fruit that can be eaten right off the tree like apples or allowed to mature to a super-sweet soft pulp. Hachiya are redder, heart-shaped and astringent when not fully ripened. “If you bite it, it will bite your mouth right back,” said one participant.
However, after ripening to a jelly soft pulp or dried, the hachiya is equally delicious.
Shirley Salado, the UC Cooperative Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program supervisor in San Diego County, attended the persimmon tasting to gather fruit and information for her education program.
“The fuyu is great to eat,” Salado said. “When they ripen and become very soft, you can put the pulp in a blender and then freeze in zipper bags to add to healthy smoothies.”
Salado collected two large bags of persimmons to share with her nutrition education staff.
“Not everybody knows about these,” Salado said. “This gives them a chance to look at the fruit. This is what we promote.”
Following the tour, coordinator of the UC Master Food Preserver program at SCREC Cinda Webb demonstrated safe consumption by making cinnamon persimmon jam, dried persimmon chips, and a gourmet persimmon, basil, beet and rice salad.
Wild or brown rice persimmon salad
4 cups wild or brown rice, cooked
2 Fuyu persimmons, chopped
1 cup cooked, chopped beets
1 cup basic, chopped
8 oz feta cheese
½ cup orange cumin vinaigrette
Vinaigrette (makes about 1 cup)
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup olive oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1½ tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp salt
Directions
- Whisk together vinaigrette dressing ingredients
- Stir basil, beets, persimmons and feta into rice and toss with ½ cup vinaigrette.
- Top with persimmon slices and extra chopped basil for presentation.