- Author: Wendy Powers
Happy New Year everyone! I have become accustomed to and accepting of the winter curtailment, but I continue to find it difficult to get my head back into work after a complete shut down for a week or so. I must not be alone because this week is quite light on meetings. I suspect a fair number of people have taken an additional week. Maybe some are spending it listening to the water. Hopefully all are safe from the travel challenges of the last two weeks. I have a flight scheduled late next week but remain unconvinced the airlines will be caught up by then.
Congratulations to Chutima and team! Their work was selected by NIFA to be showcased as one of the SNAP-Ed (CalFresh Healthy Living) success stories! Be sure to congratulate the team. What great news to start of the new year!
My in-person meetings this week have largely converted to Zoom. Tomorrow is the annual meeting with the Davis CE Specialists. We were so optimistic about an in-person meeting, but will make do with remote. Either way, it is always nice to meet with the CE Specialists as a group. I have a number of meetings related to ECOP again this week. Friday finishes out with a monthly ECOP meeting for directors. Fortunately, my responsibilities for the meeting are minimal, giving me more time to prep for next week.
Program Council meets next week to review the CE Advisor position proposals. The multi-day meeting promises to be a lively discussion with the work made easier by all of the effort already put into the process by directors and program teams. Program teams continue their work by reviewing the CE Specialist proposals over the next month. It is an exciting time and likely the only time in my career that we will have the opportunity to fill so many positions!
Another nice problem to have is all of the recent precipitation! I suspect many of you might have had weather-related travel challenges over the break, but nothing compared to the backup on I-95 in Virginia. I am having water challenges in the back yard. We look like a water fowl preserve. The dogs have lost the yard, but gained some excitement in trying to scare off herons, ducks, egrets, and the occasional sandhill crane. Hard to believe our area is still considered in ‘extreme drought'.
- Author: Wendy Powers
If someone had told me even ten years ago that I would be watching a Governor's budget release as closely as I did on Friday, I would have thought they were crazy. But, that's precisely what I did, in between other meetings. I wasn't alone, either. The anticipation of waiting to see how our budget turns out for this upcoming fiscal year caused a number of us in ANR to listen to the unveiling of the budget while we multitasked, as were I suspect many across the UC system. You just never know where you will end up and how that changes your day-to-day work. So far, there seems to be some recognition that you can't indefinitely continue to do the same with less.
Over the weekend, Pam forwarded a Tweet from Camille von Kaenel (@conka) that said, “From the journalist perspective, extension advisors are golden sources for local environment, agriculture, and climate change articles.” Thanks, Camille! And, thanks to all who make that statement real! Let's hope many feel as Camille does, and we see even further support for our budget that allows for program expansion!
I met with the University Committee on Research and Policy (UCORP) on Monday, hoping to enhance their understanding of UC ANR and recognition that we can all achieve more by working collaboratively and pooling resources. The call was very positive, and I believe the members of UCORP would like to help their campuses better understand how they can work with UC ANR and benefit from that relationship. We talked about campuses perhaps ‘adopting a UCCE office' as a way of building a relationship, sort of Sister Cities. At least a couple of the members liked that concept, so perhaps, if there are UCCE offices also interested, the idea may grow into a pilot in a few locations.
The Peer Review Committee and the Ad Hoc Committees met Monday to review the logistics of their 2020 assignment. Both Pam Tice and Linda Manton didn't miss a beat in the preparations to serve as support and chair, respectively, despite a few years passing since they were full-time in UC ANR.
I am looking forward to attending a few of the Water Program Team webinars on California Water Challenges. I would anticipate strong attendance given that we seem to be a bit short of rain this year (compared to 2019). I love the idea of regular webinars as a means of providing education and conversation! Thanks to the Water Program Team for taking leadership on this effort. Take a look at the Learning and Development page for more information on this series and other opportunities.
The UC-CORO leadership program 2020 cohort starts this week. Although I nominated a few individuals for the program, I am uncertain who from UC ANR is participating this year. I will have a chance to meet with the Northern cohort on Tuesday which will alleviate the mystery for that group, but I will have to wait for an update about the Southern cohort group. It is always fun to hear from participants how they benefited from the program and what project their cohort took on during the program. I will have to wait and see.
A major factor in job satisfaction is the extent to which people feel part of a wider supportive community. Such connections have historically been offered in UC ANR through various means, including our structural units (i.e., our 81 workgroups, 21 program teams and 5 strategic initiatives).
Healthy organizations should regularly look at their structure. Important elements of structure include how the pieces fit together and how people may better connect to more effectively implement their work. In the summer of 2018, we began a series of discussions and surveys to revisit aspects of our structure.
Thank you to the 120-plus people who provided input on our structure and suggestions regarding how we may connect.
Findings
1. Clarity of purpose:
The seeming fuzziness of the roles and goals of our workgroups (WGs), program teams (PTs) and strategic initiatives (SIs) is not as great as people may think. Many consistent findings arose across the different structural groups. A summary of our findings follows.
Workgroups (our oldest unit of structure) are the most readily understood. They represent active “communities of practice” (that can come and go) and are the primary place where people plan and implement (noting that such groups are both formal and informal).
One point of interest is that people didn't realize they could close or start workgroups as needed.
Program teams bring together people (typically from different workgroups) who are working on related but distinctly different topics to network, share and learn.
One clear observation is that PTs vary considerably in terms of the diversity of WG representation (e.g., 1 PT has 12 WGs and a few PTs have just 1 WG).
SIs are our highest form of aggregation (and currently the one that enjoys the least clarity). They function to unify, communicate and advocate as the umbrellas for the work we do. The recent addition for the SIs is the development of the focal areas and grand challenges, providing the opportunity to see the unifying focus in our efforts.
For more information about how workgroups, program teams and strategic initiatives fit together, see https://ucanr.edu/sites/StrategicInitiatives/files/295191.pdf.
2. Workgroups – Don't fix it if it ain't broken:
Of the 81 workgroups, 21 are considered very active and effective - while another 29 are somewhat active and 3 are new in 2019. The remaining 28 WGs have been inactive, as reflected by personnel or goal changes and will be officially closed (see list below). These can be easily reopened if demand arises.
The goal is for WGs to align with a single PT, which likely means realigning the PTs - see point No. 3 below. Currently some workgroups have no PT, whereas other WGs have aligned with many PTs.
3. Reformulate the topic areas for program teams:
The next step is to collect input and look at reformulating/reaffirming the PT themes. Currently, we have 21 PT themes. Some have no WGs under them. Others have many WGs under them. Some workgroups have aligned under many PTs, which creates uneven structure and at times uneven activity.
As we go forward, we encourage people to identify PT themes to 1) better represent the collective work of UC ANR, 2) create or show clearer paths for people to connect at the WG, PT and SI levels, and 3) help us refine the SI focal areas and grand challenges – providing greater clarity of our efforts and clearer SI alignment with the reformulated PT themes and WG efforts.
Opportunity for more input on PT themes
The PT discussions will include a webinar and county visits over summer.
Thank you all for your efforts and we welcome input.
Sincerely,
Mark Bell (Vice Provost Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs)
Strategic Initiative Leaders
HFC: Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty
SFS: Deanne Meyer and Neil McRoberts
Water: David Lewis
SNE: David Lile
Pests: Jim Farrar
—————————————
Workgroups to close. Note: If there is interest and leadership, workgroups can be readily opened by this simple new workgroup request.
1. Air Quality
2. Animals in Educational Settings
3. Bioenergy
4. Body Weight and Health
5. Building Food Security
6. Conservation Biology
7. Dairy Goats
8. Ecological Restoration
9. Economics and Management in Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
10. Environmental Observation Network
11. European Pear
12. Exotic Fruit Fly
13. Garden-based Learning
14. Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
15. Mosquito Research and Extension
16. Pest Management in ANR
17. Postharvest Integrated Pest Management
18. Rangeland Watershed Program
19. Turfgrass
20. Urban Horticulture
21. Water Quality
22. Woody Biomass Utilization
23. Families with Young Children
24. Food Safety Horticultural Crops
25. Land Use
26. Linking Research & Education in Agricultural & Environmental Biotechnology
27. Peppers
28. Spray Application Technology
A major factor in job satisfaction is the extent to which people feel part of a wider supportive community. Such connections have historically been offered in UC ANR through various means, including our structural units (i.e., our 81 workgroups, 21 program teams and 5 strategic initiatives).
Healthy organizations should regularly look at their structure. Important elements of structure include how the pieces fit together and how people may better connect to more effectively implement their work. In the summer of 2018, we began a series of discussions and surveys to revisit aspects of our structure.
Thank you to the 120-plus people who provided input on our structure and suggestions regarding how we may connect.
Findings
1. Clarity of purpose:
The seeming fuzziness of the roles and goals of our Workgroups (WGs), Program Teams (PTs) and Strategic Initiatives (SIs) is not as great as people may think. Many consistent findings arose across the different structural groups. A summary of our findings follows.
Workgroups (our oldest unit of structure) are the most readily understood. They represent active “communities of practice” (that can come and go) and are the primary place where people plan and implement (noting that such groups are both formal and informal).
One point of interest is that people didn't realize they could close or start workgroups as needed.
Program Teams bring together people (typically from different workgroups) who are working on related but distinctly different topics to network, share and learn.
One clear observation is that PTs vary considerably in terms of the diversity of WG representation (e.g., 1 PT has 12 WGs and a few PTs have just 1 WG).
SIs are our highest form of aggregation (and currently the one that enjoys the least clarity). They function to unify, communicate and advocate as the umbrellas for the work we do. The recent addition for the SIs is the development of the Focal Areas and Grand Challenges, providing the opportunity to see the unifying focus in our efforts.
For more information about how workgroups, program teams and strategic initiatives fit together, see https://ucanr.edu/sites/StrategicInitiatives/files/295191.pdf.
2. Workgroups – Don't fix it if it ain't broken:
Of the 81 workgroups, quite a number are considered very active and effective (21) - while another 29 are somewhat active and 3 are new in 2019. The remaining 28 WGs have been inactive as reflected by personnel or goal changes. The inactive WGs will be officially closed (see list at end). These can be easily reopened if demand arises.
The goal is for WGs to align with a single PT which likely means realigning the PTs - see point #3 below. Currently some workgroups have no PT, whereas other WGs have aligned with many PTs.
3. Reformulate the topic areas for Program Teams:
The next step is to collect input and look at reformulating/reaffirming the PT themes. Currently, we have 21 PT themes. Some have no WGs under them. Others have many WGs under them. As indicated above, some workgroups have aligned under many PT. This creates uneven structure and at times uneven activity.
As we go forward, we encourage people to help identify needed PT themes to 1) better represent the collective work of UC ANR, 2) create or show clearer paths for people to connect at the WG, PT and SI levels, and 3) help us refine the SI Focal Areas and Grand Challenges – providing greater clarity of our efforts and clearer SI alignment with the reformulated PT themes and WG efforts.
Opportunity for more input on PT themes
The PT discussions will include a webinar and county visits over summer.
Thank you all for your efforts and we welcome input.
Sincerely,
Mark Bell (Vice Provost Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs)
Strategic Initiative Leaders
HFC: Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty
SFS: Deanne Meyer and Neil McRoberts
Water: David Lewis
SNE: David Lile
Pests: Jim Farrar
—————————————
Workgroups to close
Note: If there is interest and leadership, workgroups can be readily opened by this simple new workgroup request.
1. Air Quality
2. Animals in Educational Settings
3. Bioenergy
4. Body Weight and Health
5. Building Food Security
6. Conservation Biology
7. Dairy Goats
8. Ecological Restoration
9. Economics and Mgmt in Food, Ag, Nat Res and the Environment
10. Environmental Observation Network
11. European Pear
12. Exotic Fruit Fly
13. Garden- Based Learning
14. Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
15. Mosquito Research and Extension
16. Pest Management in ANR
17. Postharvest Integrated Pest Management
18. Rangeland Watershed Program
19. Turfgrass
20. Urban Horticulture
21. Water Quality
22. Woody Biomass Utilization
23. Families with Young Children
24. Food Safety Horticultural Crops
25. Land Use
26. Linking Research & Education in Agricultural & Environmental Biotechnology
27. Peppers
28. Spray Application Technology
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Save the dates for Program Team meetings, a fire summit and UCANR's programmatic orientation.
Vision 20/20: A fire-resilient California: April 16-17, ANR-only follow-up meeting, April 18, Redding CA
The fire summit will bring together community leaders, policymakers, and movers and shakers—people like you!—from a wide range of disciplines on April 16-17. Vision 20/20: A Fire-resilient California will expand our understanding of California's fire problem and provide an opportunity to build connectivity, interaction and integration across disciplines and better understand the complexity of and find solutions to California's wildfire challenge.
On April 18, we'll have an internal ANR meeting where we can share our own work in fire and strategize how together we can better respond to California's fire challenges at local and regional levels. We hope ANR academics and staff from a wide range of disciplines will attend. Travel funds will be available for ANR-affiliated academics and programmatic staff.
Open to ANR academics and programmatic staff – registration now open.
UC ANR Programmatic Orientation: April 23-25, Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Parlier, CA
Plan to join ANR leadership for the Programmatic Orientation to discuss the mission of UC ANR and our varied roles in California and the University, as well as see examples of successful research and outreach programs. Take this opportunity to engage in discussions with colleagues about the resources and opportunities available through ANR as a UC division.
All early career UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists, academic coordinators and administrators are invited to attend – registration now open.
Upcoming Program Team meetings
Water Resources PT – March 5-7 – Registration
Positive Youth Development Meeting – March 18-20 – Registration
Pomology (PECC) PT – March 27-28 – Registration opening soon
Dairy Production and Food Safety PT – April 9-10 – Registration opening soon
Research to Policy PT – April 10-11 – Registration opening soon