- Author: Wendy Powers
This week I will celebrate Cesar Chavez Day for the first time. I am interested to see how Californians go about remembering the work and impact of Cesar Chavez. I don't recall learning about Chavez or the struggles of migrant laborers during my primary education; perhaps the result of living in New York State. However, when I was enrolled in a literature course at Cornell I happened to see a flier advertising an upcoming seminar which I mistakenly read as “The Grapes of Wrath”. I decided to attend the event in hopes that I could skip reading one of the assignments for the course. It turned out the title of the event was “The Wrath of Grapes” and was a movie followed by discussion about the life and efforts of Cesar Chavez. Needless to say, I had to read John Steinbeck's work later that semester.
I've never been one to sit down and read unless confined with no other activities from which to select. As I write this, I am on a long flight to attend the Western Extension Directors Association spring meeting. Knowing I would spend much of the day in the air, I packed up what I hope to be the final draft of a graduate student's M.S. thesis, a manuscript draft from my MSU technician for a project she led, the electronic files of a promotion packet from a faculty member at a non-US university, and a draft of the 2016 UC ANR Federal Report. Then, of course, there is still that Crucial Conversations homework that I really need to complete.
Thus far, I have only tackled the federal report. I can see where the information within it will be quite useful not only for the mandatory reporting, but also for future conversations much like the one we had when a group of us made Hill visits in early March. The impact stories provided by Specialists, Advisors and staff have tremendous use to me as I go about my work. They are one of the best ways I can stay up-to-date on what's going on around the Division and what impacts the work is having. I am optimistic that at some point there will be a means for me to query a database and have targeted information at my fingertips. During my 20 years as a Specialist I often wondered if anyone ever read what I submitted; it turns out that Katherine Webb-Martinez, Chris Hanson, Kit Alviz and others do read the information and assemble it in a manner for me to read. And I do intend to make use of the information. So as painful as it is to write things up and submit them, believe me, it is equally painful to read things that are carelessly assembled and just submitted so that it can be checked off the ‘to-do' list. Fortunately, that's not what I encountered today – so ‘thanks' to everyone who took time to thoughtfully prepare and submit impact statements about their work!!!
And speaking of reading… did you know that the UC ANR Davis building has set up a ‘Leadership Library'? It is in the lounge area on the second floor, just outside VP Humiston's office. We just set it up recently because in one way or other we are all leaders and can benefit from some tips and strategies. There are already some books on the shelves but if you have a stack at home or in your office that you are considering whether or not to keep, consider donating them to the shelves. And if you see a book that interests you, feel free to take it and replace it when you have finished it and are back in town. I've still got a stack in Michigan that I will have to work on getting to California. If the shelves are full, we can make more space or consider establishing a branch library in Oakland. Academia and UC ANR are about continuous education and improvement. For some of us that means picking up a book every now and then.