- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Dear Colleagues,
In the last 12 months, we have experienced major, if not unprecedented changes across ANR. These changes have been driven by our funding challenges and by the need to prepare for the future.
New relationships, collaborations, and systems have been launched. Many dedicated and experienced staff have moved into very different new roles while others have moved on to new endeavors. I am very proud of your commitment and your sacrifices. The progress we have made is substantial.
These changes are unsettling for some, but maintaining the status quo simply isn’t an option. Dealing with budget realities is an obvious necessity. Organizing and refocusing on the future is also imperative. We must think and aim far enough ahead to be ready to respond to better times.
That is one of the reasons the demanding external relations role President Yudof has asked me to handle is so important. What benefits UC is good for ANR. From a budget perspective, we are now treated the same as UC campuses and we benefit from much higher visibility for ANR within UCOP and across the UC system.
My calendar is busy, but I continue to engage in important ANR activities. Recently, I discussed with a key USDA advisory board the moral imperative to develop a sustainable global food system. Last week I attended the Sierra Foothill REC’s 50th anniversary celebration. The five decades of research recapped by Ed Price, Mel George, and others are solid evidence of ANR’s unique capabilities, our commitment to address California issues, and especially of the extraordinary people who have contributed to that heritage. This week I will be participating in a United Nations Foundation discussion of “Solutions for the Land.”
Early next month, we will host the President’s Advisory Commission and also meet with Roger Beachy, director of USDA’s new National Institute for Food and Agriculture or NIFA. I also have the opportunity to talk to the Western Regional Development Center Board of Directors later this month.
Both as a California farm boy and as an attorney, I’ve always grabbed the best and the biggest tools available either to get the job done or to make the decisive point in a legal argument. It’s no different now. I came to UC to lead ANR and I remain committed to ANR. The reasons are simple. UC is a unique institution and ANR is uniquely capable of extending that excellence to California and beyond.
I hope you will join me for a virtual town hall on May 24. Specifics will be out shortly, but we’ll certainly have much to talk about, including the latest budget news based on the governor’s “May Revise.”
Thanks for your commitment and hard work.
Warm regards,
Dan
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