UC ANR Staff Assembly scholarships now available

The UC ANR Staff Assembly Council is pleased to announce the 2017-18 Scholarship program.

The UC ANR Staff Assembly has established a scholarship program that is available to all UC ANR staff employees and county-paid employees. The scholarship provides financial assistance to UC ANR staff to pursue career interests, develop new career paths, and address knowledge or skill gaps needed to reach professional development goals.

This year's award dates are for courses taken between May 1, 2017, and April 15, 2018. Deadline for applications is close of business April 15, 2018. Late applications will not be accepted. Courses taken after April 15, 2018, will be eligible for reimbursement on the next scholarship cycle of April 16, 2018, to Nov. 30, 2018.  

For complete details please go to the UC ANR Staff Assembly website: http://staffassembly.ucanr.edu/News.

Last year's scholarship recipients were Jerry Harris, office manager for UCCE San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, and Ria Debiase, pest management guidelines coordinator for the UC IPM Program in Davis.  Here's what they have to say about their experience:  

1. Tell us about yourself – Where do you work, what do you do, are you a county-paid or UC-paid employee?

Jerry Harris: My name is Jerry Harris. I am a county-paid employee and work for San Luis Obispo County. My position is the administrative services officer II, which can be translated as office manager. I handle all the administrative functions of the office and many other tasks as needed.

Ria Debiase: I work for UC IPM in the ANR building on Second Street. I am the pest management guidelines coordinator.

2. How did you hear about the UC ANR Staff Assembly scholarship program?

Jerry Harris: One of the members of the Staff Assembly informed me of the program.

Ria Debiase: During an ANR Staff Meeting where Matt Baur presented.

3. What class did you take and how does it relate to your professional development goals?

Jerry Harris: I am taking several classes as I work towards earning my bachelor's degree in business with an emphasis on accounting. I earned my associates degree in accounting back in 2012.  The junior level classes that I have completed for this scholarship have been: public administration, team building and intro to organization behavior, which I passed with two Bs and one A. All three of those classes were taken at National University. These classes helped me in my progress in earning my degree and are all with the intent to work towards achieving advancement in my career.

Ria Debiase: I took an intermediate stats class, which helped me gain a better understanding of the statistical soundness of papers I use as research for the guidelines. 

4. Was it difficult to apply for the scholarship funds?

Jerry Harris: No, it was pretty straightforward process.

Ria Debiase: The main challenge was some glitchiness in turning in copies of my receipts through File Vault. The completed course requirement was also a challenge, in that there are some courses I would only consider if the scholarship money was approved ahead of time. Otherwise the process was fairly straightforward.

Note from Staff Assembly: For future application submissions, Staff Assembly Council now requests copies of receipts via email instead of through the file transfer process. 

5. Will you apply for scholarship funds in the future?

Jerry Harris: Absolutely.

Ria Debiase: Yes, definitely. 

6. Would you recommend the scholarship program to other employees? 

Jerry Harris: Yes, this program really helps to offset the expensive costs of higher education.

Ria Debiase: Yes!

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