ANR Update

Budget update and strategies

Colleagues,

As you know, the University is experiencing severe fiscal challenges across all locations because of COVID-19 and its economic fallout. UC ANR is facing a possible 12.7% budget reduction for the 20-21 fiscal year. The University is hoping for a supplemental federal appropriation from Congress which may help to reduce the budget cut, but until we know more about our fiscal position for the coming year, we are implementing measures to ensure that we are able to continue to deliver the UC ANR mission. As these fiscal challenges become more apparent, many of you have expressed concerns about continued job security and what's next. 

Our Commitment 
UC ANR's strength lies squarely with its people. We have a strong commitment to our employees and seek to implement this by being proactive, transparent and innovative wherever possible. In addition to this ongoing commitment, we will prioritize protecting programmatic goals and current positions. Layoffs will be considered only as a tool of last resort to address the fiscal challenges. 

We will approach this situation as we have faced many other challenges - thoughtfully, strategically and with our employees and mission in mind. To do this effectively and equitably across UC ANR, we are implementing a series of strategies.

Our Strategies 
In order to achieve the above we initiated a hiring freeze effective July 1 and deferred funding requests for new staff positions and expenditures. Staffing requests will only be approved by exception based on compelling priorities. This hiring freeze will remain in effect for 12 months, unless the budgetary condition improves. Additionally, we are:

• Ensuring a high level of flexibility to reassign current staff to critical positions using the current Redeployment program, wherever possible.
• Approving reasonable use of the voluntary Employee Initiated Reduction in Time (ERIT).
• Proactively considering other UC systemwide strategies for actions to reduce costs such as voluntary reduction in time and voluntary early retirement.
• Working to grow and diversify the Division's revenue streams, prioritizing the development of contracts and grants, gifts, and other independent revenue sources.
• Maintaining programmatic delivery and continuing to invest in key areas, including those identified in the strategic plan, to strengthen delivery of extension and operational efficiency to further our mission.

Our hope is that the hiring freeze and other cost-cutting measures will be short-lived and that Congress will provide the necessary funds to minimize cuts to the University. UC has initiated an advocacy campaign to encourage Congress to support state funding as well as supplemental research and cooperative extension funding.

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

Next UC president and ANR Strategic Plan refresh

Dear Colleagues,

I am thrilled that Michael Drake will return to UC as its next President; he brings a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of higher education in addition to a strong track record of growing programs, supporting all aspects of the university community and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Dr. Drake is very familiar with California and is excited to “come home” as he said yesterday.

As the former Chancellor of UC Irvine and Vice President of UC Health Affairs, and as a past board chairman for the Association of American Universities and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, Dr. Drake understands the importance of our land-grant university mission and is well-positioned to ensure its achievement. He knows the importance of Cooperative Extension outreach to communities from his tenures at The Ohio State University and UC Office of the President. During our meeting yesterday, I was very excited when he brought up the positive role that soil and agriculture can play in climate resiliency, the importance of food security and how UC research was essential to supporting those critical goals.

It's an exciting time for UC, with the first person of color at the helm. I look forward to showing him what UC ANR is doing and learning more about how Dr. Drake's vision and experience will shape the future of UC ANR. His achievements in widening access to higher education will undoubtedly help inform our efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in our organization as well as expand and enhance our program delivery.

I look forward to working with him to advance our mission and support our communities. I also look forward to receiving feedback and ideas from all of you during the next month as we refresh our strategic plan.

Every Tuesday in August, UC ANR leaders will be hosting two-hour online meetings to share draft 5-year goals and get your input into the ANR Strategic Plan 2020-2025 Refresh. Teams of goal owners will briefly overview challenges currently facing our organization and the draft goals designed to position UC ANR for a strong and sustainable future. We will use breakout groups for you to discuss the issues with colleagues and submit your ideas to inform the final ANR strategic plan.

All UC ANR staff and academics are invited to participate.

See below for specific dates for certain topics and respective draft goals – mark your calendar! More details and registration will follow.

Date and Time	Topic
8/4     10 am – 12 pm	Increasing Program Resources
8/11     1 pm – 3 pm	Strengthening Partnerships
8/18    10 am – 12 pm	Fostering a Positive Work Environment
8/25     1 pm – 3 pm	Expanding Virtual Reach

As always, thanks for all you do and stay safe out there!

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

Introducing UC President-designate Dr. Michael V. Drake

Dear UC Colleagues,

As Chair of the Board of Regents, I am delighted to share with you that Michael V. Drake, MD, will become the 21st President of the University of California. 

Dr. Drake, former Chancellor of UC Irvine and Vice President of UC Health Affairs, returns to the University of California after having served with great distinction since 2014 as the President of The Ohio State University.  

As I noted to my colleagues on the Board, I believe Dr. Drake personifies the qualities we looked for in selecting a new President: he is committed to seeing the whole student and to supporting all our students, he recognizes the incalculable value of faculty and staff to the University's mission, and he understands the importance of the public and private partnerships that help us achieve that mission. 

These qualities dovetail with the priorities we heard from the UC community during the selection process, a thorough 10-month long nationwide search that included broad consultation with faculty, students, staff and alumni as well as soliciting an unprecedented amount of public input. More information on the search process can be located here.

As the first person of color to serve as UC President, Dr. Drake arrives at an important point in the University's journey. From my own discussions with him, I am confident Dr. Drake is the right leader to build upon UC's educational and research excellence and to advance the University's goal to serve all segments of society as an engine of economic and social mobility.

I will have the honor of introducing President-designate Drake to the UC community during a special, livestreamed conversation at 11:30 a.m. (PDT) on July 10 that can be accessed here. I hope you can join us as we begin inaugurating this exciting new era at UC. 

Fiat Lux,

John A. Pérez
Chair, Board of Regents

UC ANR announces Distinguished Service Award recipients

Sponsored by UC ANR and Academic Assembly Council, the Distinguished Service Awards (DSA) recognize service and academic excellence in UC Cooperative Extension over a significant period of time. Awards highlight the use of innovative methods and the integration of research, extension and leadership by UC ANR academics. Award categories include outstanding research, outstanding extension, outstanding new academic, outstanding team, and outstanding leader.

Congratulations to the 2020 DSA recipients!

Outstanding Research – Carlos Crisosto

Carlos Crisosto, Cooperative Extension postharvest physiology specialist, has demonstrated an exceptional research program with impacts on both the California food industry and consumers through his work on postharvest handling of tree fruits and nuts. His work has had a high impact on food loss reduction, improvement of fruit quality and safety, and expansion of markets for California agriculture. Highlights of Crisosto's work include his incorporation of consumer perceptions into the measurement of fruit quality, collaborative development and implementation of protocols for fruit ripening, transportation and retail handling, and research into consumer perceptions of different cultivars. His outstanding research has been coupled with an outreach and education program that included extension through site visits, in-person workshops, short courses, manuals, popular articles, websites and collaboration. In addition to his academic successes, Crisosto was awarded the Industry Distinguished Service & Achievement Award by the California fig industry in recognition of supporting cultivar development, improving marketing and utilization of dried and fresh figs over his career. The success of Crisosto's program is a testament to the outstanding work in applied research that can be accomplished through UC ANR.

Outstanding Extension – Andrew Sutherland

Andrew Sutherland has shaped his program based on his clientele needs since the beginning of his career at UC ANR and has had great success implementing pest management programs in urban areas. He has done an extensive amount of work on bed bug, termite and cockroach control. He has worked with several agencies including structural pest control businesses, public health nurses, multifamily housing managers and UC Master Gardeners to deliver practical information on pest management. One ongoing project that has both a public health and an environmental impact in California is bait station systems for control of subterranean termites. The project is evaluating efficacy and costs associated with bait systems and looking into alternatives to liquid termicides, which have been identified as serious environmental contaminants in California's surface water systems. His work has benefited urban populations in general, but has also reached underserved communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sutherland has made a great effort to reach out to Hispanic audiences, producing materials in Spanish and hosting public presentations and outreach events in low-income areas of his territory. Sutherland has collaborated with industry leaders on applied research projects that take economic challenges into consideration when designing programs that would be beneficial and relevant to his clientele.

Outstanding New Academic – Mae Culumber

Mae Culumber has been the UCCE nut crops advisor in Fresno County since June 2016. Culumber has developed an outstanding applied research program in only 4 years, which addresses clientele needs and is in alignment with the ANR Strategic Vision. Her work provides innovative solutions to identify orchard management practices that maximize the efficient use of water and nutrient resources, and promote biochemical and physical soil characteristics that will lead to improvements in soil health and enhanced vigor and productivity of nut crops. Culumber's work primarily focused on innovative efforts that improved food system productivity. Culumber established successful collaborations with advisors and specialists from UC Cooperative Extension, faculty from UC Davis Plant Sciences, and scientists from USDA-ARS Davis and Parlier to examine greenhouse gas emissions, and soil biochemical carbon and nitrogen dynamics in newly established orchards after whole orchard recycling. Her leadership of this basic and applied research team is exceptional for a newer advisor in the Assistant Rank. Culumber recognizes and invests in developing useful information, strategies and trainings to impact and improve clientele practices, that also have statewide public value by protecting California's natural resources.

Outstanding Team – AB 589 Water Measurement Training Team

This team of UCCE specialists and advisors rapidly developed and coordinated a training program that met the needs of UC ANR's farming and ranching clientele, in a cost-effective and timely manner. California Senate Bill 88 requires that all water rights holders who have previously diverted or intend to divert more than 10 acre feet per year measure and report the water they divert to the State. For most ranchers and diverters impacted by SB 88, complying with the reporting requirements is expensive and burdensome. The cost and availability of professionals to design, install and calibrate diversion measurement systems resulted in a grassroots effort by California Cattlemen's Association and California Farm Bureau to seek an educational alternative for surface water diverters. With support from the University of California, Assembly Bill 589 (AB 589) was introduced and carried. It passed through the Assembly and the Senate with no opposition and was signed by Governor Brown. The bill allows diverters that complete the UC course to install and maintain measurement devices to comply with SB 88, saving them time and money. Working with industry (California Cattlemen's Association) and regulators (State Water Resources Control Board), the UC team provided a huge service to farming and ranching clientele and the state. This is a true testament to UC ANR's ability to work with groups of differing interests in order to reach a common goal. The UC team has conducted 20 workshops since the bill was passed and certified over 1,200 diverters. One letter of reference indicated a cost savings of more than $4,000 on his ranch alone.

The AB 589 Water Measurement Training Team includes:

• Larry Forero, UCCE livestock & natural resource advisor, Shasta & Trinity
• Khaled Bali, UCCE irrigation water management specialist, Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center
• Allan Fulton, UCCE irrigation and water resources advisor, Tehama, Glenn, Colusa & Shasta
• Daniele Zaccaria, associate UCCE specialist, UC Davis
• Theresa Becchetti, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor, Stanislaus & San Joaquin
• Josh Davy, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor, Tehama, Glenn & Colusa
• Morgan Doran, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor, Yolo, Sacramento & Solano
• Julie Finzel, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor, Tulare, Kings, & Kern
• Cari Koopmann Rivers, former UCCE livestock and natural resource advisor, Siskiyou
• Glenn McGourty, UCCE viticulture advisor, Mendocino & Lake
• Rebecca Ozeran, UCCE livestock advisor, Fresno 
• Devii Rao, UCCE livestock & natural resource advisor, San Benito & Monterey
• Tracy Schohr, UCCE livestock & natural resource advisor, Butte, Plumas & Sierra
• Scott Stoddard, UCCE vegetable crops and soils advisor, Merced
• Matthew Shapero, UCCE livestock & natural resource advisor, Ventura & Santa Barbara
• Rhonda Smith, UCCE viticulture advisor, Sonoma
• Laura Snell, UCCE livestock & natural resource advisor, Modoc
• Jeff Stackhouse, UCCE livestock & natural resource advisor, Humboldt & Del Norte
• Julé Rizzardo, assistant deputy director, Division of Water Rights, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in Sacramento
• Kyle Ochenduszko, deputy public works director, City of Benicia
• Brian Coats, senior water resource control engineer, SWRCB-Sacramento
• Jeff Yeazell, water resource control engineer, SWRCB-Sacramento
• Chuck Arnold, water resource control engineer, SWRCB-Sacramento

Outstanding Leader – Katherine Soule

Katherine Soule holds several formal leadership roles in ANR including leading several statewide programs locally, serving as director of UCCE in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties and as Academic Assembly Council President. Soule holds informal leadership roles as a mentor and colleague. Outside of ANR, she leads a national working group, is a local non-profit board member, and leads research and development for a professional organization. When Soule became county director (July 2017), she began strategic planning focused on building relationships with key stakeholders (administrative, clientele, academics and community partners) and addressing the needs, opportunities and challenges UCCE faces in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Her efforts focused on improving fiscal management, increasing understanding of UCCE, and eliminating program inefficiencies.

Soule uses strengths-based leadership and her leadership position to support and communicate the goals of academics' programs and their successes, while ensuring the fiscal resources needed to carry out their visions. She recognizes the strength and expertise of those she leads and provides others with meaningful opportunities to develop shared visions and long-term objectives. She has supported the development and advancement of several team members, who have completed advanced degrees while working for UCCE, taken higher-level positions, and increased their professional contributions to their respective fields. She is sought throughout the ANR system to provide guidance and support for academics, statewide leaders and other personnel.

 

UC Regents to discuss appointment of next UC president Tuesday, July 7

The University of California Board of Regents will hold a virtual special meeting on Tuesday, July 7, at 3:30 p.m. PDT starting with the closed session of the Governance Committee. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be conducted entirely as a teleconference and start with public comment. 

The meeting will be livestreamed on July 7. The agenda item for the discussion and approval of the next UC president will also be updated the same day.

Information on the presidential search can be found on the Regents' website.

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