Posts Tagged: Tu Tran

Land for sale at 3031 Second Street

Approximately two years ago, UC ANR purchased a parcel of land adjacent and contiguous to the current Davis headquarters at 2801 Second Street. The purchase was intended to facilitate future development of the ANR Davis site.

Subsequent to the purchase, ANR worked with staff, faculty and division leadership throughout the following year to explore development potential for this parcel. With the help of MIG, a land planning firm, that study was completed in 2017 and Phase One was implemented: construction of the new parking lot with the research feature. The concept, as designed, also determined the amount of land area that will be required for additional work space/conference center for the ANR headquarters, leaving approximately 6 acres as surplus. 

After consulting with the UC Davis campus and other stakeholders from the division, and on the advice of the President's Advisory Committee regarding leveraging some of our real estate holdings to address budgetary pressure, a decision was made to unlock the potential value of this surplus parcel. The proceeds from the eventual sale will be used to pay down current debt and/or invest in the new workspace/conference center at 2801, be placed in a safe investment fund to generate future income, or be used to address any other urgent needs that the division may encounter.

Tu Tran
Associate Vice President, Business Operations

 

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.

UCPath cutover postponed for UC ANR and UC Davis

In a Feb. 28 meeting, President Napolitano, UC Davis Chancellor May, UC Berkeley Chancellor Christ and Vice President Humiston agreed to postpone UCPath implementation at UC Davis and UC ANR as recommended by the UCPath program leadership and its executive sponsors. This postponement is necessary to allow time to properly analyze and resolve critical issues related to the readiness level at UC Davis and the UC Davis Health System due to data accuracy and compounding complexities of the downstream system interfaces.

UC ANR's readiness to go live in UCPath meets required specifications thanks in part to our smaller population and a centralized administrative structure. However, it is not feasible for UC ANR to cut over to UCPath independent of UC Davis in the short time necessary to meet the April cutover because we use many UC Davis systems. Therefore, Vice President Humiston voted to postpone UC ANR's cutover as well.  

Cutover activities for UC Berkeley will proceed as planned for the March and April dates.

We are working now with our partners at UC Davis and the UCPath central project team to analyze deployment options and to identify a new target go-live date. It is my sincere hope that we will be able to go live this summer in concert with our campus partners at UC Davis. 

Although we are disappointed about the delay, I am proud of the outstanding work our teams have done to meet project milestones and demonstrate our readiness to go live on schedule.  Our project team has been recognized for taking the lead role among UC locations in testing and readiness activities. I'd like to share VP Humiston's thanks to all involved for a remarkable job and ask that we stay engaged in this very strategic and important project.

We will use the next few months to continue our training and preparation activities so that UC ANR maintains its readiness level to achieve a smooth transition. We will keep you apprised of any updates.

Tu M. Tran 
Associate Vice President, Business Operations

 

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.

 

Duo multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Dear Colleagues,

As many of you are aware, preparations are underway for UC ANR to implement UCPath in the spring of 2019. UCPath is a systemwide initiative launched by the University of California to modernize its current payroll system. Using new technology, UCPath will standardize the Division's workforce management effort, and payroll, benefits and human resources systems for all UC employees, and will enable the formation of UC ANR as a distinct financial structure within UC, which is a critical step for our organization.

The formation of UC ANR as a stand-alone financial structure provides us a remarkable opportunity to improve efficiency, and strengthen compliance, accountability and security. Additionally, UC ANR is responsible for protecting a vast amount of electronic information ranging from personal data to highly valuable original research.

In order to protect personnel payroll records that will enable UCPath, as well as critical research data, we have collaborated with UC Davis to implement a multi-factor authentication (MFA) service called Duo. Duo adds a new layer of security to your online accounts. A more comprehensive description of Duo is available at http://ucanr.edu/mfa.

To support ANR-wide adoption of Duo MFA, I want to encourage all managers, supervisors and directors to make staff aware of the Duo initiative and actively encourage them to enroll. Your participation in this initiative will help protect UC ANR information assets and help us comply with laws and regulations pertaining to the protection of personal and confidential information. Thank you for your support as UC ANR implements this critical cybersecurity initiative.                                                     

Sincerely,

Tu M. Tran
Associate Vice President, Business Operations
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

 

Attachment: UC ANR Duo MFA Fact Sheet

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.

To strengthen cybersecurity and compliance, ANR sets new policy for computer and electronic device purchases

In 2017, ANR learned valuable lessons amid events within the UC Office of the President making necessary our examination of policy and procedures regarding University-purchased portable electronics. As you know, in December 2017, we placed a moratorium on the purchase of electronic devices while we conducted that review. Thank you for your patience during this process. Now that the policy review and the development of compliance standards are completed, we are lifting the moratorium. Let me advise you of the changes in policy and plans for UC ANR's Endpoint Security Management Initiative.

UC Systemwide Policy G-46 Scope

UC Systemwide Policy G-46establishes requirements for the use of University-purchased cellular phones and other portable electronic equipment and outlines the appropriate circumstances for purchasing these resources, specifically cell phones, MiFi's and tablets (e.g. Kindles, Androids & iPads). This does not include tablet PCs, running full versions of desktop operating systems, laptops, or laptops that can be converted to a tablet mode (e.g. Surface Pro, Notebooks, ThinkPads).

UC ANR Employee Eligibility Form for University-Provided Electronic Device (ANR G-46 Eligibility) If an employee requires a portable electronic resource and providing that resource represents a reasonable use of public funds, the Department (Unit) Head can authorize the purchase using the criteria within the ANR G-46 Eligibility Form.

ANR has determined that due to the inherent program delivery focus of certain ANR positions, the ANR G-46 Eligibility form is not required for UC ANR Advisors, Academic Coordinators/Administrators, ANR-based Cooperative Extension Specialists and Community Education Specialists.

UC ANR Employee Agreement Form for University-Provided Electronic Device (ANR G-46 Agreement) Prior to receiving a portable electronic device, all employees must sign a usage agreement acknowledging that the primary use of the resource(s) will be for official University business and that any personal use of the resources will be incidental in nature. This requirement applies to UC ANR Advisors, Academic Coordinators/Administrator, ANR-based Cooperative Extension Specialists and Community Education Specialists.

Implementation

Currently the Controller's Office is piloting a web-based software to coordinate completion, tracking and storage of the new ANR forms. In support of our strategic goals to streamline administrative functions and modernize technology, we plan to make ANR G-46 Eligibility and G-46 Agreement forms part of this pilot. More information will be forthcoming in June. In the meantime, please use the paper forms found at the bottom of this page. There are FAQs within the G-46 policy describing preferred rate plans, approved vendors and other specifics regarding the purchase and use of cell phones, Mi-Fi's and tablets located here.

If you have questions about policy, contact Robin Sanchez, Controller's Office (rgsanchez@ucanr.edu). If you have questions about ordering a cell-phone, Mi-Fi or tablet, please contact either Emily LaRue, BOC-K (elarue@ucanr.edu) or Sally Harmsworth, BOC-D (sharmsworth@ucanr.edu).

The purposes of the above changes are to bring ANR into compliance with UC Systemwide policy and protect our academics and staff from incurring imputed income. Similarly, UC ANR's Endpoint Security Management Initiative is meant, in part, to comply with UC Systemwide IS-3 Cybersecurity policy. IS-3 will shield ANR staff and academics from external threats such as ransomware, information and privacy breaches, and data loss that could jeopardize our mission of public service, research, and education.  What follows are details of the Initiative's goals and standards.

ANR Endpoint Security Management Initiative

In order to strengthen our cybersecurity posture and to comply with UC Systemwide IS-3 cybersecurity policy, ANR is launching an Endpoint Security Management Initiative covering all ANR-owned computers. The objectives of this initiative are:

• To better protect UC ANR-owned IT assets (hardware, software, data) via prevention, threat identification and detection.
• To automate computer updates and patch critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities in a timely manner to mitigate risks.
• To ensure computer security software is installed and updated to protect UC ANR-owned computers and data.

As a key component of this initiative, the ANR IT department will coordinate the computer procurement process and ANR will standardize on several Dell Latitude laptop and OptiPlex desktop computer models. All new computer purchase requests will be initiated using the ANR IT Help Desk ticketing system. ANR IT staff will consult with end users to determine appropriate laptop or desktop computer models to be ordered and will coordinate the placement of computer orders via the UC Davis AggieBuy system. New computers will be delivered to the ANR IT department in Davis to be configured and appropriate cybersecurity software installed before being shipped to the end user's location.

New ANR Procedure for Ordering Laptops and Desktop Computers

Effective immediately, all requests for laptop and desktop computer orders charged to ANR funds must be routed to the ANR IT department via the IT ticketing system. Due to ANR cybersecurity requirements, the use of UC purchasing cards or personal funds to purchase ANR-owned computers is no longer allowed.

Procedure:

(1)  The end user will create a ticket in the ANR IT Ticketing System identifying the type of laptop or desktop computer to be purchased. The IT Ticketing System can be accessed in the ANR Portal via the “IT Help” button.

(2)  As necessary, IT staff will consult with the end user to determine the appropriate laptop/desktop computer model and needed specifications. As part of this process, the end user will be provided an “ANR Computer Purchase Request Form.”

(3)  The end user will complete and obtain unit financial approval on the “ANR Computer Purchase Request Form,” then upload the form to the IT ticket.

(4)  The ANR IT department will place the order through AggieBuy and upload the "ANR Computer Purchase Request Form" as supporting documentation. 

1. The shipping location will be designated as the ANR IT department in Davis.
2. As orders are entered into AggieBuy, standard ANR financial approval routing will occur.

(5)  The ANR IT department will receive new computer equipment and provide appropriate ANR imaging and encryption and will then ship the equipment to the end user's unit location.

Detailed information on the ANR Endpoint Security Management Initiative and the ordering procedures will be posted on the ANR IT website by May 15. If you have questions about this initiative, please contact Tolgay Kizilelma, tkizilelma@ucanr.edu.

Sincerely,

Tu Tran
Associate Vice President - Business Operations

 

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

 

 

UC ANR Consolidates Human Resources

For the past 18 months, UC ANR Academic Personnel Unit (APU) and the Staff Personnel Unit (SPU) have been working closely together to integrate the human resource services. This  has been a very positive and successful process for the staff of the two units. The consolidated Academic and Staff Personnel units, under “one” Human Resource Service umbrella, will be more effective and efficient for the Division. The merger is effective October 1, 2105.

This strategy will enhance the services provided to ANR clientele when coupled with a “business partner” model, allowing for a closer partnership between HR staff and their clients. Under this model, the APU and SPU will identify HR “business partners,” from current HR analysts, who will consult strategically with clients on HR actions, explain policies and procedures, and ensure timely completion of their assigned actions. 

The Staff Personnel Unit will continue to serve ANR units as they have with staff recruitments, compensations, leaves and labor relations. The Academic Personnel Unit will continue to serve ANR units with academic recruitments, merits and promotions, sabbatical leaves, and emeritus status. These functions will continue to be overseen by the UC ANR Vice Provost for Cooperative Extension. The labor relations team will continue to serve the division, however there will be greater integration between the academic and staff subject matter experts, ensuring enhanced client services. The Affirmative Action office will continue to serve ANR as an integrated service. The collaboration between the Academic and Staff Personnel functions will allow for a more comprehensive customer service orientation model.

On October 1, 2015, John Fox will join the new HR organization as its Executive Director – based in Davis – and will ensure its successful implementation, as Linda Manton moves toward retirement, in completion of projects and training programs.

Tu Tran
Associate Vice President 

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.

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