Posts Tagged: equity

Market Equity Adjustment Plan

Dear Colleagues:

Attracting and retaining highly qualified employees is a top priority for UC ANR. It's a critical part of our strategic plan and key to our ability to deliver the mission. It's been four years since we began our last Market Equity Adjustment Plan, which was completed this past year; in that time the labor market has continued to change due to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and systemic shifts in many labor markets. Those factors have increased pressures on household budgets for many of our employees; because of that UC ANR has recently conducted an updated analysis of market rates for our staff positions. I'm pleased to report today that, as part of UC ANR's overall compensation strategy, I have approved an accelerated two-year Market Equity Adjustment Plan for policy covered (non-represented) staff. 

This program will ensure salaries of existing staff are better aligned with the labor market and is effective as of April 2022, although changes in payroll will first be seen in June 2022. Using UC Career Tracks, UC ANR Human Resources will be able to identify, review and address the salaries of policy covered staff members whose pay is not in the updated competitive zone targets. All policy covered staff are eligible to participate in this plan, regardless of their position's funding source. 

To ensure that employees shift into appropriate market rates more quickly, our UC ANR program will be implemented over two years, rather than the four years we did previously. Please note: these equity adjustments are separate and distinct from any UC systemwide merit program approved later by President Drake. 

UC ANR leadership is committed to the health and well-being of our employees. This Market Equity Adjustment program is designed to address salary issues; other work continues throughout the system to address program support, enhancements to business operations, communications and more. Additional information on program eligibility and payroll dates will be forthcoming. Questions and follow-up can be addressed to humanresources@ucanr.edu. 

As always, many thanks for the great work you do to serve our mission and the people of California. Best wishes and have a wonderful weekend!

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

 

Update on DEI Advisory Council; End of regional stay-at-home orders

Update on DEI Advisory Council

This month I appointed 11 UC ANR employees to an initial two-year term as founding members of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Council for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. The group began meeting to consider the Council's role and structure in November; this appointment is effective retroactively from November 1, 2020, through October 31, 2022. 

I am convening this advisory council to support DEI efforts that UC ANR staff and academics have undertaken to improve working environments within UC ANR, as well as to improve quality of life for marginalized populations living in the state of California. Diversity is one of our core values and developing an equitable and inclusive society is one of our Public Values. This Council is a commitment by UC ANR leadership to take division-wide action on the existence and impact of longstanding discrimination within our Division, as well as in our efforts throughout the state.

I am asking the founding members to recommend a formal Charter to document the objectives, organization and functions of the Council. While the initial appointment for founding members is two years, the intent is for members to have staggered appointments to allow for turnover and continuity. I ask that the Council work to develop the Charter and an agenda for an initial meeting with me, AVP Powers and AVP Tran by June 30, 2021. 

Council Members 

Elaine Lander 
Esther Mosase 
Fadzayi Mashiri 
Gail Feenstra 
Katherine Soule 
Keith Nathaniel 
Laura Snell 
LeChé McGill 
Mohammed Yagmour 
Ricardo Vela 
Ron Walker

 

End of regional stay-at-home orders

On Monday, the state ended the regional stay-at-home order, which means that each county will now revert back to following the four risk tiers for re-opening based on COVID-19 testing and case rates. Currently, all but four counties are in the most restrictive tier (Widespread / Purple), but over the next few weeks we may see some counties begin to open up more as the number of cases declines.

For UC ANR activities, this means that if local County Health Orders allow, standard COVID-19 safety protocols are in place, and you are ready, many of you may begin to gradually increase some in-person activities, including allowing some small (10 or fewer) outdoor meetings, programs or workshops. Indoor meetings, programs or workshops are not allowed until your county reaches the Substantial/Red risk tier.

Please refer to our safety protocols and guidance on the webpage for resuming in-person activities for more details. Safety Coordinators and Directors should also take this time to review and update their site-specific Location Safety Plan to reflect the current operations at their UC ANR location, volunteer programs, and field sites and share those plans and any changes with the staff who are working onsite.  

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

UC ANR 21-day racial equity challenge begins Sept. 14

ANR employees, along with other UC locations and thousands of other people across the US and beyond, are committing to deepening understanding of, and willingness to confront, racism for 21 consecutive days.

Diversity scholar Eddie Moore, Jr. created the 21-Day Challenge to encourage a deeper understanding of race, privilege, supremacy, power, and oppression. People at Food Solutions New England Sustainability Institute (FSNE) were inspired by his work and the work of Debby Irving and Dr. Marguerite Pennick-Parks to adapt the 21-Day Habit-Building Challenge to their food system network. FSNE has been organizing and hosting the Challenge every year since 2015. 

Why 21 days? Some say it takes 21 days to create a habit. The intention of this initiative is to support ANR employees in developing “effective social justice habits” to effect meaningful change. ANR has adapted FSNE's February 2020 21-Day Equity Challenge to make it easy for employees to independently dive into their own examination of the program or to create a cohort of ANR employees with whom to share the experience.

Through a look at the food system challenge developed by FSNE, we will distinguish that racism is expressed through institutions, cultures, and behaviors instead of flawed personal character defects. Uncovering inequities and injustices will assist each of us in broadening our understanding and compassion and grow our engagement towards anti-racism and towards the experiences of Black Americans.

In examining the Black experience, we will consider our own personal layers of privilege and those of all marginalized people, keeping in mind marginalized colleagues, clientele, community members or maybe even family members. Marginalized people include and are not limited to those marginalized by age, class, ability, immigration status, race, sexuality, spirituality, gender, gender expression, ethnicity, culture, identity and generation.

Most importantly the challenge will help us discover the many ways we can individually and collectively promote a more just and equitable food system for all. It will also prompt us on ways we can work as individuals, with others at ANR, with marginalized clientele, and within our communities and families to dismantle these systems everywhere.

Please visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Diversity/UC_ANR_21-day_racial_equity_challenge/ to learn more about participating in this important challenge.

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

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