ANR Employee News

‘Open Conversation’ on Sept. 9 offers chance to chat with leadership

Many of your UC Agriculture and Natural Resources colleagues have already had the opportunity to chat – in an informal, online setting – with UC ANR leadership about a wide range of topics.

Friday, Sept. 9 (1 to 2 p.m.) is your next chance to take part in the series, “Open Conversations with UC ANR Senior Leadership” (submit interest form to participate).

Within this small group format, you can voice your questions, comments, suggestions – or whatever is on your mind – with Vice President Glenda Humiston, Associate Vice President-Business Operations Tu Tran and interim Associate Vice President-Programs Deanne Meyer.

Past participants, such as Ricardo Vela, manager of News & Information Outreach in Spanish, recommend these sessions as a forum for candid, meaningful engagement with leadership.

“I encourage every UC ANR staff member to participate,” Vela said. “Open Conversations with UC ANR Leadership were precisely that – a very casual, open conversation about topics I was interested in. The meeting was not one-sided, and senior leadership showed genuine interest in what I had to say; in the end, participating made me feel that I mattered at UC ANR.”

Organizers seek to limit enrollment to 20 participants to allow for more in-depth dialogue, so submit your interest form early. Attendees are expected to have microphone and camera on for the duration of the online session.

Contact the Program Support Unit at anrprogramsupport@ucanr.edu with any questions.

Expanded student loan forgiveness for UC employees

Last week President Biden announced an executive order to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for all borrowers with an individual income below $125,000 ($250,000 for joint tax filers).

If you have federal student loans, you are also likely eligible for cancellation of your entire remaining federal debt following 10 years of working full-time for UC (or another qualifying employer) and making loan payments. 

Eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program has been expanded under a time-limited waiver that currently expires Oct. 31, 2022. Even borrowers who were previously ineligible or missed payments can now receive PSLF. The University of California (EIN: 94-3067788) is a qualified employer for the PSLF program.

So far, the average loan balance forgiven under PSLF nationally is over $60,000 per borrower.

UC employees are invited to attend a #UCStudentDebtChallenge Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 31, to hear experts from the U.S. Department of Education, UC Faculty and UC Human Resources explain how Public Service Loan Forgiveness works and how to apply. Registration is required. 

Attend a morning or afternoon session on Wednesday, Aug. 31:

• 10-11:30 a.m. PT
• 2-3:30 p.m. PT

Register at https://fidelityevents.com/UofCali.  

For more information about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, visit https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/working-at-uc/public-service-loan-forgiveness.html.

NIFA grants available for weather-related disaster response

Informational webinars on Sept. 14, Dec. 8

The increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather-related disasters across the country may have many of us wishing we could click our heels and go back to times when weather did not disrupt our agricultural, forestry and rangeland production systems as often as it does today.

In addition to their devastating impacts on people and communities, disasters contribute to land degradation and adversely impact agricultural supply chains at the production, processing, distribution and consumption stages. 

In response to extreme temperatures, heavy downpours, droughts and blizzards, USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture is introducing a new program to help communities protect the nation's food supply.

The Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events Across Food and Agricultural Systems program reflects a new cross-cutting program area within NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The program is housed within AFRI's Foundational and Applied Science program and is designed to rapidly deploy strategies, and fill knowledge and information gaps to protect the nation's food and agricultural supply chains — at the production through consumption stages — during and after extreme weather disasters. 

Disasters happen when a community is not appropriately resourced or organized to withstand the impact, and whose population is vulnerable because of poverty, exclusion or other social disadvantages, according to United Nations Office for Risk Reduction official Mami Mizutori.

The new program area contains two grant types: Strengthening Standard and Coordinated Agricultural Project. Project proposals for either grant type will directly address effects associated with an extreme weather event or disaster that has occurred. In addition, applications will present projects that address one or more of the following emphasis areas:

• Agroecosystem Resilience
• Agricultural Commodity and Nutrition Security
• Health, Well-Being and Safety

The intention of the Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events Across Food and Agricultural Systems program is to fund projects that provide solutions, which may include trainings, communication strategies, tools and technologies, food supply logistics, and climate-smart practices that can be rapidly adopted by various end-users. These projects will also explain how adoption potential of proposed solutions will be measured.

NIFA is committed to alleviating the impacts of extreme weather events and disasters across the food and agricultural system. NIFA understands the importance of supporting timely, critical research and Extension activities following extreme weather events and disasters. 

For more information, or if you have any questions about this new program area priority, please visit AFRI Foundational and Applied Science RFA or send an email to afri-rapidresponse@usda.gov.

Live FAQ webinars will be held at noon on Sept. 14 and Dec. 8. Please check NIFA's events page to register for upcoming live Q&As. 

When planning a proposal that includes communication, contact Linda Forbes, director of UC ANR Strategic Communications, at lforbes@ucanr.edu. 

Annual report templates available for county offices

County report templates populated with 2021 data are available on the Government Relations templates web page. Check out examples of how some UCCE offices use the templates. These reports highlight key metrics and measured outcomes captured in UC ANR program information systems.

Use of the data is encouraged to help with the following:

• Advocacy - share with county government officials/staffers
• Accountability - can help meet local reporting requirements
• Communications - build understanding and support for UCCE programs

“These reports are fantastic – they are colorful, rich with imagery and fun to read. Most importantly, the content is easy to absorb by using infographics and photos,” said Anne Megaro, government and community relations director.

For help, please contact Christina Becker in UC ANR Program Planning and Evaluation at christina.becker@ucop.edu. There is also a recorded training at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--hQ55hLqpk.  

 

New financial software training available

Training courses are now available online at UC Learning Center (LMS site at UC Davis) for the University of California's new Common Chart of Accounts. This training is an important part of the successful implementation of Aggie Enterprise, the new financial software being implemented by UC Davis and UC ANR. 

If you currently use Decision Support, Kuali, AggieBuy or the Cognos Reporting System, you will want to make sure to attend these two courses to get acquainted with the new account structure. 

Many of you have already received the invitation to start the Level 1 courses. For those of you who have completed the training and have questions, your ANR Aggie Enterprise Project Team will be offering office hours starting in September to answer any questions you may have. 

If you have questions in the meantime, please direct them to Raghu Goradia (rjgoradia@ucanr.edu), Emily LaRue (elarue@ucanr.edu) or Sonia Scott (sonia.scott@ucop.edu). 

For more information, please visit the Aggie Enterprise website athttps://financeandbusiness.ucdavis.edu/aggie-enterprise. 

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