2021 Call for CE Positions

The 2021 CE Position Call was launched in August 2021 to identify UCCE Advisor and UCCE Specialist positions to be released over the next 12 months. The process has concluded.

The 2021-22 Release of UCCE Positions web page will list all the positions that have been released for recruitment as a result of this process. On March 14, 48 CE Advisor positions were released. CE Specialist positions will be announced in April 2022.  

Rebuilding the UC Cooperative Extension footprint, to address California's emerging and future needs, is made possible by the historic 2021-22 state budget increase. We are extremely grateful for the support and look forward to working with our partners to leverage these resources.

While this state budget increase will allow UC ANR to hire more people and achieve greater impact, we will continue seeking funding from additional sources to support the appropriate number of people with expertise needed to consistently and significantly improve the lives of all Californians. UC ANR continues to pursue non-traditionally funded positions as a complimentary strategy to grow the programmatic footprint. There are UC ANR resources on: how to develop co-funded positions and shared benefits of funding partnerships.

Process Information

Here is the link to the process flowchart with more details.

As in the past, we talked to our community partners and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing needs to prioritize the next rounds of hiring. We didn’t just refill past positions, instead we identified positions to address California’s emerging and future needs. Submittal groups, listed below, were expected to seek stakeholder input and work collaboratively across UC ANR units to make the best use of submission restrictions.

Review and consideration of UC ANR thematic cluster areas for hires was encouraged (see below) given building capacity in these areas is a priority to UC ANR.

Important Resources 

• CE Position Proposal Template (required)
• CE Position Template fillable PDF form (optional)

• CE Position Proposal Criteria

• UC ANR thematic cluster areas for hires: Fire Advisor Network; Food System Resilience Network; Health Resilience Network; Urban Community Development Network; Water Resiliency Network.
  
• 4-H Youth Development and Youth, Families and Communities Academic Position Guidance
• FAQs 

Those that submitted the position proposals:

• County Directors (1 position per county they oversee)
• Research and Extension Center Directors (1 position each Director)
• Statewide Program and Institute Directors (1 position each Director)
• Program Team Leaders (1 position each PT)
• UC Campus Provosts and/or Chancellors (# of positions varies, see link to process flowchart and details above)

For Advisor positions: The first four groups listed above submitted proposals, using the Universal Review System (URS) accessed from the ANR Portal. 

For Specialist positions: UC Campus Provosts or Chancellors emailed proposals to Wendy Powers. For any questions, please contact Wendy Powers or Mark Bell. For more information regarding how appointments will be handled between UC ANR and UC campuses other than UCB, UCD, and UCR, there is a Memorandum of Understanding and the APM guidelines. Program Team Leaders will submit their respective group's reviews through the URS. 

UCCE Programmatic Footprint Maps 

• Link to landing page with some helpful information
• Link to dashboard with maps
• These maps illustrate current positions for UCCE Advisors, UCCE Specialists, other UCCE Academics, and Community Educator Specialists. They also illustrate UCCE Advisor and Specialist positions under-recruitment.
• This information can illuminate gaps and needs to inform UCCE position proposal development and future hiring. 
• Google sheet for user questions & comments

For overall process questions, contact Katherine Webb-Martinez at katherine.webb-martinez@ucop.edu or (510) 987-0029.

For questions about using the Universal Review System (URS), contact Chris Hanson at christopher.hanson@ucop.edu.

This position will provide programs across a spectrum of industry issues as they relate to dairy production systems. The programs will address production issues and sustainability in an integrated approach that will consider economic viability and conservation of natural resources including land use, air, water, and energy. A minimum of a Master's Degree is required in disciplines such as Dairy or Animal Science, or a closely related field. Demonstrated abilities in applied animal science research and extension experience are desirable. Skills to communicate effectively in both English and Spanish are desirable. The advisor will be based in Tulare County with cross county responsibilities in Kern.

Justification: Tulare County is the number one dairy county in the world, with an annual milk production valued at more than $1.8 billion in 2020, accounting for 5% of milk produced nationally. Kern County is home to large scale dairies that produced milk valued at over $661 million in 2020. The advisor would be responsible for addressing the ANR condition change promoting economic prosperity in California by working to improve animal management, productivity and efficiency. Furthermore, the advisor will play an important role in protecting California’s natural resources by improving air and water quality and water use efficiency as they relate to dairy production.

Feed costs are the most significant input on California dairies and research and education programs are needed to address the challenges of growing feed forage with limited water, the impacts of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and quality alternative forages and byproducts. SGMA is top of mind for dairy producers in Tulare & Kern Counties and strategies to reduce water use and improve efficiency at both the dairy production center and on dairy forage crop fields are high priorities that are currently not adequately addressed. Alternative feedstuffs that don’t sacrifice animal productivity, health or efficiency may be a partial solution to water supply concerns and is an area ripe for innovative research and on-farm evaluation. Environmental regulations like water and air quality remain high priorities for Tulare and Kern County dairy producers and UCCE’s unique role in bringing science-based solutions to assist with regulatory compliance is sorely needed in these counties. Animal welfare research is a looming need with increasing consumer driven legislation, especially relative to animal housing. A currently funded project on this topic is being conducted in other counties, due to the lack of an advisor in Tulare and Kern Counties. Antibiotic resistance is both an animal health and a One Health concern that the advisor would be expected to address. The use of antibiotics in animal agriculture is evolving at a fast pace and is the topic of significant legislation requiring dairy producers to modify management practices. The unique scale of dairies in this region poses additional management challenges, which are difficult to adequately address on smaller farms in other areas of the state.

There are currently only four CE dairy advisors (3 FTE, considering county director responsibilities of two dairy advisors) in California, the number one dairy state in the nation. Lack of critical mass stifles efforts to address the priority needs of the industry, especially as dairy producers balance environmental sustainability needs with economies of scale. The absence of a dairy advisor in the single largest dairy production region in the world hinders the dairy team’s statewide impact potential.

Extension: The advisor would pursue educational programs in any of the high priority issue areas of herd health, milk quality, reproduction, environmental issues, calf and heifer management, and nutrition and feeding, as identified in the 2018 UCCE dairy needs assessment. The key clientele groups are dairy producers, managers and employees. These clientele have indicated that they would like to receive information in workshops and on-farm trainings, neither of which are currently offered by UCCE in the region. Allied industries are important partners and clientele groups and include dairy nutritionists, veterinarians, environmental consultants, pharmaceutical distributors and dairy equipment specialists. UCCE dairy advisors and specialists have organized a dairy seminar series at the annual World Ag Expo in Tulare and this advisor would be the logical local contact for that activity. The biennial UCCE Golden State Dairy Management Conference is a standing extension event that the advisor would contribute to. Bilingual educational programs are an existing gap that could potentially be a focus area for the advisor.

Research: The focus of the applied research program will be based on an updated needs assessment, and will likely include development of a knowledge base in the areas of animal nutrition and feeding, milk quality, herd health and reproduction. Applied research to support economically viable management alternatives for dairy production with respect to land, air, water, and food resources is also critical to the resilience and sustainability of the industry. Production of local forage feed resources is a growing area of research need as the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act poses challenges to crop production with limited water availability. Concerns about labor availability and quality provide opportunities to pursue research related to the implementation of robotic systems in large herds.

Network External to ANR: CDFA, the California Chapter of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, and the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program are partners in dairy research and extension activities across the state and would be an important part of the advisor’s network. The advisor will collaborate with public policy agencies, especially on the use and efficiency of groundwater on dairy operations in this critically overdrafted aquifer.

Support: Support for this position, including office space, travel, communication (telephone, internet) and clerical support is available from Tulare County. Start-up funds will be used to purchase a computer and additional funding will be made available for research and program support from the previous Advisor’s various donor accounts.

Other support: The advisor will be able to leverage research and extension funds from traditional funding agencies including USDA, CDFA and the California Dairy Research Foundation. Local industry organizations have historically been supportive of dairy extension programs and collaborations.

Headquarters and Coverage Area: This position will be headquartered at our UCCE Tulare County office located at 4437 S Laspina St, Tulare, CA 93274.  This position will also be serving Kern County.

Developed and proposed by: The position was developed jointly by the Dairy Health & Production Program Team and the County Directors of UC Cooperative Extension in Tulare and Kern Counties.