2023-24 Call for Cooperative Extension Positions

The 2023-24 Call for Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Positions was announced on September 19, 2023 in the ANR Update blog. The call will identify 20 UCCE Advisor and 10 UCCE Specialist positions to be released by June 2024. UC ANR doesn’t just refill past positions, instead identifies priority positions to address the most pressing needs, including California’s emerging and future needs.

Rebuilding the UCCE footprint continues to be a priority for UC ANR to provide the expertise needed to improve the lives of all Californians consistently and significantly. The historic 2021-22 state budget increase allowed UC ANR to release over 100 UCCE academic positions to date. UC ANR also continues to pursue non-traditionally funded positions as a complementary strategy to grow the programmatic footprint. There are UC ANR resources on: how to develop co-funded positions and shared benefits of funding partnerships.

NEW Process: Link to the 2023-24 Call for Positions process flowchart with more details

Phases and deadlines at a glance - updated timeline

1. Identifying priority positions/connecting interested groups – until Jan. 19, 2024
2. Proposal co-creation and submission – by March 15, 2024
3. Program Council reviews and develops recommendations – April 2024
4. UC ANR Vice President releases positions – May/June 2024

Important Resources

• Link to CE Position Proposal Template (required)
• Link to CE Position Proposal Criteria
• Link to FAQs
• Recorded webinar about the process for Program Team Leaders and campus leadership

Submittal groups are expected to work collaboratively across the UC ANR network and seek external stakeholder input. See list below.

For CE Advisor Positions:

• County Directors work with the Research and Extension Center System in their regional teams. Link to list of County and REC Directors
• Regional teams of groups listed above prioritize 6 positions per each of the 5 regional teams (listed in process PPT linked above).

For CE Specialist Positions:

• Research and Extension Centers - at least 3 for the system
• UC Campus Provosts and/or Chancellors ~18 in total; encouraging 1 per priority idea identified by each UC ANR Program Team and that align with campus academic planning priorities

How to submit proposals:

• Regional team leads for County Directors and REC Directors: Use the Universal Review System (URS) accessed from the ANR Portal.
• UC Campus Provosts or Chancellors: Email proposals directly to UC ANR Associate Vice President of Research and Cooperative Extension, Brent Hales at Brent.Hales@ucop.edu. For any questions, please contact Brent. 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 Understandingand the APM guidelines. The proposals will be added to URS by UC ANR so they appear on this web page, and display as "submitted by" Brent Hales.

UCCE Programmatic Footprint Maps: Link to maps. These maps illustrate current positions for UCCE Advisors, UCCE Specialists, other UCCE Academics, and Community Educators, as well as the UCCE Advisor and Specialist positions under-recruitment.

In November, secondary data layers were made available to provide county level data with relevant information that, when coupled with local knowledge, can help illuminate gaps/needs to inform UCCE position proposal development and future hiring.

Recording to maps overview and demo (30 minutes)

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.

Developed and proposed by: This proposal was collaboratively developed by the Pomology and Pest Management Program Teams and the UCCE Stanislaus (Jennifer Heguy) and San Joaquin (Brent Holtz) County Directors. The Almond Board of California, California Cling Peach Board, Pistachio Board and Stanislaus County Farm Bureau provided input to this proposal and strongly support this position in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. 

Position Title: Area Orchard Systems Advisor – Almond, Pistachio, Peaches, Apricots 

Position: (1) General commodity focus on almond and pistachio in Stanislaus County and peach and apricot in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. Disciplinary focus will be on orchard production systems, water efficiency, nutrient management, pest management and soil health. (2) Master’s degree or above in pomology, horticulture, plant science, or closely related field is preferred. The candidate should be able to develop and integrate all aspects of crop production to promote sustainability, profitability and environmental stewardship. (3) Reports to Stanislaus County Director, with input from the San Joaquin County Director. 

Justification: This position will support the ANR Public Values of “Promoting economic prosperity in California” through increases in agriculture efficiency and profitability; “Protecting California’s natural resources” by improving land management, soil quality, agricultural sustainability, water quality and water use efficiency; and “Building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems” by increasing resilience to extreme weather and climate change by improving water resiliency with on-farm practices such as water recharge and use of recycled water. Stanislaus County houses an IPM Advisor and Irrigation Advisor both tasked with working in orchard systems. The Area Orchard Systems Advisor is a necessary addition to the Northern San Joaquin Valley team tasked with finding practical solutions for orchard systems that are grounded in field realities. 

Almond production is a cornerstone of the agricultural economy that sustains rural and urban livelihoods in Stanislaus County, with farmer income from almond sales accounting for 27% of the county’s $3.7 billion annual agricultural production. With support from UCCE, almond production (>200,000 acres) has largely remained a local, family industry in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties, with a large population of part-time and small acreage farmers (less than 40 acres). Stanislaus County growers lean heavily on Farm Advisors’ information for the adoption of the latest and most sound farming practices. Currently third in almond production in the state, Stanislaus almond production can thrive as tightening water regulations force almonds out of production elsewhere in the state, or to shrink as diverse technological, regulatory, market and climatic forces increase production pressure. Stanislaus County also boasts a robust fruit and nut nursery industry. Stanislaus County is home to three of the five largest orchard and vine nurseries in the state. There is a need for horticultural research on new varieties and rootstocks to address production challenges related to increased fertilizer cost, high salts and decreased water availability. The Northern San Joaquin Valley’s annual rainfall amount, combined with surface water availability, make it an ideal location for continuing groundwater recharge research. 

This position fills a significant gap in pomology coverage in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. The region is at the heart of almond and cling peach production, serving a diverse community of small and medium-sized growers who rely on ANR’s research and extension 

programs. An assignment of almond, stone fruit, and apricot is a natural pairing because of their common genetic heritage, sharing many pest, disease and horticultural concerns and solutions. 

Extension: Key clientele will include farmers and allied industry. California pest control advisors (PCA) and certified crop advisors (CCA) seek continuing education to continue to advise farmers on best practices and develop nutrient management plans on roughly 475,000 fruit and nut acres in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. The position is responsible for creating and implementing an innovative extension program using traditional and modern tools to support the development of new practices and evaluation of existing practices for increasing production efficiencies while being protective of natural resources. The Advisor will provide needs-based education that is responsive to the preferences of clientele. Programs will be developed and carried out in collaboration with other ANR academics as well as related government and private industries in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. The position requires interaction with farmers, landowners, commodity boards, pest control advisors, federal and state agency managers and partners, and other client groups and managers from the public and/or private sector. 

Research: Multiple research needs exist in orchard crops, including irrigation and fertigation efficiency, rootstock and variety evaluation, cropping efficiency, overcoming salt and soil chemistry challenges, and use of plant growth regulators to help overcome issues related to climate change. Priorities may include fruit harvest mechanization to address labor shortages, canopy size and structure to facilitate harvest efficiency, and fertilization strategies to optimize fruit size, yield, and quality. There is strong support from the local industry that will allow the new advisor to address high profile policy issues (e.g. Flood-MAR, Climate Smart Ag) such as irrigation management, water quantity and quality, and fertilizer management concerns that are facing additional regulation in coming years but are key to advancing profitability. Research programs in the Northern San Joaquin Valley will be strengthened by the addition of a pomologist. The Area Orchard Advisor will complete the team (IPM & Irrigation) tasked with solving the industries’ complex problems. There are numerous publication opportunities across these crops and disciplines including trade publications, commodity board technical reports, and scientific journals. 

ANR Network: The Area Orchard Advisor is expected to work collaboratively with specialists, AES researchers and farm advisors through various workgroups. UCCE Stanislaus County has the resources to maximize the productivity of such an advisor for statewide as well as local benefit, including an integrated pest management advisor and irrigation advisor (both working exclusively in orchard systems) that would lend well to local collaboration in research and extension. Conversely, the Orchard Advisor would bring valuable orchard/horticulture knowledge to the local team (otherwise lacking), allowing for a holistic approach to research and extension programs aimed at tackling multi-faceted issues. 

Network External to ANR: We expect that the Area Orchard Advisor will develop strong connections with statewide programs/initiatives. These include state and federal programs (e.g. Healthy Soils, SWEEP, etc.) relevant commodity boards (e.g. Almond Board of California, Pistachio, Peach & Citrus boards, etc.), and local organizations (Farm Bureaus, groundwater agencies, County Board of Supervisors, CA Association of Pest Control Advisors, USDA’s stone fruit rootstock consortium). 

Support: Stanislaus County funds UCCE at a level to support 10 academic advisors (admin support, vehicles, offices, supplies, etc.). As of July 2024, Stanislaus County will house five farm advisors. Office space/supplies, administrative support, an agricultural assistant, and a dedicated vehicle with fuel card will be supplied by Stanislaus County. There are three laboratory spaces within the UCCE Stanislaus facility to accommodate a large academic footprint. Strong county support translates to advisors focused on their academic programs and not on the logistics of their day-to-day needs. Cross-county travel is funded by Stanislaus County. 

Other support: Funding for research and extension programming will be sought from commodity boards and CDFA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant and Fertilizer Research and Education programs, CA Association of Nurseries, Dept. of Pesticide Regulation, Western IPM, USDA’s Sustainable Ag Research and Education grants. Various pomology boards have expressed a need for a pomology advisor in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties and have historically supported UCCE research and extension programs. The Almond Board of California, Blue Diamond Growers and other industry partners are headquartered in Stanislaus County, also making this a politically important position for ANR. 

Headquarters and Coverage Area: The Advisor serves under the administrative guidance of the University of California Cooperative Extension Stanislaus County Director, with input from the San Joaquin County Director. Stanislaus County is central to most tree acres (almonds) in the proposed assignment. This two-county position will allow the advisor to successfully navigate the geographical and commodity assignment. The commodity assignment, paired with the two-county geographic assignment allows for engagement and presence throughout the coverage area. Meaningful interactions with clientele throughout an assigned territory is imperative to building a successful research and extension program with agricultural clientele.