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4-H & Families
UC ANR Maintain Don't Gain program a success
UC ANR participated for the first time in the UC systemwide Maintain Don't Gain Challenge, closing 2018 mindful of their holiday eating habits and positioning themselves for a healthful beginning of the New Year.
In all, 144 UC academics and staff signed up for the challenge. The first 100 received an insulated grocery tote, donated by Kaiser Permanente, as an incentive. The challenge began just before Thanksgiving and ended a week into 2019. Each participant tracked his or her own weight and received support and tips from weekly emails penned by the UC ANR Staff Assembly Wellness Committee.
At the end of the program, participants were invited to complete a survey about the experience, which made them eligible to win a FitBit Alta from Kaiser and a mixer bottle, donated by HealthNet.
Most of the 62 respondents said the challenge entered their minds when faced with an array of holiday goodies. Fifty-two respondents reported that they maintained their weight or lost weight during the holiday season.
Wrote another respondent, "It was fun. Part of what helped me keep my goals was imagining that other people were also taking part in the challenge. I lost about 6 pounds during this event adding more steps to my daily activities and eating smaller portions and healthier choices. I look forward to continue losing weight now. :)"
UC Walks coming on May 1
The UC ANR Wellness Committee is now making plans for UC Walks 2019, which takes place on May 1. Contact your local Staff Assembly Ambassador to sign up to participate and get a free t-shirt. Find your ambassador at this link: http://staffassembly.ucanr.edu/Ambassadors/Find_your_UC_ANR_Staff_Assembly_Ambassador/. If your location doesn't have an ambassador, you can volunteer to coordinate UC Walks at your site. Just email jewarnert@ucanr.edu.
In memoriam: Jennifer Goerlitz
Goerlitz was the 4-H program coordinator for Calaveras County for 30 years, first with Calaveras County. She transitioned to UC Cooperative Extension in 2012. She also filled in as needed as the 4-H program representative in Amador County.
“We are grateful to Jennifer for her years of giving our youth a head for clearer thinking, a heart for greater loyalty, hands for larger service, and health for better living,” said JoLynn Miller, 4-H youth development advisor for the Central Sierra. “Jennifer will be missed by her colleagues and the 4-H community.”
Goerlitz earned a degree in agricultural business management from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.
She is survived by her father Donald (Patricia) Goerlitz, sons Seth Mitchell, Blake Mitchell, brothers Mark Goerlitz, Matt (Melissa) Goerlitz and sister Gretchen (Scott) McReynolds.
Read her obituary at http://thepinetree.net/new/?p=73055.
Enroll in Duo by Feb. 13
UPDATE: The deadline to enroll in Duo has been extended to March 31, 2019.
To maintain access to critical systems such as the Time Reporting System (TRS), AggieTravel and AggieBuy, enroll in Duo by Feb. 13.
Before you enroll in Duo, make sure that your email system is supported to avoid service interruption. Visit Email Compatibility for a list of supported email systems.
The device you use with Duo can be a smartphone, tablet, cellphone or traditional landline. You should choose the device you are most likely to have close at hand when you want to access your UC ANR email.
- Visit https://computingaccounts.ucdavis.eduand choose “Duo Multifactor Authentication”.
- Sign in with your campus account.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to enroll a device.
Detailed step-by-step instructions are available at UC Davis IT Help.
If you encounter difficulties during enrollment, please contact the UC ANR Help Desk at help@ucanr.edu or (530) 750-1212. You can also visit the “Duo Clinic” between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by logging onto Zoom at ucanr.zoom.us/s/491057944.
Security tokens
The preferred method for accessing Duo is via smartphone or landline. If neither of these options is viable, a Duo security token can be purchased through AggieBuy for $29.99. Units will be responsible for the cost, which is an allowable expense for Program Support Funds.
To purchase Duo tokens, visit https://AggieBuy.ucdavis.edu and search for either part number or keywords under “Product Search”:
- Part number: 2046355
- Keywords: Duo Security Token
A comprehensive description of Duo is available at http://ucanr.edu/mfa.
Important UCPath Update from VP Humiston
UC ANR is fast approaching the launch of UCPath. We are scheduled to go live in March, when we'll join seven other UC locations using the long-awaited human resources, payroll and benefits technology that is modernizing how we do business across the University of California. On Tuesday, January 29, I hope you will join me at 1 p.m. for the online Town Hall to discuss upcoming changes.
UCPath will allow us to streamline and standardize our payroll, benefits and human resources processes, and will provide more efficient and improved service to UC ANR employees. UC ANR's fiscal silos will be unified, improving our ability to access our financial data. It will give us improved tools for efficient hiring and management of personnel transactions. Supervisors and employees will have better access to information through new self-service web portals, and will be supported by a new customer service center, the UCPath Center in Riverside.
As we launch UCPath, we should be reminded that major change is often difficult to implement, and we may experience challenges along the way. Our project team is working closely with other UC locations and the UCPath Center to prepare to support UC ANR through the transition. Be assured that the UCPath team, both at UC ANR and at the UCPath Center, will work to resolve any issues that you may encounter.
You'll receive more information about the changes in the coming weeks. I strongly encourage everyone to take some time to learn what's happening by reading project updates and viewing demonstration videos at ucpath.ucanr.edu, and sending any questions to UCPath@ucanr.edu.
Thanks for your support and all you do for UC ANR.
Best wishes,
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
PAC discusses ANR Advisory Committee recommendations
The UC ANR Advisory Committee, appointed by President Janet Napolitano to consider options for UC ANR's structure, governance and funding, submitted its recommendations to her, Don Bransford told the UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources (PAC), which met Dec. 18 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Berkeley.
PAC Chair Bransford, who also served on the UC ANR Advisory Committee, said the committee saw opportunities to strengthen governance, increase budgetary transparency, provide more stable and predictable funding models and enhance collaborations between UC ANR and UC's broader academic and research enterprise.
The committee, which included deans Kathryn Uhrich of the UCR College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and Michael Lairmore of the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, consulted internal and external stakeholders, then conducted its own analyses in consultation with UC ANR leaders.
The committee made four key recommendations:
- Maintain UC ANR's status as a systemwide program within UCOP, reporting to the president.
- Create a UC ANR governing council for oversight and to promote greater understanding of UC ANR across the university.
- Create a funding model using a combination of the “set-aside” and “corridor” models.
- Retain campus oversight of and reporting responsibility for state Agricultural Experiment Station funds.
Napolitano told the PAC she would be moving forward on the recommendations because she thinks they will ensure ANR greater budget stability, a broader understanding of ANR across the UC system and create more opportunities for collaboration between ANR and campus academics. She issued a statement Dec. 19 on her decisions for UC ANR.
Uhrich said she sees the governing council as an “opportunity to educate, integrate and be inclusive” to have people from across the UC system and outside of UC participating.
UC expertise
In other discussions, Napolitano commended ANR employees for their responses to the Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire, noting that employees and volunteers lost homes in the devastating wildfires.
At a recent meeting with some legislators to discuss automation and the future of work, wildfire, health issues and homelessness, Napolitano said the policymakers told her they want to hear more from UC experts to help them think through policy challenges.
One commissioner commented, “We're going to have more fires, more foodborne illness outbreaks. Let's have our folks out there to talk to media and have them wearing a UC shirt.”
Napolitano replied, “I like the idea of folks wearing UC garb when they're on TV.”
Budget
Humiston and Tu Tran, associate vice president for business operations, briefed the PAC on ANR's budget. Administrative costs are up this fiscal year to invest $4 million to join UCPath, the new systemwide payroll and personnel system. UC ANR has begun the transition and will go live in March-April. “Ultimately UCPath will save us money, but it's costing us now,” Humiston said.
Due to budget constraints, Humiston explained that UC ANR isn't offering competitive grants nor announcing UCCE positions to be filled in 2018-19. Recruitment for previously approved positions is ongoing and new hiring will begin as resources become available to make the long-term commitment to support positions.
In her budget PowerPoint presentation for the PAC, Humiston listed actions ANR has taken in the past to compensate for budget cuts and steps that will be taken in FY 2018-19.
Tran explained that UC ANR relies on six sources of funds – state, federal, county, extramural, endowments and income from gifts, patents, investments and program fees. State funds, which constitute the largest portion of the division's funding, pay for employee salaries and benefits. He noted government funding is highly volatile so “we are trying to raise money in other ways.”
California Agricultural Resources Archive
UC Merced's librarian HaiPeng Li, project archivist Lisa Valens and project director Emily Lin gave a presentation on the California Agricultural Resources Archive or CARA. The UC Cooperative Extension archive project, which was launched after UC Cooperative Extension's centennial in 2014, started with UCCE in Merced, Humboldt and Ventura counties. The team has been digitizing annual reports and historical photos to make them accessible to the public and researchers.
“The data isn't just history,” Humiston asserted. “There are notes on research that may hold the key to something like huanglongbing.”
Mining the data, advanced analysis and linking to other information might open new avenues of research, she said.
UC ANR is seeking partners and trying to raise funds for the archive project. Jim Downing, publications director, will assume leadership of the project to succeed Jan Corlett, chief of staff to the vice president, who plans to retire in July.
Deans' updates
To help students with career planning, Helene Dillard, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, said she seeks UCCE advisors to show students the research and outreach being done in the counties and planning a course on Cooperative Extension to introduce students to career options. She is in talks to partner with UC Davis medical center on health research such as the connection between diet and disease.
David Ackerly, dean of the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources, announced the recent hiring of new Cooperative Extension specialists Ellen Bruno for policy analysis and Rob York for fire and policy, and that he is striving to create new faculty positions that will not depend on state money. He also announced that UC Cooperative Extension specialist Adina Merenlender received a $5 million gift to train California climate stewards through a program similar to California Naturalist. Ackerly also noted that Giannini Hall is closing temporarily for seismic upgrades so faculty and staff are packing to move out during construction.
Katherine Uhrich, dean of the UC Riverside College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, announced CNAS has hired 24 faculty this year including two Nobel laureates – Richard Shrock and Barry Barish. She also announced that Givaudan, a Swiss company that creates fragrances and flavors, is donating funds to cover UCR's citrus variety collection, to protect the trees from pests and diseases.
Michael Lairmore, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, announced that his veterinary team worked tirelessly treating animals injured during the Camp Fire, taking in 70 animals, most of which have returned to their families. About $2 million has been donated to offset the costs of treating the animals. Veterinarian Jamie Peyton covered burns on cats and dogs with tilapia skin to help with healing and has a provisional patent for the fish skin treatment. Lairmore also announced the school is planning to build a Livestock and Field Service Center. “We are in need of donations and there are naming opportunities for interested individuals or companies,” Lairmore told PAC members. He also announced the hiring of Emmanuel Okello, the new UCCE specialist in antimicrobial stewardship.
The PAC, which meets twice a year, will meet next in the spring.
