Posts Tagged: budget

UCCE positions recruitment hindered by budget constraints

Dear Colleagues,

Over the course of the past 11 months, UC ANR has undertaken a position call process to identify the priority UCCE advisor and UCCE specialist position needs to support the work of the division. After a great deal of work, 46 positions were identified by the UC ANR Program Council and divided into three categories (highest, high, and can wait). Although we will utilize this categorization to the degree possible, the reality is that we need each and every one of those positions to serve our mission – all 46 positions are high priority to me. Furthermore, there are additional positions needed that were not on the list of 46 positions but are important gaps that have arisen over the course of the year. This includes three CE advisor positions vacated within two years of hire and not re-opened for recruitment.

Despite that, and unlike past years, we will not be releasing a list of approved positions at this time. The current budget situation leaves us unable to recruit immediately for positions reviewed during the 2018 process. All positions will remain under consideration based on funding availability, including the opportunity to find funding partners to share position costs.

This difficult decision is part of a larger effort to manage a challenging financial situation that also includes reductions to statewide programs and less subsidy for research at our RECs. UC ANR has managed the past several years of budget cuts and unfunded obligations through judicious use of our reserves, increases to program fees, fundraising and excellent work by our academics to increase the capture of competitive grants. While those options allow us to maintain a strong program and continue to deliver our research and extension mission, sound fiscal management does not allow us to expand academic positions in the immediate future.

2019 recruitment depends on budget and partners

Having said that, it is my sincere intent to recruit for a small number of these 2018 positions during the 2019 calendar year. As the FY19/20 budget unfolds, we will closely watch retirement announcements, the impact of those retirements on critical gaps in service, and any other items that might affect the budget available for recruiting. In addition, we will actively seek opportunities to partner with various entities to jointly fund positions as a key strategy to maintain or, preferably, increase our academic numbers. As a result, the order of recruitments may vary from the categorized list provided to me and we may also need to re-evaluate whether priorities have changed along the way.

More 2016 positions to be filled

Our academic numbers remain steady, not growing at a rate we wish to see, but steady nonetheless. This is in large part because academic HR, search committees, vice provosts, and campus departments have worked very hard over the last two years to recruit talent and fill positions identified during the 2014 and 2016 position call processes. All of the positions approved during the 2014 call have been filled; you might recall that at the time that the 2016 positions were approved, 25 of the positions approved in 2014 were still vacant. All but three of the 26 positions approved in the 2016 position call process are filled or under recruitment. The remaining positions (two CE advisor and one CE specialist positions) will be released for recruitment very soon. Additionally, the three FTE that were reserved for partnership opportunities have resulted in six new academics: three CE advisor positions filled, one CE advisor position under recruitment, and two CE specialist positions under recruitment. This valuable tool allows us to jointly fund positions with external partners as well as other parts of the UC system; we will be exploring how best to expand and leverage this moving forward.

Recruitment and retention of top talent a priority

Recruitment and retention of top talent is a crucial strategic objective. Toward that end, I recently announced approval of year two of a four-year salary equity plan for CE advisors that will bring their salaries into market norms. Offering competitive salaries to our academics and staff is of highest priority to me and the entire UC ANR leadership. Despite our budget challenges, we are pleased to be able to continue with this extremely important plan to improve academic salaries that had failed to keep pace with increased cost of living and academic norms for many years.

While the current budget situation for UC ANR is reminiscent of similar scenarios in the past, it is a strong wake-up call on the need to find new ways to fund our mission. State and federal support for the land grant mission has decreased or, at best, remained flat for the past few decades. UC ANR, the national Cooperative Extension system, the Agriculture Experiment Station system, and public research institutions in general, are at a crossroads – we must develop better ways to fund our mission, deliver our programs and leverage partnerships. This will include deployment of different business models. UC ANR is actively doing just that, while adapting to change along the way. I am confident that by remaining mission-focused we will grow stronger, more impactful, and more relevant to California and beyond.

Sincerely,

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

To answer questions about the positions process, VP Humiston held a town hall on Nov. 29. A recording of the 30-minute town hall is at http://bit.ly/2BGvO73.

Budget update: State funding unchanged for ANR in 2018-19

On June 22, Governor Jerry Brown signed the state budget for fiscal year 2018-19, which contains a new line item for UC ANR within the UCOP budget. UC ANR will have the same amount of funding from the state for the upcoming year as we had this year. While we appreciate that ANR did not suffer additional cuts, we still need to deal with unfunded obligations of $4 million to $5 million. This results from the UC system getting an increase of 3 percent in the coming fiscal year, which will cause increases in salaries and benefits.

We are managing this $4 million to $5 million in unfunded obligations in three ways:

• We are slowing down hiring of UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) advisors & specialists throughout the state.
• Statewide programs are developing additional cuts to already reduced budgets.
• UC ANR Research and Extension Centers (RECs) are reducing the subsidy that has been provided for research projects at the RECs.

Our priority during this process is to keep UCCE advisors in the field and minimize harm to program delivery. We are fortunate that recent work on administrative efficiencies has provided some savings that we can utilize for our programs and UCCE mission.

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

ANR prepares for budget cuts

The Legislature is still working out the details of the state budget, which is due June 15, but UC is poised to get a major funding boost that will help enroll thousands of additional state students and eliminate the need for tuition increases in the coming school year. Despite the additional funding for the university, ANR will still take a budget cut. At this point, we still do not know how much our actual cuts will be, but anticipate we will have to cover approximately $5 million in unfunded obligations.

We are managing these cuts in three ways:

•     We are slowing down hiring of UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists throughout the state.
•     Statewide programs are developing additional cuts to already reduced budgets.
•     UC ANR Research and Extension Centers are reducing the subsidy that has been provided for research projects at the RECs.

ANR leadership will share additional updates when they find out more. 

State releases audit report on UC

A state audit report was released today about the budget practices and administrative expenditures of the UC Office of the President. UCOP's news release may be found here.

In addition, a video response to the audit report for UC employees has been issued by Board of Regents Chair Monica Lozano and may be viewed here.

For updated information and UC responses to the audit, please visit the UCOP news page.

VP Humiston announces plans for UC ANR REC System investments

On April 10, VP Glenda Humiston released the following statement to the UC ANR community.

Dear Colleagues,

As we move forward with the implementation of our new Strategic Plan, I want to take this opportunity to share some exciting plans for recapitalizing and modernizing our research infrastructure and facilities. This investment is a key strategy within our larger efforts to “rebuild the UCCE footprint” and increase the number of academics throughout the system.

The Strategic Plan proposes a total investment of more than $40 million for UC ANR research facilities, with well over half of that designated for the Research and Extension Center System (RECs). This historic investment will be funded by a combination of debt issuance, judicious deployment of reserves, revisiting recharge rates (cost recovery) and a robust capital campaign. The good news is, in the current financial market, interest rates are still relatively affordable, making it a very good time to borrow money and expedite construction.

The RECs are a unique and critical part of the research capacity of UC ANR, as well as a vital resource for California's agricultural sector. Unfortunately, they have not been adequately supported for a number of years, resulting in 21^st century research being conducted in facilities that are 50 to 60 years old. We must look to the future and invest in these facilities now to serve the researchers and scholars that bring their projects to the RECs – both current and future. Going forward, we must also ensure financial stability and plan for ongoing upgrades to keep our facilities up-to-date and in demand. 

UC ANR central funds currently cover expenses at the RECs ranging from 70% to 90% of all costs; the RECs, in turn, use those funds to support, on average, over 80% of the costs to conduct research. This significant support has been given to all researchers, regardless of need or priority, and doesn't allow ANR the flexibility to target our research support dollars where they are most needed. Furthermore, much of the work conducted at the RECs for projects awarded to UC campuses provide no Indirect Cost (IDC) to the RECs to cover utilities, infrastructure and other support costs generally covered by IDC. 

Lisa Fischer has been working with the REC directors to develop a vision for the RECs, including prioritizing the improvements to be funded and identifying options to enhance administrative and financial management. Several options are currently under discussion, including liquidating assets and/or pursuing land lease options, increasing crop income, seeking endowment opportunities and resetting recharge rates either as a system or by individual RECs.  

As part of these options, we need to develop recharge rates that more accurately reflect true costs and assist with recovery of the division's outlays. This move will enable those funds to be available to help improve operations and maintenance as well as augment three research funds that we are developing: one to provide extra support for early-career ANR academics, another to be available for emergency needs such as Asian citrus psyllid, and the third to provide matching funds when required for certain grants.

I know you share my enthusiasm about the potential of our REC System to become the elite and productive research infrastructure that California is depending on to provide solutions to the many issues facing the state. We are discussing and evaluating all available options to reduce the RECs' dependence on central funds and develop strategies to improve their administrative and financial management. I anticipate receiving a proposal from REC leadership in late April.

Rising costs, coupled with budget forecasts from our traditional state and federal sources that appear flat for the foreseeable future, mean that all of UC ANR, not just the RECs, must look for ways to manage ongoing programs with less reliance on central funding. Concurrently, we are also greatly enhancing our funds development capacity to assist with program needs and expanding our academic footprint. I will be providing more updates on that, as well as other aspects of the Strategic Plan implementation effort, as plans are finalized and milestones are met.

Sincerely,               

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

 

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