Posts Tagged: July 2021

UC ANR celebrates budget increase, releases 10 UCCE positions for recruitment

After three years of limited hiring due to budget constraints, Vice President Glenda Humiston announced the release of 10 UC Cooperative Extension positions for recruitment.

The new UC Cooperative Extension positions include:

• #11 Plant Pathology Area Advisor, Santa Cruz County
• #13 Soils and Irrigation Advisor, Kern County
• #15 Urban Agriculture/Small Farms Area Advisor, San Bernardino County
• #27 Community Nutrition & Innovative Technologies Specialist, UC Davis
• #31 Forest and Fuels Management Specialist, UC Berkeley
• #37 Subtropical Crops Pathology Specialist, UC Riverside
• #45 Diversified Agricultural Systems Area Advisor, Lake County
• #55 Forestry and Natural Resources Area Advisor, Sutter-Yuba counties
• #59 4-H Youth Development Advisor, San Mateo-San Francisco counties
• #63 Integrated Vineyard Systems Area Advisor, at Hopland Research and Extension Center

The county listed beside the advisor title is where the office for the employee will be located. All of the UC Cooperative Extension Advisor positions will serve multiple counties.

A full description of each position is available at the corresponding position number at the bottom of https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Divisionwide_Planning/2018_Call_for_Positions, with some modifications.

On July 12, the state restored UC ANR's budget to pre-COVID levels of FY 2019-20 and provided a 5% increase plus an additional $32 million in ongoing funding, bringing total state support to $107.9 million for the division.

“This budget increase is transformational,” Humiston said, “It will allow us to rebuild UC Cooperative Extension's boots-on-the-ground to help Californians cope with wildfire, drought, climate adaptation and economic development among other issues.”

Over the past 20 years, UC ANR had seen its budget decrease by almost 50% when adjusted for inflation. As a result, UC ANR was forced to reduce Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists – from 427 positions in 2001 down to only 269 in 2021 – creating vacancies in many critical positions.

Twenty UC Cooperative Extension positions have been designated as critically urgent to fill. To avoid overwhelming UC ANR's Human Resources staff, the other 10 positions of the 20 will be released in late September as they ramp up hiring for future recruitment. Seven to 10 positions will be released each of the next four months, with more positions to be released in 2022.

“We look forward to releasing additional positions for recruitment – both academic and program support members – throughout the next several months,” said Humiston. 

“We are extremely grateful to Governor Newsom, the Legislature and especially Senator John Laird, who championed the budget increase, and look forward to working with our community partners to leverage these resources.”

Visit UC ANR Jobs to see the current positions open for recruitment.

New book shows how Californians are improving climate resilience

Wildfires that generate their own weather, drought, record-breaking heatwaves, and frequent flooding are compelling more people to try to mitigate and adapt to climate change. A new book co-authored by Adina Merenlender, UC Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Berkeley, shows how Californians are working together across diverse communities and landscapes to improve resilience and address climate justice. 

“Climate Stewardship: Taking Collective Action to Protect California,” published by UC Press, will be required reading for participants of the UC Climate Stewards certification course, but it isn't a textbook. The book is a collection of personal stories of individuals who are striving to improve climate resilience.

“The stories, many gathered through UCCE extension efforts, show what everyday people can do together to improve community resilience across agricultural, natural and urban landscapes,” Merenlender said. “'Climate Stewardship' also offers an uplifting way to learn about climate science that is most relevant for California's communities and ecosystems.”

Merenlender suggests UC ANR colleagues consider sharing the book, which is written for a lay audience, with their clientele.

“It is written in narrative form with stories meant to showcase what can be done and some relevant climate science is woven throughout,” she said. “For this reason, it is meant to be of interest to a wide California audience.” 

The book is illustrated with original paintings by Obi Kaufmann, author of “The California Field Atlas,” and co-authored by Brendan Buhler, an award-winning science writer.

For more information about the book, see the California Naturalist blog at http://calnat.ucanr.edu/cs/Climate_Stewardship. To buy the book with a 30% discount, use code 20W8895 at https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520378940/climate-stewardship.

Slides outline ANR history and mission

PowerPoint slides that give an overview of UC ANR are now available in the ANR communications toolkit. If you are giving a presentation and need some background information about UC ANR, you can select what you need from a set of 14 slides.

The slides – which Vice President Humiston has used to educate UC regents and many other groups – outline ANR's mission, history and public values and provide examples of program impacts and activities. A map shows UC ANR locations. Statewide programs are listed.

In the ANR portal, look for “Branding Toolkit” in the left column. On the Communications Toolkit page, click on “Branding,” then click on “Messaging” in the left navigation under Messaging, you will see “ANR overview slides.”  

The direct link to the ANR overview slides is https://ucanr.edu/sites/communicationstoolkit/Branding/Messaging/ANR_overview_slides. 

While you are looking at branding, please make sure your email signature and other branded items are updated with the current UC ANR logo. You can download the current logo and other branded materials at https://ucanr.edu/sites/communicationstoolkit/Logos_and_Templates/Logo_Downloads/UC_ANR_Logos_and_Templates.

Strategic Initiative Brief: Recruit excellent candidates for new positions

Unify-Communicate-Advocate

The UC ANR Strategic Initiatives offer a home for strategic thought - drawing on members of the wider UC ANR community and beyond to 1) help people connect and 2) to help them identify and address issues of current and emerging importance.  

Help spread the word for a stronger UC ANR and greater impact.

• The good news? The very positive news is the state increase in funding to UC ANR's budget. 
• The challenge? We have to move fast to attract and hire excellent candidates. 
• If we get it right? If we do this right, we strengthen our current needs, and lay the foundation for future success.

Help spread the word to attract excellent candidates: a three-step plan.

1. Track released positions 

Note that seven to 10 positions will be released each of the next four months. More positions will be released in 2022. Visit UC ANR Jobs for the latest releases.

2. Use your connections to promote jobs 

Research shows many vacancies are filled by people connecting through networks and personal contact. So, share links and news on vacancies through your social media (e.g., LinkedIn; Facebook, etc.), networks, blogs and newsletters, etc. 

Do what you think is best, but you can simply share a link and the name or topic of job(s) being released. Ask people to share with others.

3. Think diversity

Look to share through locations or platforms you might not normally include when sharing the word on opportunities with UC ANR. 

For more on the SIs and their activities, contact:

Jim Farrar: Pests (EIPD)

OPEN: Natural Ecosystems (SNE) (Let us know if you are interested in making sure SNE has a voice)

David Lewis: (Water)

Deanne Meyer: Food Systems (SFS)

Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty: Families and Communities (HFC)

Mark Bell: Vice Provost (Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs)

Black and Allied Employees affinity group advocates for equity and safety at UC ANR

Since June 2020 and the aftermath of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade, several efforts have been underway within UC ANR to make our workplace safer, more equitable, and more welcoming to Black employees. These efforts have included UC ANR's partnership with UC Davis Harassment & Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Program for reporting instances of harassment and discriminatory practices or behaviors, as well as the virtual Black History Month and Juneteenth events that took place this year. Though these efforts have been endorsed and supported by UC ANR higher leadership, the newly recognized Black and Allied Employees affinity group has been spearheading these efforts behind the scenes since 2019.  

Black and Allied Employees, also known as BAE, began as a small group of coworkers – present and past employees – who discussed patterns of anti-Blackness within the UC ANR workplace and what changes could be made to address them. When the uprisings of 2020 began, the group requested a meeting with UC ANR leadership, and began to meet with them on an occasional basis to bring attention to these patterns and to advocate for substantive, systemic changes to make UC ANR a safer and more welcoming environment for Black employees.

The group continues to advocate for accountability, parity, and fair and equitable recruitment, promotion and retention. BAE members also aim to provide a safe space for Black and African Diaspora employees to obtain support around workplace concerns, as well as professional development and growth opportunities.

Since BAE has been formally recognized as an affinity group at UC ANR, the group has been accepting new members. Non-Black allies are welcome to join under the condition that the space remains safe and supportive to Black members. The group currently meets once per month on Friday afternoons.

If you would like to join BAE, please fill out this interest survey. We look forward to connecting with our colleagues throughout the state.

If you have any questions about Black and Allied Employees, feel free to contact Ron Walker at rlwalker@ucanr.edu, Shyra Murrey at smmurrey@ucanr.edu or Esther Mosase at enmosase@ucanr.edu.  

 

 

Read more