Posts Tagged: Chris Greer
Vice Provost – Cooperative Extension search extended to July 14
The Vice Provost – Cooperative Extension search has been extended to July 14, 2017, to solicit more candidates for consideration. The search committee reviewed applications and recommended we continue to seek a person with the appropriate combination of skills and experience for this critical UC ANR position.
The Vice Provost – Cooperative Extension is a key position that provides oversight and coordination for the academic review process. In addition, the person in this position provides leadership and vision for our network of county leaders and how we partner with counties, seeking to strengthen these partnerships going forward while providing support to UC ANR county leaders.
Current VP-Cooperative Extension Chris Greer agreed to fulfill the duties until June 30 before assuming the role of area Integrated Pest Management Cooperative Extension advisor for San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
Everyone in UC ANR will benefit from finding another extraordinary leader who possesses the unique set of skills UC ANR needs to build on our current successes and direct our programs toward California's future needs.
The ideal candidate will be a leader who
- understands the complexity of our county partnerships and the county-by-county needs across California;
- can create, gain buy-in to and deploy a vision to support Cooperative Extension county leadership and facilitate their success;
- appreciates the breadth of program areas within UC Cooperative Extension;
- has extensive personnel experience with academic hiring and merit and promotion processes; and
- can quickly get up to speed, building on his or her past demonstrated expertise in Extension and academia.
The Vice Provost – Cooperative Extension position is an ongoing recruitment until the position is filled. Please encourage colleagues who fit this description to apply for this very important leadership role.
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages
UCCE offices affected by the Oroville Dam spillway situation
As you may have heard, nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated in the area around Oroville Dam due to the threat of flooding from a break in the spillway over the weekend.
I want you to know that I have been in communication with the county directors in the UC Cooperative Extension offices in Butte, Sutter, Yuba and Colusa counties and they have confirmed that all staff members from those offices are accounted for and in a safe place.
Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center is on high ground and not affected, but some staff members and their families have been affected by the evacuations in the Marysville/Yuba City area. I'm told they have all checked in safe.
The three UCCE county offices are closed today due to evacuations or alerts in the immediate area: Butte County in Oroville, Sutter/Yuba County in Yuba City and Colusa County in Colusa.
The Butte office will also be closed on Tuesday, and re-opening depends on how the situation progresses.
I have let County Directors Cass Mutters, Janine Hasey and Luis Espino know that UC ANR is ready to help and support them and their staff during this crisis.
Chris Greer
Vice Provost
UC Cooperative Extension
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages
UC ANR vice provost of Cooperative Extension stepping down
Colleagues,
After much deliberation, I have decided to step down as UC ANR vice provost of Cooperative Extension to return to the field. I will be transitioning to the role of area Integrated Pest Management Cooperative Extension advisor, with responsibilities in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura, effective Jan. 1, 2017.
Over the next couple of months, I will work closely with Associate Vice President Wendy Powers and the Academic Human Resources unit to recruit and appoint the next vice provost of Cooperative Extension. The recruitment will open soon, and we need your help in identifying and encouraging outstanding candidates to apply for the position. We hope to have an overlap between myself and the new vice provost of Cooperative Extension to facilitate a smooth transition.
I will continue to perform the critical functions of the position during the transition to the new vice provost of Cooperative Extension. Recruitment and hiring of new academics are priorities for UC ANR, and these processes will continue in our effort to rebuild the academic footprint. I will also continue to serve on the UC ANR Peer Review Committee for the next two years to ensure continuity and integrity of the academic merit and promotion process.
UC ANR is heading in an exciting direction under the leadership of Vice President Glenda Humiston, Associate Vice President Wendy Powers, and Associate Vice President Tu Tran. I look forward to continuing to work with them and all of you during the transition and the coming years in my new role. I have enjoyed serving as the first UC ANR vice provost of Cooperative Extension over the past two years and thank you all for your support and your continued contributions to UC ANR.
Best regards,
Chris Greer
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
ANR leadership thanks Barbara Allen-Diaz
As UC ANR Vice President Barbara Allen-Diaz completes her successful 30+ year career with the University of California, we want to thank her for her contributions to the Division. For several years, the Division has been guided by our Strategic Vision, of which she was a key architect. In bringing the Strategic Vision to life, she initiated the ANR Competitive Grants Program to target resources at critical issues where policy-relevant impacts could be achieved. She also led the development of a thorough process, involving significant internal and external review and input, to identify critical Cooperative Extension Advisor and Specialist positions and made the bold decision to aggressively rebuild the Cooperative Extension footprint across the state.
Her leadership, perhaps best described by UC President Janet Napolitano as “decisiveness with charisma,” resulted in numerous advancements for UC ANR including consolidation of many units into one location on Second Street in Davis; increased direct support for CE positions from several stakeholder/commodity groups; development of two institutes – California Institute of Water Resources and Nutrition Policy Institute; designation of three new statewide programs – Master Food Preservers, California Naturalists, and Informatics and GIS Program; hiring of 90+ Cooperative Extension Specialists and Advisors, with 45+ scheduled to be hired in 2015-2016; among many others.
She has been cited by many UC stakeholder groups as rebuilding the connection to, and relationship with, them and the University of California throughout the state.
While we focus on thanking her for her leadership accomplishments, her scholarly accomplishments should also be noted. Perhaps best illustrating her academic impacts are recognition by the Society for Range Management with the Frederic G. Renner Award for her career achievements, and her role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change where she led the effort to determine climate change impacts on rangeland – an effort that was part of the team who shared in the Nobel Peace Prize.
Barbara is transitioning to a well-deserved retirement and we want to thank her for her tireless efforts in advancing ANR, Cooperative Extension and the Research and Extension Center System, through education and advocacy with leadership and partners within and outside the UC system to position the Division in its rightful place as a valuable statewide arm of the University.
Bill Frost, Interim Vice President
Tu Tran, Associate Vice President, Business Operations
Lisa Fischer, Associate Director, Research and Extension Center System
Chris Greer, Vice Provost, Cooperative Extension
Jan Corlett, Chief of Staff to the Vice President
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
UC ANR rebuilds its academic staff
Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, noted in the story that 2013 was the first time in recent years that UC hired more Cooperative Extension faculty than had retired. In December, she approved hiring of another 29 advisors and 16 specialists for the 2015-16 cycle.
"So we turned the corner for the first time in this long downward spiral," she said. "My goal is to continue to rebuild the footprint of Cooperative Extension."
Lee also interviewed UCCE vice provost Chris Greer, who said he expects ANR to end 2015 with a net gain of academics.
"It's not huge leaps and bounds; it's a small gain, but we're hoping as we continue this process of filling these positions, that we'll start gaining some ground," he said.
Rather than automatically refilling vacant positions, Greer said much thought is put into revamping job descriptions or creating new positions to better fit the evolving needs of agricultural business. To help prioritize which positions should be hired first, UC sought public input, receiving more than 900 individual comments last year, including from agricultural organizations.
Jim Sullins, the UCCE director for Tulare County who is planning to retire in mid-2015, said more advisors are covering multiple counties and must travel longer distances to make farm visits, so they are turning to new communications strategies in their work, such as email, social media, and other web technology. But traditional farm calls are still a mainstay service.
Katherine Pope, the new UC Cooperative Extension orchard systems advisor in Yolo County, was also featured in the AgAlert story. She talked about the importance of having enough staff to enable advisors to call on farmers personally. Pope said going out to the farm gives her a fuller picture of what she's dealing with that she can't get over the phone or with photos via email. Sometimes she may notice other issues unrelated to the original problem, or the visit may prompt other questions from the farmer.
"My job is to spread information and knowledge, and doing that in person is absolutely the best way to do that," she said.