Posts Tagged: survey

Employees of UC ANR, we heard you

En español

Through your comments on the three ANR@Work surveys, at the 2023 Statewide Conference, in our Town Halls, in the development of our Strategic Plan, in outreach sessions and other engagements, you shared your ideas, needs and experiences about working at UC ANR. Your feedback was and continues to be informative and powerful. It fuels our commitment to better UC ANR's work environment while we grow, adapt and deepen our impact on California's challenges and opportunities.

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, the fourth ANR@Work survey will be emailed to you. Please, take the time to respond to its questions. As the summary below shows, your voice is valued and critical to the ongoing success of our mission. 

What follows is a snapshot, with links if you wish to learn more, of what has been done since the pandemic in three core internal areas: employee and organizational wellness, learning and development, and staffing and retention strategies.

Employee and Organizational Wellness

Employee comments emphasized the need for more knowledge about navigating within the UC ANR community. An urgency to address diversity and equity in the organization's programs and environment was also clear.

o   Our first Director of Workplace Inclusion and Belonging was hired. Elizabeth Moon is responsible for developing and implementing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and programs for our community.

o   An agreement with the UC Davis Ombuds Serviceswas established to strengthen employee resources for conflict management and problem solving.

o   A partnership with the UC Davis Harassment and Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Programwas established to ensure objectivity.

o   Delayed by pandemic restrictions, the first ANR Statewide Conference in five years was held with over 800 attendees, the highest attendance ever.

o   Two new employee resource groups (ERGs) were established. The Latinx & Friends Affinity Group, UC ANR Black and Allied Employees, People of Color ERG, and the LGBTQ+ ERG all foster communication, support and opportunities for employees with shared interests or affiliations. Contact Bethanie Brown if you are interested in starting a new ERG.

o   The UC ANR Staff Assembly, of which all staff employees are members, strengthened its education and wellness reimbursements, established an Employee Experience and Engagement Challenge, and expanded its communications through a new e-newsletter, The Current.

o   To enhance customer service, all administrative service units took part in related trainings, surveyed customers to learn their needs, and are now creating action plans in response.

Learning and Development

UC ANR is a complex organization, and employees expressed the need to better understand it from the get-go. More seasoned employees look for professional development opportunities to improve specific skills and shape themselves for career advancement.

o   We continue to invest in learning and development, which increased 35% in FY22-23 and will double in FY23-24. Additional trainings and professional development presentations were archived to serve as a resource available at any time.

o   For new employees, more regular administrative and programmatic orientations were established, supported by less formal monthly virtual informational meetings and a New ANR Employee Guide.

o   A nine-month mentorship program was established to enable staff mentees to better understand UC ANR, establish contacts and design their career paths, and for academic mentees to help with program planning, research collaboration, outreach and the merit and promotion process.  

o   Daniel Obrist was hired as academic vice provost of academic personnel and development to oversee the recruitment, development, mentoring and evaluation of UC ANR academics.

o   As part of all UC ANR operations, less-formal opportunities are available to employees, such as serving on committees, employee groups and recruitment panels, and, in coordination with their supervisor, evaluating and improving current responsibilities.

Staff Planning and Retention

Salary competitiveness and equity continues to be very high priority for employees. The constriction and post-pandemic workforce instability impacted the staffing of units across the organization.

o   Successful recruitment for vacant staff and academic positions increased 25% over last fiscal year, although much work remains to fill vacancies.

o   A centrally funded process for recruitment advertising was created to accelerate recruitments.

o   Internal promotions of current employees increased 20% over last year, and reclassifications of current employees were up 35% over last year.

o   To recruit and retain quality employees in areas where current pay levels are below competitive levels and to provide a more transparent pay philosophy, a multi-year equity program was implemented for non-represented employees. An academic equity adjustment program is currently under review.

o   All non-represented staff and academics received a general pay increase.

o   All UC ANR collective bargaining agreements for represented staff are in place, with covered employees receiving guaranteed pay increases for the duration of their agreement.

o   Guidance for managing visas and work eligibility of international employees was created.

o   Several statewide programs and administrative units have undergone an organizational review and developed customized staffing plans, including career-ladder opportunities for current employees.

o   UC ANR increased funding for the annual Staff Appreciation and Recognition awards.

Bethanie Brown
Interim Executive Director of Human Resources

Your Voice Matters, Let Us Hear it! (Survey Digest)

Growers are said to be one of the most surveyed groups in the US. This is understandable as only around 2% of Americans work in agriculture and there is an intrinsic lack of understanding of what is needed to help growers develop their operations. I...

Seen Any Dead Butterflies? USGS Survey Seeks Specimens in Six States

Have you seen any dead butterflies lately? If you live in Alabama,  Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma or Texas, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) wants you to collect dead butterflies and moths and mail the specimens to...

A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

ANR Customer Satisfaction Survey deadline extended to June 23

Dear Colleagues,

Good news! We are extending the ANR Administrative and Support Services Customer Satisfaction Survey deadline from June 16 to June 23, 2023, to allow one more week for employees to share their feedback to this high-priority customer service initiative. 

The 18 ANR Administrative and Support Services Units included in the survey provide a broad range of services — from human resources to business operations to communications to safety services to technology support. 

If you have used services from one or several of these areas, we want to hear from you! You only need to rate the services that you have used in the last 12 months, or you can rate all services if you have used all.

The 2023 survey will help us determine areas that are working well and which areas need improvement. Your feedback is vital to this effort so that we may compare results from the 2021 survey to this 2023 survey in order to evaluate our progress and develop action plans for the next phase of our customer service enhancements.

We hope to receive 150 more survey responses during this last week to make the survey statistically more reliable. The more perspectives we receive, the more robust the data to inform and prioritize changes. As a token of appreciation for those who complete the survey during this extra week, we will conduct another random drawing and award 20 additional $20 Amazon gift cards.

Please complete your survey by June 23, 2023.  

To take the survey, please refer to your May 23 email invitation from “UC ANR Administrative and Support Services Customer Satisfaction Survey <ANRcustomersatsurvey@ucanr.edu>.” This email included a unique survey link and access code for each employee. As a reminder, your survey responses are confidential.  

If you have any questions, please send an email to ANRcustomersatsurvey@ucanr.edu. For additional information about the Customer Satisfaction Survey project, please visit the ANR Customer Service webpage: http://ucanr.edu/anrcustomersatsurvey.

Thank you in advance. We truly appreciate your feedback. 

Tu Tran
Associate Vice President - Business Operations

 

Climate-Change Resources

University of California UC ANR Green Blog (Climate Change and Other Topics) https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/index.cfm?tagname=climate%20change (full index)

Examples:

     -  Save Trees First: Tips to Keep Them Alive Under Drought https://ucanr.edu/b/~CdD 

     - Landscaping with Fire Exposure in Mind: https://ucanr.edu/b/~G4D

     - Cities in California Inland Areas Must Make Street Tree Changes to adapt to Future Climate  https://ucanr.edu/b/~oF7

Drought, Climate Change and California Water Management Ted Grantham, UC Cooperative Extension specialist (23 minutes) https://youtu.be/dlimj75Wn9Q

Climate Variability and Change: Trends and Impacts on CA Agriculture Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist (24 minutes) https://youtu.be/bIHI0yqqQJc

California Institute for Water Resources (links to blogs, talks, podcasts, water experts, etc.) https://ciwr.ucanr.edu/California_Drought_Expertise/

UC ANR Wildfire Resources (publications, videos, etc.) https://ucanr.edu/News/For_the_media/Press_kits/Wildfire/ (main website)

      -UC ANR Fire Resources and Information https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/ (main website)

            -Preparing Home Landscaping https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Prepare/Landscaping/

UC ANR Free Publications https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/ (main website)

- Benefits of Plants to Humans and Urban Ecosystems: https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8726.pdf

 -Keeping Plants Alive Under Drought and Water Restrictions (English version) https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8553.pdf

  (Spanish version) https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8628.pdf

-  Use of Graywater in Urban Landscapes https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8536.pdf

-  Sustainable Landscaping in California https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8504.pdf

 

Other (Non-UC) Climate Change Resources

Urban Forests and Climate Change. Urban forests play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Active stewardship of a community's forestry assets can strengthen local resilience to climate change while creating more sustainable and desirable places to live. https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/urban-forests

Examining the Viability of Planting Trees to Mitigate Climate Change (plausible at the forest level) https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-of-planting-trees-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/

Reports and other information resources coordinated under the auspices of the United Nations and produced through the collaboration of thousands of international scientists to provide a clear and up to date view of the current state of scientific knowledge relevant to climate change. United Nations Climate Action

Scientific reports, programs, action movements and events related to climate change. National Center for Atmospheric Research (National Science Foundation)

Find useful reports, program information and other documents resulting from federally funded research and development into the behavior of the atmosphere and related physical, biological and social systems. Search and find climate data from prehistory through to an hour ago in the world's largest climate data archive. (Formerly the "Climatic Data Center") National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA)

Think tank providing information, analysis, policy and solution development for addressing climate change and energy issues (formerly known as the: "Pew Center on Global Climate Change"). Center for Climate & Energy Solutions (C2ES)

Mapping Resilience: A Blueprint for Thriving in the Face of Climate Disaster. The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) was launched in July 2010 and is managed by EcoAdapt, a non-profit with a singular mission: to create a robust future in the face of climate change by bringing together diverse players to reshape planning and management in response to rapid climate change. https://www.cakex.org/documents/mapping-resilience-blueprint-thriving-face-climate-disaster

Cal-Adapt provides a way to explore peer-reviewed data that portrays how climate change might affect California at the state and local level. We make this data available through downloads, visualizations, and the Cal-Adapt API for your research, outreach, and adaptation planning needs. Cal-Adapt is a collaboration between state agency funding programs, university and private sector researchers https://cal-adapt.org/

Find reports, maps, data and other resources produced through a confederation of the research arms of 13 Federal departments and agencies that carry out research and develop and maintain capabilities that support the Nation's response to global change. Global Change (U.S. Global Change Research Program)

The Pacific Institute is a global water think tank that combines science-based thought leadership with active outreach to influence local, national, and international efforts to develop sustainable water policies. https://pacinst.org/our-approach/

Making equity real in climate adaptation and community resilience policies and programs: a guidebook. https://greenlining.org/publications/2019/making-equity-real-in-climate-adaption-and-community-resilience-policies-and-programs-a-guidebook/ 

Quarterly CA Climate Updates and CA Drought Monitor Maps (updated each Thursday) https://www.drought.gov/documents/quarterly-climate-impacts-and-outlook-western-region-june-2022

 

 

 

 

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