As always there are many great things going on at UC ANR. Last week was the Academic Assembly Council meeting. This was the first time I attended the meeting in its entirety. Jim Farrar ran a great meeting. There were a large number of topics including a proposed salary plan for advisors, to accompany the plan that has been approved for staff. The advisor plan has yet to be finalized and approved but everyone agrees it is needed and now is the right time. We planned for the salary adjustment when we made position decisions at the end of 2016. And it is very much part of the thought process as we continue to review budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year. We will be reviewing budget requests again tomorrow and bringing final recommendations to Vice President Humiston the first week of June.
Last week we had a good meeting with County Directors. A guest speaker came in and gave us some tips on time management. As busy as the County Directors are with both administrative and academic responsibilities every tip helps. The CDs worked in small groups to develop some action items that followed a meeting in February, including strategies to ensure success of newer CDs in managing multiple priorities.
If you are looking for an interesting read, consider this article on research integrity that Kathy Nolan sent me. Mentoring of graduate students is a key theme throughout the article. Some of the points made had me remembering an exercise during our strategic planning meetings to identify values of UC ANR. Integrity was one that rose to the top and gained consensus of the group almost immediately. The article has me thinking that we need to work to keep integrity at the forefront of everything we do and not take for granted that it is inherent in our work. The article is a quick read and worth the time, regardless of how tight on time we all are.
The pollen in the air is driving me crazy to the extent that I look forward to a reprieve when I am in the concrete jungle (Oakland). But without the pollen there wouldn't be all the cherry stands in the Lodi area or the strawberry stands throughout the state. It seems strawberry season is in full swing. Congratulations to Surendra Dara and team for a successful strawberry field day. During the event the hosts were visited by a local news station. With over 160 attendees there is no doubt there will be strong outcomes from the event.
Ricky Satomi starts tomorrow as the new Forestry and Natural Resources advisor based in Redding with program responsibilities in Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou counties. Like Larry and Steve, we are excited to have Ricky on board.
I am looking forward to seeing the Statewide Program and Institute Directors and the Strategic Initiative Leaders this week when we craft public value statements. I think these will have many uses, not just Goal 5. I will let you know how it goes.
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