Happy Mother's Day to one and all! It was nice to have a day for family and friends after a very intense week.
For those with an eye on the mountains, the snow melt continues. Concerns remain in the Tulare Lake Basin area. Thank you to a colleague who sent the link to these aerial images. The area will be water for quite some time. Hopefully, great recharge will occur as well.
The week started with a 2-hr debrief from the Peer Review Committee and a robust discussion on 71 dossiers. It's incredible to see the depth and breadth of programming within ANR. There were colleagues up for indefinite status and others doing a five-year review. Most academics did a good job describing their work and the changes clientele make over time as well as the public value of their work. We'll work with the Academic Assembly Council Personnel Committee to identify modifications to the eBook before our next merit cycle begins.
Many County Directors (CD) participated in the CD meeting Tuesday through Thursday noonish. The time was filled with many presentations from the various units that support academics. Vice President Humiston opened the meeting with an update. One of her many points was that ANR academics should be the go-to science adviser in all communities. We truly aspire to hire great people who will make a huge difference in their local communities. The human relations presentation and engagement was compelling. Information from the BOC gave CDs a chance to get detailed and specific questions answered. Vice Provost Obrist talked about the merit and promotion process and the importance of complete letters of evaluation from supervisors. One of my topics related to geography. Advisors are hired in an area. The county partners expect contributions from the Advisor. The boundaries of work are defined by the geographic area. Talk with your CD BEFORE you consider working outside your defined area. In addition to simple questions of resource use, there is a protocol to follow for anyone who works outside their geographic area. Likewise, if you are a Specialist working in county (ies), there is a different protocol to follow to connect your work to the County's needs. Reaching out to others within ANR prior to entering their area for collaborative work is a professional courtesy and an expectation. If you do work out of area, the objective is to help build capacity within ANR in the area. Hence, the importance of reaching out to Advisors or CDs and including them in your activities.
Welcome new colleagues who started in March:Krystle Hickman,IPM; Elizabeth Moon, Workplace Inclusion and Belonging; KatherineBiardi and JohnKobular Jr., Staff Research Associates; Lucas Chang andKengVue, student assistance; Joseph Simpson, Applications Manager, andKiera Scott, Lab Assistant 2. Many different people and job titles makeANRimpactful. Thank you for all you do!
Giving Day is coming this week. Stay tuned to your emails so you're able to donate to your favorite ANR program May 18-May 19.