Posts Tagged: Janet Napolitano

UC President Napolitano stepping down

Earlier today (Sept. 18), UC President Janet Napolitano announced that she will be stepping down as president of the University in August 2020. President Napolitano joined UC as the first woman to lead the university in 2013. 

We are thankful for President Napolitano's leadership and vision to address critical issues that affect California, the rest of the country and the world.

Recognizing the challenge of feeding a growing worldwide population, Napolitano launched the Global Food Initiative to inspire more collaboration and draw from the collective resources of all 10 UC campuses, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop solutions for food security, health and sustainability.

To address the threat of climate change, she created the Carbon Neutrality Initiative, which marshals resources from across the UC system to research and develop ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To attract and retain top-flight academics, she created the Presidential Match for Endowed Chairs to help UC campuses and UC ANR encourage donors to establish endowed chairs to fund research. The Presidential Match has enabled UC ANR to fill five endowed positions in UC Cooperative Extension, ensuring the scientists will have a dedicated source of funding for their ongoing agricultural research.

Finally, she emphasized the university's commitment to diversity by taking actions to let immigrant and LGBTQ members of the UC community know they are welcome and supported.

The UC Board of Regents will soon appoint a search committee to start a national search for the next president of the University. Per policy, the search committee will include student, academic and alumni representatives who will seek input from the UC community and the public.

More information, including highlights of President Napolitano's tenure at the University, can be found at https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-president-janet-napolitano-announces-decision-step-down-next-year. 

Glenda Humiston
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.

President Napolitano announces changes for UC ANR governance and funding

[The original letter from President Napolitano in pdf is attached below.]

Dear Colleagues,

One of the hallmarks of UC's excellence is its commitment to continuous improvement, and over the past few years we have been committed to making changes that will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the UC Office of the President (UCOP) and align our work in support of the University's core missions.

In late 2017, I initiated a holistic UCOP review by Huron Consulting Group to assess our organizational design, alignment, portfolio and strategy. The goal of this review was to determine the best ways to carry out our complex set of functions and services and make sure we have an organization that supports the future of UC - not merely for the next budget cycle, but for generations to come. The report was completed in January 2018, and one of the options listed in this report was that we consider UC ANR's location to enhance its overall efficiency and effectiveness.

In April 2018, I commissioned the UC ANR Advisory Committee to consider location options for UC ANR, and to review and make recommendations about the Division's scope and funding model and its academic interface with the campuses. The Committee's efforts would help the University to better understand the challenges facing the Division and to consider future state options that may better position it to surmount its challenges and ensure adherence to UC's land grant mission over the years and decades to come.

The UC ANR Advisory Committee, chaired by UCSB Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall, included one UC Regent, two UC Chancellors, one UC Academic Senate Representative, the PAC Chair, the UC Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, and two campus AES Deans. After developing an extensive Charter to guide its research, analysis, discussions, decision points and responsibilities, the Committee reviewed numerous documents, reports, and data supplied by UC ANR and UCOP, and also conducted its own analyses in consultation with UC ANR and UCOP. The Committee met and consulted with Dr. Glenda Humiston, UC ANR Vice President, who served as an Advisor to the Committee, and greatly benefited from information provided by and presentations from Vice President Humiston and her senior staff, including Wendy Powers, Associate Vice President; Tu Tran, Associate Vice President for Business Operations; and Jan Corlett, Chief of Staff to the Vice President. UC ANR's advice and assistance was very much appreciated.

In addition to UC ANR leadership, the Committee consulted widely with internal and external stakeholders to learn from their perspectives and to ensure that it had a thorough understanding of the benefits and risks of potential options before developing recommendations. These stakeholders included current and recent leadership from UCOP, campuses, the Academic Senate, and the UC ANR community. These and other stakeholders were provided an opportunity to review the Committee's draft report and provide comments before the final report was sent to me for review.

The Committee recognized that UC ANR has a distinguished record of research accomplishments and service to the State of California. However, over the course of its inquiry, and after broad consultation, the Committee saw opportunities to strengthen governance, increase budgetary transparency for both UCOP and UC ANR, provide more stable and predictable funding models, and expand collaborations between UC ANR with the University's broader academic and research enterprise.

I agree with the Committee that these measures, along with a strengthened partnership with the Academic Senate and broader collaboration with all ten UC campuses, will support UC ANR's efforts to fulfill its statewide mission and strategic plan.

In alignment with the UC ANR Advisory Committee's recommendations, I have made the following decisions:

  1. UC ANR will remain a systemwide program within the UC Office of the President, reporting to the President.

  2. We will create a UC ANR Governing Council in early 2019 to support Presidential oversight and promote greater understanding of and participation in UC ANR's mission across the University.

  3. We will fund UC ANR using a model that will establish more stable and sustainable budgets while enhancing governance.

  4. Campuses will maintain oversight of and reporting responsibility for State AES Funds.

UC ANR is integral to the historic and ongoing land-grant mission of the University of California. Grounded in UC's history, it is an important part of the University's future. These decisions are intended to build upon UC ANR's successes, provide budgetary stability, and sustainability through improved financial and governance models, and increase its systemwide standing, effectiveness, and impact.

Thank you for your role in UC ANR's success within the University and across the state of California.

Yours very truly,

Janet Napolitano
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.

President Napolitano: UC support for those affected by the California wildfires

The following is a message from President Napolitano. For those of you who want to donate or volunteer, the link to the State of California website lists vetted charitable organizations accepting donations as well as volunteer opportunities. 

Dear UCOP colleagues,

As our state continues to be ravaged by some of the worst wildfires in its history, UC is working with all of our locations to ensure the safety and health of students, faculty, staff and the extended UC community.

Many of you have been directly or indirectly affected by the current fires and other recent natural disasters. All of us are moved by the tremendous loss of life and property and concerned about the health and environmental impact on California's residents and land. 

We will recover, but the effects of these disasters will disrupt lives for many months. The University of California remains ready to help all community members needing assistance. In addition to contributing to emergency response statewide and care at our medical centers and campus-based health and counseling centers, this support includes:

• Application deadlines for prospective students impacted by the fires have been extended until December 15, 2018. More information about how to request an extension can be found here. 
• Emergency support from UC benefit plans, and local faculty and staff assistance programs that offer free, confidential resources for emotional health needs are available to UC employees.

For those of you wondering how you can help, the state of California has vetted both volunteer opportunities as well as organizations that are collecting financial contributions. That information is available on the state's website.

I know that you all join me in extending deep gratitude to the firefighters and other first responders still working to contain the danger and helping those who have been touched by these fires.

Yours very truly, 

Janet Napolitano

 

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 releases principles in support of UC community members

Dear Colleagues,

UC Office of the President has issued a statement of its principles regarding the privacy and civil rights of undocumented members of the UC community. These principles may be of interest to UC ANR volunteers, program participants and other stakeholders.

In the press release, UC President Janet Napolitano said, “While we still do not know what policies and practices the incoming federal administration may adopt, given the many public pronouncements made during the presidential campaign and its aftermath, we felt it necessary to reaffirm that UC will act upon its deeply held conviction that all members of our community have the right to work, study, and live safely and without fear at all UC locations.”

Feel free to share this link to the press release:  https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-releases-principles-support-uc-community-members.

Glenda

Glenda Humiston
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 president Janet Napolitano and UC ANR vice president Glenda Humiston tour Humboldt

Janet Napolitano, who is on a two-day tour in Humboldt County, is the first UC president to visit the Northern California locale, reported Marc Vartabedian in the Eureka Times-Standard. Napolitano is joined by Glenda Humiston, vice president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Napolitano and Humiston are visiting an Indian health services facility, a seafood company, a forest and a high school. UC has had a long presence in Humboldt County. Humboldt was the site of the first UC Cooperative Extension office in California, established in 1913.

“UC has had 100 years of research presence in the Arcata forest and many of their campuses are world leaders in ecological research,” said Yana Valachovic, director of UC Cooperative Extension in Humboldt County. “We think of ourselves as the eleventh campus.”

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