Layoff policy revision out for review

The UC Office of the President this week announced a proposed revision to PPSM 60 to clarify that performance is one of the key factors that managers should consider when deciding layoffs or reductions in time for professional and support staff (PSS) in career positions.

This change would not affect title codes that are not governed by Personnel Policies for Staff Members 60, including those positions governed by collective bargaining agreements.

UCOP posted the proposed PPSM 60 revision on the At Your Service website on July 27. A memo the same day specified a 30-day review period for employee comments.

The existing policy emphasizes seniority as the dominant factor in layoff decisions, while allowing managers — under certain circumstances — to factor in employee skills. The revision retains seniority as a factor, while clarifying that employee performance and ability should also be carefully considered.

Dwaine B. Duckett, vice president for Human Resources, is quoted in UCOP's July 27 memo, explaining why the university developed the revision. He said managers had expressed concern about their ability to retain their best people, by not considering employee performance when determining layoffs.

Seniority would continue to be a prominent and an important factor in any layoff decisions, Duckett said.

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California Agriculture launches e-edition

UC’s California Agriculture journal has launched an e-edition, providing an expanded venue for the rapid publication of time-sensitive research.

The peer-reviewed California Agriculture, from UC’s Agriculture and Natural Resources division, presents research and news in agriculture, natural resources and human resources. UC has been publishing the journal continuously for 65 years.

“Initially, e-edition is being offered to authors who have been waiting for publication due to a backlog,” Executive Editor Janet White wrote in the journal’s July-September issue.

She explained that the journal now has a 48-page maximum, due to the state budget crisis. “Some articles have waited a year or more for publication, an unacceptable delay,” she said.

The print journal includes abstracts and introductory comments for each of the articles in the e-edition. The full texts are accessible via the journal’s website: californiaagriculture.ucanr.org (click on “Current Issue” or “Table of Contents,” then scroll down to the e-edition box).

Space permitting, e-edition articles may appear in future print editions, White said.

With the new e-edition, the California Agriculture editor said the print journal is no longer the version of record for databases and other repositories. Now, the version of record comprises all of the journal’s online material: everything in the print edition plus the e-edition.

Subscriptions are free, for the print or electronic versions. Sign up here or send an e-mail to calag@ucdavis.edu.

‘Future of Nursing’ town hall

The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing is among the sponsors of a town hall meeting next week to discuss the “Campaign for Action” stemming from last year’s national report, "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change and Advancing Health."

The town hall, Partner with Nurses for a Healthy California, is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, starting with lunch, in the auditorium at the UC Davis Cancer Center, 4501 X St., Sacramento. The lunch and program are free; advance registration is required, by telephone, (916) 734-2145, or online.

The federal government’s Institute of Medicine issued the nursing report in October, exploring how nurses’ roles, responsibilities and education should change significantly to meet the increased demand for care that will be created by health care reform and to advance improvements in the country’s increasingly complex health system.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored the report, and, in partnership with the AARP’s Center to Champion Nursing in America, appointed the California Action Coalition as one of five such “Campaign for Action” coalitions nationwide to lead the implementation of the report’s recommendations.

The foundation and the AARP are co-sponsors with the School of Nursing in sponsoring next week's town hall. The organizers said the program will include presentations by nurses, as well as a panel discussion with health care leaders to identify priorities in efforts to improve California’s health.

The organizers said the panelists will include Susan Hassmiller, senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Jeannine English, a member of the AARP national board of directors; Terry Hill, a physician who specializes in long-term care; Helen Thomson, a registered nurse and former state assemblywoman and Yolo County supervisor; and Anita Creamer, a Sacramento Bee reporter who covers older adults and aging issues.

Poolbusters: The way to go for 25 years

Commuting from the San Francisco Bay Area? Would you like your own reclining seat with armrests and a reading light?

Consider the Poolbusters vanpool, which has been operating successfully for more than 25 years as a collective of faculty, staff and students. The vanpool leaves from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station at 7:40 a.m. and arrives on campus at about 8:40 a.m. The vanpool departs campus at 5:10 p.m.

You can sign up for the vanpool on a part-time or full-time basis; the fee at this time is $16 per day.

For more information about the Poolbusters or other UC Davis vanpools, contact contact Leslie Mancebo at Transportation and Parking Services, (530) 752-6453 or lmmancebo@ucdavis.edu.

Online: goClub (alternative transportation)

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