What happens to all the stuff UC Davis students haul into their residence halls during the year? Most of the usable stuff goes to charity — a record 16,840 pounds in this year’s collection, “Goodwill not Landfill,” nearly twice as much as last year.

The 2014 collection at the Segundo, Tercero and Cuarto residential areas diverted 54.91 percent of all student discards from the landfill, up from 51.68 percent last year, according to Student Housing, which coordinates the move-out donation drives.

“I want to thank everyone for their help, and a special thank-you to the talented marketing team that was instrumental in publicizing the event (without using a single piece of paper!), and, of course, the all-star custodial team that moved all the donated items out of the res halls and into the Goodwill trailers,” said Jenni Porter, sustainability coordinator in Student Housing.

She said Goodwill not only donated trailers this year but provided staff that handled all the sorting of donated items and dropped of the nonperishable foods to the Food Bank of Yolo County.

Here’s the breakdown on the collection:

• Reusable goods donated to Goodwill, 11,594 pounds
• Electronic waste, 2,854 pounds
• Nonperishable food, 2,362 pounds
• Reusable items donated to the Aggie Reuse Store, 39 pounds

Office of Undergraduate Education has moved

The Office of Undergraduate Education and most of its student-serving units are in temporary quarters in Haring Hall (first floor) for the summer and part of the fall, en route to a permanent new home.

The main office moved out of Mrak Hall last week, while the student-serving units moved out of Surge III. They'll move back there and the main office will join them in mid-October, after the building is renovated.

Surge III will also get a new name: Undergraduate Education, housing the core administrative team, including the director of Academic Advising, plus the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (including Scantron functions), Academic Assessment, Center for Leadership Learning, University Honors Program, English as a Second Language (director) and Summer Sessions.

TRAINING: ‘Stay Day’ and Management Skills Assessment Program

• Stay Day 2014: Passion for Life, Education and Service — Organized by Student Affairs for staff members who work directly with students. The program will feature presentations by other staff on best practices, strategies and research to spark dialogue and collaboration among staff, to help in their dealings with students. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, Conference Center and adjacent Welcome Center.

• Management Skills Assessment Program — A systemwide opportunity for high potential, early career supervisors, managers and professionals for future leadership opportunities. Scheduled Oct. 13-16, the program has room for seven people from UC Davis: four from the main campus and three from the health system. Applications must be submitted online by noon Wednesday, Aug. 6.

More information on both programs.

UC Ready tabletop exercise set for Aug. 15

Campus departments and units with UC Ready plans in progress or completed are encouraged to participate in a tabletop exercise on Friday, Aug. 15.

The annual exercise helps units assess their plans to quickly resume or continue essential operations in the context of an emergency scenario (it changes every year). The UC Office of the President’s goal is for every unit on all campuses to have UC Ready plans by December 2014.

Two tabletop sessions are being offered: 9 a.m. to noon, focusing on administrative units; and 1 to 4 p.m., focusing on research and academic units. Both will be held at the Conference Center.

To sign up, send an RSVP by email, providing department name and number of participants.

The UC Ready website includes an online planning tool that provides a framework, and prompts users to identify critical functions, key personnel, vital information, supplies and more.

‘Water warriors’ keep conservation in mind

Entomology professor Bruce Hammock’s “water warriors” turned into “drought-conscious water warriors” for their annual water balloon fight on the Briggs Hall lawn.

In last week’s 12th annual event, Hammock and his lab staff went through 2,000 small water balloons in less than 10 minutes.

“We devised a filling station out of drip line and valves so we could fill the balloons outside and also turn off the water when not in use,” said Cindy McReynolds, lab program manager.

“Water conservation was a big topic surrounding the event, so we also used it as an opportunity to discuss ways we have changed our daily routines to conserve water.”

Hammock launched the water balloon fest in 2003 as a way to build camaraderie and gain relief from the heat. This year’s water balloon fight took place at midafternoon July 24 — a day when the temperature hit 98 degrees.

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