Program Council had further discussion about the proposed positions. We discussed what worked well with this year's process and what didn't. We plan to solicit feedback across the division in order to improve the process the next time. During this week's Program Council meeting we said farewell to 3 members. Nick Mills will be replacing Steve Lindow as the UCB representative. Professor Nick Mills of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management has agreed to serve as the Executive Associate Dean of the College of Natural Resources (CNR) beginning January 1st, 2019. Doug Parker and Keith Nathaniel anticipate their departure from Program Council when they step down as Strategic Initiative Leaders, also on January 1. Interviews for their replacements as Strategic Initiative Leaders occur in December.
I spent today in Berkeley, visiting with the Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI), the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI), and CE Specialists. The group at NPI are doing great things; no surprise there! If you haven't had a chance to familiarize yourself with their work (mission, vision, goals) I encourage you to take a look at their website and see all of the things they are up to. Following a quick meeting with NPI, we were off to meet with the UCB CE Specialists and hear what is on their mind. It was a small group this time but we had no trouble filling an hour. And we left with some great ideas. Those in attendance this time were all reasonably new to UC and their positions. It's great to see how each is settling in but we really need to spend more time to hear all about how they are shaping their roles. Today was my first opportunity to meet with the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI) and learn more about their goals and their work. The BFI is clearly a small, but mighty, team that has done outstanding things to connect across the campus, partnering with 7 colleges at UCB. They clearly have strong connections with NPI, the CE Specialists, SAREP, and CE Advisors throughout the state.
Now it is time for me to focus on tomorrow's agenda. I have phone calls and Zoom meetings most of the day. Then I am off to New Orleans for the weekend and into early next week to attend the Association of Public Land Grant Universities (APLU) for the annual meeting. This meeting isn't exactly my first choice how I'd like to spend the weekend and the Monday holiday but I'm certain I will pick up some useful bits of information and ideas.