Nearly 200 UC Davis students have been elected to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa national honor society for 2018-19, and they’ve all been invited to an induction ceremony at 5 p.m. Wednesday (May 15) in the courtyard of Shields Library.

The campus chapter, Kappa of California, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, also invites all faculty and staff members to participate in the annual induction ceremony. Please RSVP here.

The inductees comprise 142 seniors and 65 juniors representing 50 majors in three colleges. You can see their names here, on UC Davis’ Phi Beta Kappa website. If you are a faculty member who mentors one or more of these students, the campus chapter asks you to please encourage them to accept this national honor

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest honor society in the nation, and claims as members many dignitaries including several current Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, and former presidents; as well as thought leaders, authors, scientists and artists.

Napolitano responds to budget proposal

UC President Janet Napolitano released the following statement in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal May 9:

The University of California appreciates the strong investment in higher education reflected in Gov. Newsom’s January budget introduction, as well as the additional proposed investments from the May revision, such as new ongoing funds to support housing for homeless students.

We look forward to working with the Legislature to secure additional funding that would make permanent the one-time allocation from the Budget Act of 2018 — which helped avert a tuition increase this past academic year — and bolster enrollment growth and access throughout the university.

We hope for continued collaboration with legislators to identify sufficient resources to meet our multiyear goals, including producing additional degrees to address workforce needs, ensuring equity in degree attainment, and further investing in our world-renowned faculty and research.

As a partner with the governor and the Legislature in enhancing the accessibility and affordability of a high-quality UC education, we truly value the mutual commitment to achieving shared objectives and advancing the California dream.

4th staff engagement survey begins

All around UC this week, about 20,000 nonrepresented (policy-covered) staff members selected at random will receive invitations to participate in the university’s fourth engagement survey.

The invitations will come by email from Willis Towers Watson, a firm specializing in workforce opinion survey research. Responses are due by Friday, June 7. The survey is completely confidential; individual responses and personally identifying information will not be shared with UC.

“UC’s Staff Engagement Survey helps us take a clear, honest look at what it’s like to work for UC,” said Dwaine B. Duckett, vice president of systemwide Human Resources. “We want to thank UC staff for breaking participation records with our last survey. The more feedback we receive, the more we can continue to improve.”

The survey, developed by the Council of UC Staff Assemblies, or CUCSA, in collaboration with systemwide HR and Willis Towers Watson, debuted in 2012 and has been conducted every two years since 2015.

The survey does not go to union-represented employees because UC receives their feedback through their union representatives during the collective bargaining process.

Learn more about the UC Staff Engagement Survey on the UC Davis HR website or attend the next Staff Assembly meeting: 11 a.m.-noon Tuesday, May 28, 225 Hopkins Building.

Healthy UC Davis asks for project proposals

The steering committee for Healthy UC Davis has put out a call for proposals that will support its organizational mandate of making UC Davis the healthiest community in the nation.

“We would like ideas and suggestions spanning any or all of the focus areas of physical activity, nutrition/food, mental and emotional well-being, and smoke and tobacco-free,” the committee says on its website.

The committee indicates it is particularly interested in projects in five priority areas:

• Creating “one place” or “hub” for our community to find resources and information about health, well-being and wellness
• Creating metrics and desired outcomes for health and well-being programs and Healthy UC Davis as a whole
• Creating ways to keep and increase leadership support for health and well-being efforts.
• Creating and enhancing policies that support the health and well-being of our community
• Creating a physical space for health and well-being programming and community building

The submission form is here. The deadline for proposals is Monday, June 3.

3 vie for 2 seats on UCRS advisory board

Voting opens Monday (May 20) and continues through June 17 to fill two open staff seats on the UC Retirement System (UCRS) Advisory Board. Three candidates are in the running:

• Lucy E. Whyte — payroll/personnel specialist, UC Davis
• Tiffany E. Wilson — systemwide academic HR analyst 3, UC Office of the President
• Ruth S. Zolayvar, inpatient pharmacy technician III, UC San Diego Medical Center

Candidate statements in English.
Declaraciones de los candidatos en español.

The electorate comprises UC Retirement Plan members and Savings Choice participants in the defined contribution plans who are not members of the Academic Senate. Voting information will be delivered electronically to each eligible voter with a UC email address, inviting them to cast their ballots online.

Eligible voters without UC email addresses will receive paper ballots by mail to home addresses. Election packets also will include instructions for online voting, if people wish to forego paper ballots.

More information: UCRS Advisory Board 2019 Elections and Elecciones de la Junta Asesora del UCRS del 2019.

Election results are due to be posted on the above sites by the end of June.

To-do list for Duo mobile app

Here’s the latest from Information and Educational Technology on Duo multifactor authentication:

• Duo Security will end its support of the iOS 10 and Android 6 operating systems effective July 28, so Duo users are advised to upgrade their smartphone and tablet operating systems by then to ensure Duo will continue to operate securely. Read more about this change: “What Versions of iOS and Android Are Supported by the Duo Mobile App?” in the UC Davis Knowledge Base. For information about how to perform updates, see these posts about iOS (by Apple) and Android (by Google).
• About one-quarter of all faculty, staff and student employees are still not enrolled in Duo — and they are urged to do so by May 31. Need help? Drop-in sessions with IET consultants are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, and Wednesday, May 29, in the lobby of Shields Library. Bring your smartphone or tablet, or a token if you’re using that option.
• Remember: Duo will be required for access to UCPath, UC’s new payroll and personnel system, which is scheduled to go live at UC Davis on Oct. 1. This means you will need Duo to make any changes in your benefits during open enrollment later in the fall.

More information is available online. Or contact the IT Express Service Desk (phone 530-754-HELP).

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