What is your vision for UC Davis to ensure its excellence long into the future?

What is your vision for your work and your role in contributing to UC Davis' excellence?

These are the questions Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Staff Assembly are asking in two exercises, one next week and one the week after.

The first is “Envision UC Davis,” an online “game” with thousands of your closest friends: staff, faculty and students on the Davis and Sacramento campuses and at all other UC Davis locations. We will play from 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, to 11 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. Preregistration is underway: envisionucdavis.org.

Release time approved for ‘game’

In her February message to the campus community, Chancellor Katehi described the exercise as “a special opportunity to help ensure the greatness of our university for decades to come.”

“We will be holding a 36-hour online brainstorming dialogue about our future,” she wrote. “‘Envision UC Davis' ... will be a fun, rapid-fire exchange of ideas open to all students, faculty members, staff and alumni. We’re making a game of it with points and prizes for top-trending ideas.”

Student Affairs is organizing “game huddles” around campus for students, and the “Envision UC Davis” organizers also encourage group play among staff and faculty — in other words, gather round a table or anywhere else on campus, with your smartphones and laptops, and post your ideas and thoughts to the online game while, at the same time, engaging in face-to-face conversation about UC Davis' future.

A meeting to talk about meetings

The official ROW Day is Monday, Feb. 29, but departments and units are welcome to pick different days. Also, each department and unit decides for itself how to spend the day.

One department’s plan includes:

• Individual time for workspace and/or email organization and-or campus client management
• Unit meetings where each unit will assess its other meetings, discuss efficiencies and positioning for success
• Wrapup in the arboretum to discuss lessons learned/outcomes of the day

Staff Assembly is asking other departments to share their plans — for posting on the ROW website — so perhaps other units can borrow. Send your plans by email to staffvoice@ucdavis.edu.

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