Katehi to go before regents

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi is scheduled to make a presentation to the Board of Regents next week on the Davis campus’s Vision of Excellence.

President Mark G. Yudof has asked all of the chancellors to make presentations to the Committee on Educational Policy, and the chancellors have been doing so at different regents’ meetings over the last year. Katehi’s turn is scheduled for the morning of Thursday, March 17.

The regents meeting is scheduled to run from Tuesday through Thursday at the Community Center at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus.

The UC Office of the President provides live audio, via the Internet, of all open sessions. Katehi’s open presentation is set to begin at 9:10 a.m.

The board’s agenda next week also includes a presentation by Judy Sakaki, vice president for Student Affairs, on university policies and programs that promote a safe and hostile-free environment for students, with a specific focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) student experiences and the university’s efforts to make campuses more welcoming and inclusive of the LGBT student population.

See the complete agenda.

Passphrase campaign ends successfully

The campus’s Passphrase Change Campaign finished up with a 96.2 percent compliance rate, with passphrases — instead of eight-character passwords — in place on 56,559 computing accounts, as of March 1.

Many of the accounts without passphrases had been inactive. Now, any remaining passwords have expired, and the accounts cannot be used until the account holder creates a passphrase.

The campus's password standard dated back to the 1980s. Passphrases — with at least 12 characters, including spaces — are sturdier, thus satisfying federal electronic authentication requirements, and reducing the ability of hackers to break into UC Davis computing systems.

“We thank the campus for working with us to complete the transition,” said Robert Ono, information technology security coordinator. “At times it was inconvenient, but the campus account authentication system is now significantly more secure and robust than it was.”

As part of the upgrade to a passphrase program, the campus moved its account system to a completely new computing environment, from older hardware and software no longer supported by the vendor.

Cable project on Hutchison Drive

Spring break normally brings a let-up to the hustle and bustle along Hutchison Drive. But not this year, when AT&T will be installing a fiber-optic cable under the road that runs east-west through the middle of the Davis campus.

There will not be any digging — only the insertion of the cable into an existing underground conduit. Still, the project will bring trucks and other equipment onto Hutchison — and vehicle, bike and pedestrian traffic may be affected.

The work is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Monday, March 21, and take three to five days. Spring break runs from March 21 to 23; the new quarter officially starts Thursday, March 24, but instruction does not begin until Monday, March 28 (and Friday, March 25, is a holiday: Cesar Chavez Day).

“This upgrade is scheduled during the spring break so as to minimize impact on members of the campus community,” officials said in a news release. “However, there could be minor delays and traffic may be rerouted.”

Officials said safety barriers and traffic control measures will be in place, and bicycle, vehicle, and pedestrian lanes will be partially closed in the work area.

The Hutchison Drive work zone stretches between Lot 41 (across from the Life Sciences Building) and Hutchison Drive’s east end, at A Street. Officials said Lot 41 will still be accessible, with only a few parking spaces cordoned off.

Soaring to New Heights tickets on sale

Tickets are due to go on sale today (March 11) for the 21st annual Soaring to New Heights, a staff and faculty celebration of diversity. Also, the organizers have put out a call for volunteers.

This year’s event is scheduled from 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in Freeborn Hall. The event features an international buffet lunch, plus an information fair and entertainment, and the presentation of the Diversity and Principles of Community Achievement Recognition Awards, and the Calvin E. Handy leadership Award.

The Office of Campus Community Relations and the Staff Diversity Advisory Committee sponsor Soaring to New Heights.

Ticket are $5 each and will be available through March 31 or until they sell out. Only 550 tickets will be sold, based on the capacity of Freeborn Hall — and none will be sold at the door.

They are available on a first-come, first-serve basis through the Freeborn Hall ticket office, in person or by telephone, (530) 752-1915. Note: A $5 charge will be added to each phone order of one or more tickets.

Departmental recharges are allowable; DaFIS (Davis Financial Information System) account managers may send ticket orders via e-mail to occr@ucdavis.edu.

In a memo announcing the start of ticket sales, Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor, said department-unit representation is highly recommended. Release time with supervisory approval is appropriate.

More information is available online or by calling the Office of Campus Community Relations, (530) 752-2071.

Activities for our daughters and sons

The WorkLife and Wellness unit is compiling a list of departmental activities for young visitors on Thursday, April 28 — this year's Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The theme for 2011 is "Invent the Future."

Departments are encouaged to organize tours and demonstrations, or set up poster displays. In fact, the organizers said: "Many of the activities and information boards you have available for Picnic Day (April 16) will work."

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, for ages 8 to 12, also offers an opportunity for job shadowing. Then overall goal is to show a wide variety of career opportunities, and how people can integrate their professional and personal lives..

More information is available online. The website includes a link for the TODS activity sheet; departments should fill this out and return it by March 24.

Questions can be directed to Sandy Batchelor, (530) 754-8791 or sbatchelor@ucdavis.edu.

Health system names chief financial officer

The UC Davis Health System announced the appointment of Timothy Maurice as the system’s new chief financial officer. He succeeds William McGowan, who is retiring.

“Tim’s 30-plus years of strong financial, strategic and capital-planning experience will be of great value to the health system as we navigate this period of challenge and opportunity associated with health care reform,” said Claire Pomeroy, chief executive officer of UC Davis Health System, vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine.

As chief financial officer, Maurice will be responsible for the overall financial operation of the health system, which has an annual budget of $1.6 billion. He will oversee strategic financial planning and reporting, budgeting, general accounting, operational and capital financial planning, payroll and accounts payable.

Maurice is scheduled to take up his new post March 28, making the move from vice president and chief financial officer at St. John’s Regional Medical Center and St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Ventura County. Earlier in his career he worked at two academic teaching hospitals: Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, and the University of Washington Hospital and Medical Center.

Read the UC Davis Health System news release in its entirety.

UC Davis' big day on UCTV

UC Davis will shine on UCTV on Monday, March 14.

At 11 a.m. Monday, March 14, UCTV plans a repeat showing of the winter edition of State of Minds, featuring a segment from UC Davis on stem cell treatments. UCTV presents State of Minds once a quarter, with pieces from all around the UC system.

The winter quarter edition also includes segments on seminal research on air quality, from UC Riverside; Peace Corps volunteers from UC Berkeley; and new insights into human evolution from the bones of Neanderthals, from UC Santa Cruz.

At 2:30 p.m. the same day, UC Davis’ Chancellor’s Colloquium series debuts on UCTV. First up is Roger Beachy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (a unit of the Department of Agriculture), who spoke here Jan. 12 on the topic “Can Support of Science for Agriculture Prosper Inside the Beltway?”

The UCTV website offers complete schedules and information on where you can watch UCTV. On-demand videos and podcasts also are available.