Recruitment begins for vice provost of Academic Affairs

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter this week launched the recruitment process to choose a successor to Barbara Horwitz as vice provost of Academic Personnel.

At the same time, Hexter announced that Horwitz's successor will have the title of vice provost of Academic Affairs, instead of Academic Personnel.

"This title change reinforces the critical strategic partnership between the provost's office and the vice provost's office, in all of the many aspects of Academic Affairs," Hexter said.

And those affairs go far beyond "personnel" in the traditional sense of the word, referring to classifications and compensation, for example.

“The vice provost works closely with the provost (the campus’s chief academic officer) in all matters,” Hexter said, “above all on the strategic development of our teaching and research forces in support of the campus’s Vision of Excellence.”

He said the review of candidates will begin on or about April 18, with the new vice provost expected to assume office on July 1. Professor Horwitz announced in February that she plans to step down after 10 years as vice provost.

The full recruitment announcement is available on Provost Hexter's website (click on "Executive Recruitments").

Nominations and applications should be addressed to Ralph J. Hexter, provost and executive vice chancellor, Office of the Provost, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis 95616-8558.

Join the Great Davis Race, to help in Japan relief

UC Davis alumnus and former city Councilman Lamar Heystek is inviting students, staff and faculty to team up for the Great Davis Race — a fundraiser for relief efforts in Japan.

The race, modeled after television’s The Amazing Race, “will test your Davis knowledge, your puzzle-solving skills and your ability to run,” said Heystek, adding that he hopes the event will bring in at least $5,000 for the Japanese Red Cross Society.

The Great Davis Race is scheduled for Saturday, April 9, with check-in from 10 to 11 a.m. at the farmers market at central Park, Third and C streets. Each team will receive a list of clues that will lead them to Davis monuments, sights and experiences. Teams will document their progress by photographing themselves at each destination. The race is estimated to last two to three hours, with participants traveling as teams — and only by foot or on buses.

The race is open to all ages, but each team must have a captain who is at least 18 years old. For each team, the fee is $20 per person for the first four members and $10 for each additional member, when all register together.

Heystek announced prizes of up to $200 for the three fastest teams, and a $100 bonus for the fastest UC Davis-registered student organization (such as a fraternity, sorority or service club) with at least eight members — and provided at least six UC Davis teams of that size are signed up.

Teams affiliated with UC Davis student groups are welcome to include one or more faculty members or other UC Davis employees.

Registration and more information. Online entries are due by Friday, April 8, the day before the race.

Donate blood, get a T-shirt

Who doesn't like a free T-shirt? That's what you'll get by turning out for the next ASUCD Blood and Marrow Drive, Wednesday-Thursday, April 13-14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days in Freeborn Hall.

Besides T-shirts, participants also will receive entries in iPod and fuel card drawings.

BloodSource, which runs the blood and marrow drive, advises prospective donors to drink plenty of fluids and to eat beforehand, and to bring photo identification.

For more information or to volunteer at the blood and marrow drive, contact BloodSource's Brie Leon, (916) 416-9459 or brie_leon@bloodsource.org.

Deadline nears for flexible spending accounts

UC employees with 2010 flexible spending accounts, for health or dependent care, or both, are nearing an important deadline: April 15 is the last day to submit claims for reimbursement for 2010 expenses (incurred during calendar year 2010 or from Jan. 1 through March 15, 2011).

Besides getting all your claims in, people with 2010 FSAs are advised "to review your previous 2010 claims and card activity to confirm that they were approved by CONEXIS and that no additional documentation is needed."

You can check you account activity online (click on "View My Prior Plan(s)" for 2010 account activity).

Under Internal Revenue Service rules, you will forfeit any unclaimed balance in your account after the April 15 deadline. Questions should be directed to CONEXIS, (800) 482-4120.

TRANSITION: Coach Stewart takes on new assignments

After eight seasons as men's basketball coach, Gary Stewart will transition into a new set of administrative responsibilities within the athletics department, Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka announced on March 30.

Stewart will take on a number of assignments within the department through June 30 as special project administrator, and will work with senior level administrators on assigned projects deemed necessary and appropriate to assist in the advancement of the athletics program. He will continue as a lecturer in the Physical Education Program.

“After a number of recent conversations and meetings, coach Stewart and I have come to a mutual decision that will benefit both Gary and the athletics department at UC Davis," Warzecka said.

He said a nationwide search for a replacement coach will begin immediately.

Stewart said the time is right for a professional change.

"I have had a wonderful experience coaching basketball at UC Davis," he said. "I truly believe the timing is right for me and the timing is right for the basketball program. We have some talented student-athletes in the program and I am enthusiastically looking forward to watching their continued growth and development."

Read the complete news release.

Police locate 2 more suspects in robbery at frat house

UC Davis police said they have tracked down two more suspects in a Feb. 20 incident that started with a robbery outside an on-campus fraternity house and ended with a car crash a short distance away.

Police arrested 19-year-old Daniel Chavez early that morning and had been searching for an unidentified man, described as possibly armed and dangerous. As of last week, investigators knew his name, Julio Rodriguez, 19, and his whereabouts: the Monterey County Jail, where he was being held on unrelated charges.

Police said they also turned up a third suspect, a 15-year-old boy, who had been arrested in the same case that landed Rodriguez in jail.

Chavez, meanwhile, remained in custody in Yolo County, held on three gun charges and a charge of auto theft in connection with the incident at the fraternity house.

Police said Chavez, Rodriguez and the minor, all of Soledad, Monterey County, robbed four men at gunpoint outside Nu Alpha Kappa on Parkway Circle, kitty-corner from the Activities and Recreation Center. The robbery occurred at about 2:15 a.m. after Chavez, Rodriguez and the minor had been asked to leave a party at the NAK house, police said.

After the robbery, police said, the suspects stole a car — using a set of keys that one of the suspects took from a table in the house. The suspects did not get very far, crashing the car into the fence of a nearby daycare center. Police recovered a gun from the daycare’s playground — a gun that one of the suspects apparently threw over the fence.

Police used the WarnMe notification system to tell the campus community that a single suspect was still at large, at the time believing that only one other person was involved.

Campus police subsequently learned of the 15-year-old’s alleged involvement, making the connection after city police linked Chavez, Rodriguez and the 15-year-old to an alleged assault the night before at the party on Mulberry Lane. The alleged assault went unreported until a couple of weeks later.

Chavez had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Yolo County Superior Court on March 25, in connection with the robbery at the fraternity house. That hearing was put on hold, given the new charges that he now faces in connection with the Mulberry Lane case.

Meanwhile, the Davis Police Department has secured arrest warrants for Rodriguez and the minor in connection with the incident at the party on Mulberry Lane. Charges are pending in the incident at the fraternity house, according to the campus Police Department.