Departments and units are invited to get rid of their e-waste, for free, during a drop-off event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, at the Hopkins Services Complex on Hopkins Road west of Highway 113. Aggie Surplus is the organizer, and will ensure all materials are recycled appropriately.

The collection is for university-owned items only, desktop size or smaller. They must be nonfunctioning and they cannot have university property stickers.

Acceptable items include computers, monitors and software; keyboards, mice, cords and cables; phones and personal digital assistants; printers and fax machines; speakers, projectors, televisions and VCR-DVD players; typewriters and shredders; microwaves; small lab items, such as shakers and water baths; and UPS units (uninterrupted power supply, with batteries removed). Please remove items from packaging, and do not place them in boxes.

Aggie Surplus also has a list of what’s not acceptable at the e-waste drop-off — and options for disposal of those items:

• Contact Aggie Surplus about wood (including wood-encased speakers), household appliances (including vacuum cleaners and water heaters) and anything with a UC Davis property sticker.
• Leave toner cartridges and household batteries with your outgoing mail, for pickup.
• Contact Environmental Health and Safety Services for lamps/light bulbs; items that require decommissioning (e.g., containing oil or refrigerant), or items that contain or once contained other hazardous chemicals; UPS batteries; and all mercury-containing devices.

What about “techno trash” — CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes? They go in the regular trash, according to Aggie Surplus.

Note: If you plan on dropping off a large quantity (50 or more items), please advise Aggie Surplus in advance so staff can plan accordingly.

Questions? Contact Aggie Surplus by email or phone, 530-752-2145. The Hopkins Services Complex is at 615 Hopkins Road, across from the University Airport. Take Hutchison Drive west from Highway 113, turn left on Hopkins Road and right on Apiary Drive. Turn left at the second driveway.

Admitted transfer students to visit campus Friday

Transfer Decision UC Davis takes place this Friday (May 12), offering admitted transfer students the opportunity to learn more about the university as they decide whether to enroll.

About 3,500 people are expected — admitted students and accompanying family members and friends — and many of them are likely going to want to park near the event headquarters at The Pavilion at the ARC. Thus, faculty and staff should be prepared for more cars than normal vying for space in The Pavilion garage, Lot 25 (at the Activities and Recreation Center) or Lot 35 (at the Student Health and Wellness Center).

Transfer Decision UC Davis, organized by Undergraduate Admissions, includes tours, information sessions on programs and resources, and discussions with current students. Decision UC Davis for admitted freshmen was held April 8.

4 athletics programs cited for academic achievement

Four of UC Davis’ intercollegiate athletics programs — softball, men’s golf, and women’s and men’s tennis — are among this year’s recipients of National Collegiate Athletic Association Public Recognition Awards for outstanding academic progress.

Each of the Aggie programs did better than outstanding — they were perfect (with scores of 1,000) in the NCAA's latest Academic Progress Rates (APR) for Division I schools. Including this year’s recipients, no Big West Conference school has more Public Recognition Awards than the 25 UC Davis has received since the NCAA started the program in the 2005-06 academic year.

Women’s tennis has earned a Public Recognition Award for nine years running, with perfect scores every year. The softball, men’s tennis and men’s golf programs are first-time recipients.

APRs are calculated annually, factoring student-athletes' eligibility to compete, along with their retention and graduation data going back four years. Public Recognition Awards are given to programs with APRs that rank in the top 10 percent in each sport.

The NCAA announced the Public Recognition Awards on May 3 and plans to release the APR scores for all Division I teams on Wednesday (May 10).

Police Accountability Board: Public meetings May 17

The Police Accountability Board holds its quarterly public meetings next week — two meetings held simultaneously on the Davis and Sacramento campuses. Members will split up, with some attending the Davis session and others the Sacramento session.

The board invites the public to attend to learn more about the board’s work, how to file a complaint, and to raise any issues or concerns.

The meetings will be from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, at the following locations:

• Davis campus — Garrison Room, Memorial Union
• Sacramento campus — Room 3103, Education Building

Travel and entertainment updates from UC Davis and UC

UC Davis announced a new policy for reimbursement of travel and entertainment expenses, on claims submitted more than a year after the expenditure dates; and UC Central Travel Management announced that it has partnered once again with Amtrak to offer a discount for faculty and staff — whether traveling for business or pleasure. Central Travel Management also announced a webinar on “Car Rental Insurance Coverage.”

• From Travel and Entertainment at UC Davis — In a strategy similar to those in place on other UC campuses and at the UC Davis Medical Center, the rest of UC Davis will soon be subject to a new policy encouraging timely submission of claims for reimbursement of travel and entertainment expenses. If your claim is more than a year old, your reimbursement AND the rest of your claim (even the part paid by UC) will be reported as income, subject to taxes. For travelers who receive cash advances, the timeline for submitting claims will be shortened from one year to 120 days before the claims are reported as income. Read more.
• From Central Travel Management — The Amtrak discount is 15 percent on three California trains: Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin and Pacific Surfliner. To secure the discount, click "Book Online Now" in the Connexxus Travel Portal, then click on “Book Now” to go to the Amtrak page — then follow the directions on that page. This discount is not good for multiride tickets and cannot be combined with other discounts. Reservations are required a minimum of three days in advance, and a valid UC employee identification card may be requested once onboard. For business travel, Central Travel Management strongly advises against following the Amtrak booking site to “Travel Extras” for hotel and car rental options, because UC’s rates, especially for car rental liability and insurance coverage, are not loaded on the Amtrak site. Also, you’ll have to pay for business travel with a personal credit card and seek reimbursement afterward.
• From Central Travel Management — The travel management office will hold a webinar on “Car Rental Insurance Coverage,” 11:30 a.m.-noon Thursday, June 1 (register here). See all of Central Travel Management’s upcoming webinars.

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