A UC Davis task force on graduate education has called a town hall next week to share highlights of the group’s final report, discuss its recommendations and gather feedback. The town hall for faculty, students and staff is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 30) in the multipurpose room at the Student Community Center.

The report is the product of the Joint Administration-Academic Senate Special Task Force on Graduate Education, appointed in May 2011 by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter in partnership with the then-chair of the Academic Senate, Bob Powell, professor in the departments of Chemical and Materials Science, and Food Science and Technology.

Titled “Prioritizing and Strengthening Graduate Education at UC Davis,” the report "is intended to provide an overview of the issues that warrant attention as further strategic planning occurs, as the graduate education budget model rolls out, and during our next comprehensive campaign with suggestions for potential avenues for implementation," according to an announcement from the task force.

More information is available online, on the provost’s website.

Open enrollment: Help desk hours, other programs

Human Resources for the main campus announced help desk hours for open enrollment, plus a Medical Plan Overview and a class on Health Insurance After You Retire. Open enrollment starts at 8 a.m. Monday (Oct. 29) and runs through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20. As in previous years, open enrollment is an online process.

The UC Office of the President put the 2013 open enrollment booklets in the mail (to home addresses) on Oct. 19 — so yours may have already arrived or should be arriving soon (or you can read the booklets, one for employees, one for retirees, on the open enrollment website).

Help desk hours are scheduled on Nov. 7, 14 and 19, on a first-come, first-served basis. The Medical Plan Overview and Health Insurance After You Retire are scheduled for Tuesday (Oct. 30), with help desk hours in between.

More information, including times and places.

Aggies go for 3rd straight win in trash challenge

UC Davis keeps getting better and better at trash reduction at Aggie Stadium.

The Aggie community — spectators and trash team — won a national title in 2010, competing against universities across the country in the Game Day Challenge, posting a diversion rate of 89.93 percent — the percentage of waste that went to recycling and composting instead of the landfill.

UC Davis won the title again in 2011, with a diversion rate of 93.61 percent.

This football season, UC Davis did even better with 94.1 percent on Oct. 6, when the Aggies played Montana State for homecoming.

“We are hoping to achieve a higher diversion rate for the next game (Oct. 27),” said Michelle La, waste reduction and recycling coordinator in the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability.

In this year’s Game Day Challenge, colleges and universities can submit trash data from one or more games — with the judging to be based on each school’s best scores.

Training program for staff who work with veterans

A training program is planned next week for UC Davis health professionals and other staff members who might work with students who are military veterans or still in the service.

Two UC Davis units, Student Health and Counseling Services and the Transfer, Reentry and Veterans Center, and the Center for Deployment Psychology are presenting the program on Tuesday (Oct. 30). Continuing education credit is available for licensed psychologists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.

The morning session is for clinical and nonclinical staff and faculty. Nonclinical participants for whom the program may be helpful include those who work in housing, academic advising, financial aid and the registrar’s office, deans’ offices or campus safety.

More information. The program is free, with registration required, via this website. The deadline has been extended to noon Monday (Oct. 29).  For more information, contact Romana A. Norton, rnorton@shcs.ucdavis.edu.

New security certificate for moobilenetx, resnetx

A new security certificate for moobilenetx and resnetx is due to be installed early next week — and many people who use the networks are likely to see a screen prompt to accept the new certificate.

Users should see the prompt the first time they log in after the installation time of 8 a.m. Monday (Oct. 29), on most laptops (Apple and Windows operating systems) and, in some cases, smartphones and tablets.

If you do not see the prompt after the installation, your laptop might have already accepted the upgrade. If you experience problems, or have questions about the certificate or process, contact the IT Express Computing Services Help Desk, (530) 754-HELP (4357).

Many smartphones and tablets will accept the new certificate automatically. Apple customers are more likely to see the prompt.

More information is available in this IT Express XBase article.

Mail Services runs 7th annual food drive

Sending a gift for the holidays is easy during Mail Services’ seventh annual food drive on the Davis and Sacramento campuses, Nov. 1 to 16.

All you need to do is gather your donations, put them in the outgoing mail bin in your department or unit — and Mail Services does the rest. Davis campus donations will go to the Food Bank of Yolo County, and Sacramento donations will go to the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.

“We are really hoping to exceed our donations from 2011, which combined were 1,488 pounds,” said Jen Carmichael, general manager of Mail Services.

She provided this list of suggested items for donation: canned, ready-to-eat meals; canned vegetables and tomato products, canned fruit (in juice); peanut butter (plastic container); iron-rich cereal (45 percent or more of the daily value); powdered milk; fruit juice (100 percent, in plastic containers 48 ounces or smaller); ramen; boxed macaroni and cheese; and powdered milk formula and Similac baby food