A news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday (Oct. 13) to “announce the next major step in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s story.”

A media advisory issued today (Oct. 10) refers to the school’s nearly 50-year-old William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, describing it as “the global leader in health care delivery to animals — from parakeets to Thoroughbreds.” The school sees more than 50,000 patients per year and offers clinical expertise in more than 30 specialty services.

“UC Davis leads the nation with more than $70 million in annual research funding and features the largest residency program — training future generations of veterinary specialists — in the country.”

Chancellor Gary S. May and Dean Michael Lairmore are among the university leaders who will gather with faculty members, staff, students and alumni for the news conference to be held on the lawn on the north side of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

The program includes dancing horses, Centurion and Emperador, and demonstrations featuring birds from the School of Veterinary Medicine’s California Raptor Center.

Centurion and Emperador belong to George and Nancy Gamble, long-time clients and supporters of the hospital. Actor and comedian Rob Schneider and his wife, Patricia, immortalized the horses in a children’s book, Centurion & Emperador.

Duty calls on front lines and at home

UC Davis firefighters are doing their part on the front lines — and at the firehouse — as early fall wildfires ravage the state.

Some campus firefighters live in the Napa and Sonoma areas, where flames have claimed 10 lives and destroyed 1,500 structures. Chief Nate Trauernicht has told those firefighters that their families can evacuate to the campus fire station if they wish.

Other UC Davis personnel are working off campus. Battalion Chief Nate Hartinger left Monday (Oct. 9) to help a state Office of Emergency Services team on the Cherokee Fire in Butte County, which is currently 7,500 acres and 40 percent contained.

That same day, the campus’s wildfire engine joined a Yolo County strike team on assignment. Further details were not available.

As winds picked up Sunday (Oct. 8), a vegetation fire broke out near the Domes in the northwest corner of the main campus. Firefighters held the fire to an acre, stopping the flames from reaching the historic student residences. Trauernicht said the fire’s cause was still being investigated.

Police board to hold public meetings

The Police Accountability Board will hold its fall quarter public meetings on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Following past practice, two meetings will be held simultaneously, noon to 1 p.m., on the Davis and Sacramento campuses. Some members of the board will attend the Davis meeting, others will attend the Sacramento meeting.

Here are the locations:

• Davis campus — Fielder Room, Memorial Union (second floor). (When first posted, this news brief gave an incorrect room for the Davis campus meeting; the correct room is Fielder.)
• Sacramento campus — 3103 Education Building (4610 X St.)

Members of the public are invited to meet PAB members, learn more about the board’s work, and raise any issues or concerns they may have. 

Banner project will impact some services

MyUCDavis and other services that draw data from the Banner student information system will be unavailable from 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, through 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, while Information and Educational Technology makes necessary improvements to the Banner infrastructure. 

However, some services that students, faculty and staff access through myUCDavis, including email and UC Davis Canvas, will still be available. You’ll just need to access them without using the portal. See this Knowledge Base article for more information about accessing services when myUCDavis is unavailable. 

Generally speaking, people should plan ahead of that weekend to avoid needing any UC Davis business service that requires access to the student information system to operate. Students who want to pay a campus bill that weekend, for example, should just choose another time.

UC Davis employees who manage services that depend on Banner have been working with Banner administrators to plan the improvement project, and chose Oct. 20-22 to minimize the disruption to the campus. If you work with Banner data and have questions about this project, please contact the Banner team by email.

For updates about the service interruption while it occurs, check status.ucdavis.edu.

Save the date: Oct. 27 deadline for free calendars

Repro Graphics is doing it again: Printing poster calendars for anyone with a Kerberos ID, one-of-a-kind calendars, personalized for YOU, designating the holidays of your choosing (up to four per month) and decorated with the campus scene of your choosing.

How do they do it? With the HP Indigo 5500 digital color press, capable of printing variable text, colors and images, allowing you to create targeted print pieces specific to your audience, to amplify your recruitment, fund raising and marketing efforts.

Want to see a sample? Order your free 2018 calendar by Oct. 27 and it will be delivered to your UC Davis mailstop by the beginning of January.

UCnet: Benefits for domestic partners

UC offers comprehensive benefits to faculty, staff and retirees, and to their families. The rules around these benefits can be complicated, though, especially for domestic partners. If you are in a domestic partnership, check out Establishing a Domestic Partnership and Benefits for Domestic Partners to make sure you understand the rules and how to ensure your partner doesn’t lose out on any valuable benefits. Read more.

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