UC Davis shines in pair of legislative resolutions

by Dave Jones
September 17, 2013

The state Legislature saved the best for last:

• A resolution commending the university for its status as No. 1 in the world in agricultural teaching and research.

• And another that relies in part on Graduate School of Management studies — and Dean Steven Currall’s testimony — about the "dismal picture" for women in California corporate board rooms, where, as of fiscal year 2011-12, women held fewer than one in 10 of the top executive jobs.

In approving the latter resolution, California became the first state in the nation to urge corporations to do more to remedy gender inequality in business leadership.

Senate Concurrent Resolutions 62 and 70 gained final approval last week during the waning days of the Legislature’s 2011-13 session. Resolutions are approved by Senate and Assembly vote; the governor’s signature is not needed.

SCR 70: We’re No. 1

The Senate Agriculture Committee chair, Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, joined Lois Wolk, D-Davis, in introducing SCR 70 after the release in May of the QS World University Rankings in 30 subject areas. Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, was among 10 co-authors.

QS, widely considered one of the most influential providers of international university rankings, had never before evaluated agriculture and forestry — and UC Davis scored the inaugural top ranking. Read the May 8 UC Davis news release on the rankings.

Four criteria went into the finding: the number of research publications in the area of agriculture and forestry, how often other researchers cited those publications in professional journals, opinions of other academics in the field, and opinions of employers in the field.

The resolution passed with no opposition in the Senate or Assembly.

“Growing up in the heart of California farmland, I fully understand how fortunate we are to have the support of UC Davis,” Galgiani said. “California agriculture would not be as successful as it is today without UC Davis’ expertise; and as the top agricultural state in the nation, we must recognize the value that researchers, staff and Cooperative Extension specialists have in overcoming challenges and ensuring abundant and sustainable agricultural production in California.

“It was an honor to facilitate the state Legislature’s recognition of UC Davis as the No. 1 agricultural university in the world. I commend them for this extraordinary achievement.”

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi expressed her pride in the university’s accomplishments and gratitude for the legislative resolution.

“Agricultural teaching and research is both our heritage and our future at UC Davis, as we strive to feed a rapidly growing global community and wisely steward the world’s natural resources,” Katehi said. “We so appreciate our colleagues in the Legislature recognizing our achievements in the form of this resolution.”

Most of UC Davis’ agricultural teaching and research is carried out by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The college, which has 300 faculty members, was founded in 1905 as the University Farm.

Today, CA&ES has more than 5,800 undergraduate students in 27 majors and more than 1,000 graduate students in 45 graduate groups and programs. More than 3,000 acres of UC Davis’ 5,000-acre campus are devoted to agricultural research.

SCR 62: Gender inequality in board rooms

“The resolution was prompted by our eight years of research on women business leaders in California,” the Graduate School of Management declared Sept. 12 in a “breaking news” item on the school’s website.

Indeed, SCR 62 starts by citing the GSM’s 2012-13 Study of California Women Business Leaders: A Census of Women Directors and Highest-Paid Executives.

Upon the release of the eighth annual study last December, a UC Davis news release declared: “The 400 largest companies headquartered in California, representing almost $3 trillion in shareholder value, still resemble a ‘boys’ club,’ with women filling fewer than 10 percent of top executive jobs.”

The findings paint “a dismal picture” for women in leadership in fiscal year 2011-12, the news release continued. “Some of the best known among these top companies, or the California 400, have no women leaders.”

Dean Currall testified before the Assembly Judiciary Committee about the study “and the importance of the resolution,” the GSM website declared. The hearing took place Sept. 11 and the resolution went to the Assembly floor the next day.

The resolution states, in part: “The Legislature acknowledges that the body of evidence to date concludes that companies perform better when their boards and executive leadership include women, and that the state of California has a significant stake in both protecting the shareholders of publicly traded companies, as well as setting policies that enable them to perform better.”

The resolution resolves “that the Legislature … encourages equitable and diverse gender representation on corporate boards, and urges that, within a three-year period from January 2014 to December 2016, inclusive, every publicly held corporation in California with nine or more director seats have a minimum of three women on its board, every publicly held corporation in California with five to eight director seats have a minimum of two women on its board, and every publicly held corporation in California with fewer than five director seats have a minimum of one woman on its board.”

Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, authored the resolution. It drew eight co-authors: Senate — Ellen M. Corbett, D-San Leandro; Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa; Loni Hancock, D-Oakland; Ted Lieu, D-Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County); and Fran Pavley, D-Calabasas (Los Angeles County); and Assembly — Cristina Garcia, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County); Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach; and Nancy Skinner, D-Oakland.

Unofficial ballot results from the legislative website:

Assembly (Sept. 12) — 65-3, with “no” votes by Tim Donnelly, R-Hesperia (San Bernardino County); Diane L. Harkey, R-San Juan Capistrano (Orange County); and Brian W. Jones, R-Santee (San Diego County). Among those voting “yes”: Yamada.

Senate (Aug. 26) — 30-6, with “no” votes from Joel Anderson, R-Temecula (Riverside County); Steve Knight, R-Lancaster (Los Angeles County); Jim Nielsen, R-Roseville; Andy Vidak, R-Fresno; Mimi Walters, R-Irvine; and Mark Wyland, R-San Juan Capistrano. Among those voting “yes”: Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento; and Galgiani and Wolk.