Update Report from

UC Davis Emeriti Association (UCDEA)

April 2009

Changes in Staffing

The UC Davis Retiree Center is pleased to announce the arrival of Sue Barnes as the Center’s new program manager. Sue comes to the Retiree Center from the UC Davis Craft Center where she worked form 1990-1995 and again from 2001-2009 as manager. As the manager, Sue was responsible for programming, facility management, budgeting and staffing, include a very popular volunteer program. Sue also brings expertise in the areas of recreational and promotion programs through her work with the City of Davis, the City of Dublin, and the Davis Downtown Business Association. Sue’s extensive experience with campus programs, community programs, and programs for seniors should prove to be valuable to the Retiree Center.

Since starting as the new Program Manager of the Retiree Center on February 2, Sue Barnes has experienced a whirlwind of activity. She met with committee and board members, as well as other campus partners, to become familiar with the continuing activities of the Center. She has been working with Marjorie Ahl, the Center’s Program Assistant, to develop several new programs and activities. Details for these events can be found in the separate CenterNews newsletter of the Retiree Center that was mailed in early April, or on the Retiree Center website. In addition, Sue and Marjorie have been identifying new opportunities for the Center, including website enhancements, new campus collaborations, and enhanced marketing and informational materials. In the next few months, Sue hopes to develop many exciting new initiatives.

The Centennial Celebration is Ongoing

Our contribution has been a project led by Verne Mendel to make available to emeriti, alumni and friends memories of the history of the Davis Campus in the words of some of the more than 330 UC- Davis emeriti who have recorded oral histories on DVD’s. The project has experienced technical delays so is moving more slowly than expected. So far Verne and his assistants have 18 DVD’s in the pipeline with 5 more to be constructed. Each DVD contains up to 10 excerpts from over 150 faculty talking about the role they played in the historical evolution of Davis. The DVD’s are organized by College/School. Three are going to be added to the UCD Centennial web site on May 16. Five more are completed except for the final compaction. Ten more will be done by the end of May and we intend to complete the project by the end of the school year. They will be shown on Davis Community Television and posted both on the UCD Centennial Web site and on our UCDEA web site. The project was supported by last year’s Edward A. Dickson Award, made to Verne Mendel and the Video Records Committee.

Awards

The Awards and Recognition Committee was pleased to recommend the awarding of the 2008 Dickson Award to Emanuel Epstein, Emeritus Professor of Plant Nutrition and Botany, and Plant Physiologist. Manny’s proposal for “Silicon in Biomass Energy” provides research money for undergraduate student salaries as well as identifying sources of wild crop species that might be used for the production of energy from biomass. Professor Epstein was introduced at the Chancellor’s Emeriti Dinner as the recipient of the Dickson Award.

Social Events

The Emeriti Association worked in conjunction with the Retiree Center and Retirees’ Association to hold a Wine Tasting event on March 1, 2009. Close to 100 retirees, one of our best turnouts ever, sampled wine from three local wineries. The associations provided the appetizers for the event through Costco. Emeriti were reminded of past wine tasting events and expressed a desire that this event be repeated annually.

Parking

After another round of discussions we have received good news on the Campus commitment to provide all retirees with complimentary parking privileges. We have all received a letter announcing that parking privileges had been extended through June 30, 2011. This extension in itself is good news, but there is more. The funds for Retiree Parking have been permanently transferred to the Retiree Center budget, meaning we no longer have to go to someone, hat in hand, every two years. Further still, we have a promise that the “occasional use” language in the parking regulations, which was offensive to many of us, will be removed by the end of the school year.

Membership

Current UCDEA members include 191 (up 11) Lifetime Members, 135 (up 4) Annual Members, and 63 (down 2) Associate Members. There was a decrease in annual members due to the fact that 8 chose to switch to life membership. The overall total of members is 389, up from 376 in last report. Dick Walters, our Membership Chair actively pursues all reports of new emeriti and contacts them with membership information.

EmeriTimes

UCDEA publishes a newsletter three times a year, which is available on the web site (http://emeritiassociation.ucdavis.edu) and distributed to dues-paying and lifetime members. It includes descriptions of upcoming events, opportunities for service by emeriti, updates on association activities and other newsworthy information. Nora McGuinness is doing an outstanding job as editor of the Emeritimes since the Winter, 2008 issue.

Monthly Luncheons

The UCDEA continues to organize monthly luncheons for both Emeriti and Retirees, with speakers scheduled again this year by Bill Rains. These sessions are very well attended by both emeriti and retirees, with an excellent selection of speakers.

Alex McCalla, President, UCDEA

530 752-1529