ROW Day Feb. 29
This week all of us at UC Davis are thinking about the future; this coming Monday (Feb. 29) we’re asking all staff to think about the present — to think about the work they do, with an eye toward improving inefficient processes. This Staff Assembly-led initiative, with Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi’s backing, is called “Reimagining Our Work.”
Departments and units are welcome to pick different days, and each department and unit decides for itself how to spend ROW Day. Staff Assembly is asking departments to share their plans — for posting on the ROW website — so perhaps other units can borrow. Send your plans by email to staffvoice@ucdavis.edu.
Here’s what one unit is doing: “The new Business and Finance Partners group within the VC-CFO is planning its first all-staff, in-person meeting to help us get to know one another better and begin to tackle at least three processes that need updating and streamlining,” according to Diane Davies-Conley, assistant vice chancellor, Finance, Operations and Administration.
Huddle up, students, staff and faculty! The game is (almost) on — the online game to “Envision UC Davis,” the UC Davis of 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now. Our game starts at 11 a.m. Wednesday (Feb. 24) and runs for 36 hours straight.
So, grab your smartphone, laptop or tablet (and charger!), or log on from your desktop, and prepare to play! It’s online brainstorming, rapid fire, with points and prizes — and the ultimate reward: a UC Davis that continues its march to becoming the University of the 21st Century.
Here’s the URL — envisionucdavis.org — that will launch you into the university’s single largest community outreach ever, encompassing the Davis and Sacramento campuses and all other UC Davis locations. Nearly 2,000 people had preregistered as of this morning (Feb. 23).
Students are encouraged to meet up for group play — everyone using his or her own device while at the same time engaging in conversation to add to the flow of ideas. The campus has organized a dozen huddles, at places like the Student Community Center, Coffee House, ARC and Shields Library. Big events include a Pop-Up Art Gallery of the Future, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday on the Quad. We’ve got a Facebook event page going, to keep you up to date on all game activities.
We hope faculty and staff will also gather for group play — and, remember, Human Resources has authorized two hours of release time for all staff, subject to operational needs and supervisor approval.
You can play the game in as little as five minutes, but we hope you’ll stay longer. That’s the nature of an exercise like this: Go online with thousands of your “closest friends,” start trading ideas and comments, and you’ll be hooked! You can confine your play to the game platform or push your ideas to social media (please use the hashtag #UCDavisFutures).
“This broad dialogue is an important part of our University of the 21st Century planning initiative, an effort to define a vision to guide UC Davis forward in the next several decades,” the chancellor said in her February message to the campus community.
Look for game updates the next two days at dateline.ucdavis.edu.