Bikes have been removed from a parking area and trees have been taken down on the north side of the Silo — the first signs of a new academic building that is planned in the area. The Teaching and Learning Complex, comprising general assignment classrooms, would occupy the site of the Surge IV collection of old portable buildings, and extend into the parking lot between Surge IV and the Silo.

But first, the campus must build a new parking area for trucks making deliveries to the Silo — because the trucks will eventually lose access to the parking lot.

The new delivery zone will be on the north side of the Silo, along Hutchison Drive, replacing the bike parking zone on a strip of ground that also included four pine trees. Construction of the delivery zone is not scheduled to begin until late summer or early fall, but the campus elected to take the trees down now, at a time of year when hawks are not nesting.

Campus grounds cut down the trees this morning (Feb. 12), which meant the bikes had to go. Transportation Services, or TAPS, posted signs warning that the area was about to be cleared; then, on Monday (Feb. 11), TAPS picked up the bikes that remained (the owners can retrieve their bikes from TAPS).

Campus officials said they will make up for the 120 lost bike parking spaces, by building a new parking area with room for even more bikes at the southeast corner of Haring Hall across the street.

Once Surge IV is torn down and delivery trucks have new parking at the Silo, the campus will build the Teaching and Learning Complex, described by Design and Construction Management as a multistory structure, 86,000 square feet, housing a range of innovative and traditional teaching spaces for class sizes of 30 to 425 seats (2,000 total). Building completion is scheduled for 2022.

How to participate in campus governance

Winter quarter is half-over, which means the regular academic year is half-over, which means the administration is getting ready for 2019-20. Among the first orders of business: calling for applications from people wishing to serve on administrative advisory committees next year.

The committees address topics such as arts, child and family care, diversity, student services, and research, and provide an opportunity for all constituencies — Academic Senate and Academic Federation members, staff, graduate students and undergraduates — to participate in governance of the campus.

Committee members are selected based on their interests, coupled with the university’s desire to have each committee reflect multiple dimensions of diversity — for example, but not limited to, ethnicity, gender, academic discipline, etc.

Learn more about the committees and find the application form here.

Police Accountability Board meetings

The Police Accountability Board will hold its quarterly public meetings next week on the Davis and Sacramento campuses. Following past practice, the meetings will be held simultaneously, with some board members attending the Davis meeting and some attending the Sacramento meeting.

The winter quarter meetings will be from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, at the following locations:

• Davis campus — Garrison Room, Memorial Union (second floor)
• Sacramento campus — 3103 Education Building, 4610 X St.

The board’s public meetings provide opportunities for campus community members and residents of surrounding communities to learn more about the board’s work and how to file complaints and raise other concerns. The meeting format is informal — please feel free to bring your lunch.

More information about the board is available online. The website includes the board’s bylaws and procedures, meeting minutes and annual reports, and a membership roster and code of ethics, along with information on how to file complaints (online, by phone, in person, or by mail or fax).

The board welcomes feedback, suggestions and concerns, and has recently set up a “Submit Feedback” page including an online form.

Priority registration for summer camps

Campus Recreation announced a priority registration period for staff, faculty and students wishing to sign up their dependents for summer camps.

“Programs do have a tendency to sell out quickly,” Campus Rec officials said in an email blast to former participants and other who have expressed interest in youth programs. “New offerings this year include sports, music, theater and leaders-in-training camps.”

Priority registration, which requires a ucdavis.edu email address, will run from noon Monday, March 4, until noon Monday, March 11, when registration will be open to all, for all summer youth programs, including swim lessons.

The camp season will open Monday, June 17. More information is available online (the page includes a link to a PDF of the youth programs guide for summer 2019). You are also invited to sign up for email updates.

And look for Campus Rec at the city of Davis’ Children’s Summer Activity Faire, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at Central Park.

Submissions welcome for new Open Ceilings magazine

A new, student-run literary magazine is seeking submissions from faculty, staff and students. The publication, Open Ceilings, will be published quarterly by Mechanism Press, a student club.

“Our ambitious goal is to have the first edition out in spring quarter,” said Victoria Choi, an English major and the publication’s marketing director. “The goal of the publication is to empower unheard creative voices on campus, and as such, we are currently accepting submissions of art, photography and writing of any kind.”

The club was founded by fellow English majors Matthew Pimley and Cheyenne Wiseman, Choi said.

Submissions of art, photography, short fiction, poetry, memoir and literary review are due by Friday, March 15, and can be submitted by email.

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