Staff and faculty have more time to complete an online survey that asks them to identify what they see as inefficiencies and redundancies in central, division, school, college and department level processes. The survey went out last week, with an initial, deadline of June 2; that has been extended to next Wednesday (June 8).

Meanwhile, the developer of UC West Village is asking staff and faculty to answer a survey about what they might be looking for in housing at the campus’s new neighborhood.

Process improvement — Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi announced the survey and provided the link in a May 25 e-mail to all faculty and staff, excluding UC Davis Health System and UC Davis Medical Center employees.

“Our staff work incredibly hard, are smart and committed to doing the right things in the right ways,” the chancellor wrote in her e-mail. “But often times, we do not take the time to critically examine the way we work. We accept bureaucracy, unnecessary rules and inefficient processes as just being the conditions of our work.”

With significant reductions in resources, this is no longer acceptable, she said. “This is a time to do away with unnecessary bureaucracy, redundancies and inefficiencies so that we can all be more successful in managing our work.”

The anonymous survey should take no longer than five minutes of your time, the chancellor said.

Earlier coverage.

UC Davis West Village housing — With this project, UC Davis is providing new options for faculty, staff and students to live near the central campus, and thereby take advantage of environmentally friendly transportation options and participate fully in campus life.

Two apartment projects are under construction. The Ramble (for students) and Viridian (for staff, faculty and students) will accommodate about 2,000 people.

Phase I also calls for 343 single-family homes — and they are the focus of the online survey. It is open until next Friday, June 10; everyone who completes the survey will receive a $5 gift card to Peet’s Coffee & Tea (e-mails will go out to respondents to tell them how to pick up their gift cards on campus after the survey’s close).

E-mails with the survey link were going out to staff and faculty. Some of them may get duplicate e-mails, because the developer planned to send a separate set of e-mails to the approximately 1,300 people who, over the last four years, have expressed interest in West Village housing.

UC Davis owns the West Village site, just west of Highway 113 between Hutchison Drive and Russell Boulevard, and has entered into a ground lease with West Village Community Partnership LLC, a joint venture led by San Francisco-based Carmel Partners with their partner Urban Villages of Denver.

When complete, the 200-acre project is expected to have a population of about 4,500 people — and they will be living in what is planned as the largest zero net energy development in the United States.

Besides the apartments and single-family homes, Phase I also includes recreation and study facilities, a village square surrounded by retail and other commercial businesses, and a Los Rios Community College District education center.

A West Village Community Partnership representative said the housing survey should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete, “and is an excellent opportunity to shape home and site design for this new community.”

The questionnaire addresses such topics as household composition, and preferences for home design and energy efficiency. It also includes a section on transportation and commute patterns.

The survey also presents information regarding the preliminary design of the community and discusses criteria for qualifications to participate in home ownership opportunities. Based on the information offered, survey participants are asked about their interest in purchasing at UC Davis West Village.

Finally, the survey invites faculty and staff to sign up for the next phase of the research program. Interested parties will be contacted to participate in focus groups that will be conducted to gather additional qualitative information.

“We are currently planning on having the initial homes available for purchase in the spring of 2012,” according to the West Village Community Partnership representative.

To get on the West Village housing e-mail list, send an e-mail to westvillage@ucdavis.edu with your name, staff or faculty status (including Academic Senate or Academic affiliation), and department or office.

On the Net

UC Davis West Village