Fencing went up Monday (March 18) and the first road closure is scheduled for next week as construction begins on improvements to the Hutchison Drive corridor in the central part of campus. The project will bring new sidewalks, bike parking, seating walls, landscaping and more.

The road closure, March 25-29 (coinciding with spring break), between California Avenue and the east gate, will give crews the room they need to do excavation along the north side of Hutchison.

Pedestrians will continue to have access along the south sidewalk, while Unitrans will reroute its A, L and W lines for the week. In addition, one bus stop has been relocated for the duration of the construction.

Hutchison Drive is due to be open again by Saturday, March 30, for buses and other authorized vehicles. And students are sure to be riding bikes again on Hutchison come Monday, April 1, the first day of instruction for the spring quarter.

Read more.

Advocating for UC quality

SACRAMENTO — UC delegates carried the university’s official advocacy message to legislators and their staffs this week, a message that asks, in part, for support of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal for a 5 percent increase in UC funding.

But, during his noontime remarks at UC Day at the Capitol, UC President Mark G. Yudof said it more simply: “It's easy to cut costs if you don't care about quality. We always have to keep our eyes on the quality of the education we provide.”

More than 200 UC alumni and friends participated in UC Day, which is now held every other year.

Yudof thanked them for supporting UC and for reminding legislators of the value that UC research and education bring to the state. “We need to be the engine of opportunity for California,” he said.

The UC Davis delegation included Annemarie Stone, a student assistant to the chancellor. Stone, a senior who took time away from finals week to attend UC Day, said: “I think it’s important to come here to advocate. If we don't come, who will?”

‘Thank you!’ for 37.4 percent survey response

The Campus Community Survey team this week reported a 37.4 percent response rate for the Davis and Sacramento campuses, combined

“This is a fantastic accomplishment” for a general-population survey that went to more than 56,700 students, staff and faculty, said Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor for Campus Community Relations, who oversaw the Davis campus survey. The campuses had hoped for a combined response rate of at least 30 percent.

“Thank you for your time and support,” Reed wrote in an email to the campus community.

He said survey results will be made public later this spring. “This information will guide us in developing programs and initiatives to address some of the concerns raised by your responses and help us work toward building a more inclusive campus community,” Reed said.

The Davis campus gave away iPads and gift cards as incentives to complete the survey, and you can see all the recipients’ names here. The UC Office of the President has prizes to give away, too, and plans to do so after the last UC location, UC Berkeley, has finished the survey in mid-April.

Shared Services Center brown bag: March 27

The next in a series of brown bag meetings for Shared Services Center customers is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday (March 27) in Meeting Room D at the Student Community Center.

The agenda includes a discussion of the end-to-end administrative business improvement process, other topics that customers may wish to address, as well as a Shared Services Center update.

Two more brown bags are on the calendar: Wednesday, April 24, and Wednesday, May 22, both from noon to 1 p.m. in Meeting Room D at the Student Community Center.

Personal travel insurance from UCOP

The UC Office of Risk Services announced the new Personal Travel Program under which employees and students can buy travel insurance for personal travel. Employees and students can purchase the policies for themselves, their families and traveling companions.

The risk services office worked with the university’s travel insurance carrier, ACE USA, to develop the Personal Travel Program, which offers benefits like those provided by the UC Business Travel Program.

The Personal Travel Program offers the Blue Plan and the Gold Plan. Each plan offers medical expense benefits when you are traveling outside your home country or country of permanent residence, and evacuation benefits for security or emergency medical reasons.

The Gold Plan offers additional benefits for lost baggage, trip delay and more.

The Personal Travel Program website includes links for enrollment and registering your itinerary for personal alerts.

‘Soaring’ ticket deadline: April 1

You now have until Monday, April 1, to buy your tickets for Soaring to New Heights, the campus’s premier celebration of diversity.

The 23rd annual event, featuring an international buffet, is scheduled from 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, in Freeborn Hall.

Department-unit representation is highly recommended, and release time with supervisory approval is appropriate.

Only 500 tickets are available; they are available for $5 each on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Information on ticket sales and departmental recharges.

New management at the CoHo

After moving up to ASUCD Coffee House director, Darin Schluep needed someone to take his place as front-of-house manager, overseeing approximately 140 student servers and cashiers.

As announced last week, the job went to Lauren Woods, who joins the top management team of Schluep; Ed Andrade, facility manager; Elisa Hagopian, kitchen manager; and Susie Houlden, production manager and assistant kitchen manager.

Woods worked at the CoHo for four years before graduating in 2010. She returned in January 2012 to manage the CoHo’s first satellite operation, the new CoHo South Café in the Student Community Center.

Schluep, another former CoHo student employee and alumnus (2006) moved up to director last June, replacing Sharon Coulson, who retired.

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