The first ever Faculty and Staff Satisfaction Survey has wrapped up with impressive results. More than 6,900 employees across both campuses completed the survey, for a response rate of about 30 percent.

“Our mission is to make the university better every day,” said Kelly Ratliff, vice chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration. “With thousands of survey responses, there’s no doubt we will have critical data to help us identify areas where we can pursue positives changes in the organization.”

The survey sought feedback on more than 40 departments in FOA. The survey administrators at UC San Diego are analyzing the responses now and results will be posted on the survey website later this spring.

UC Davis will conduct the survey annually for at least four more years, giving departments a chance to track feedback year over year.

Now, there's one more bit of survey business to take care of ... the awarding of the grand prize, a $400 gift card. It goes to Aaron Jacobson, a researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences, whose name was selected at random from among all of the survey respondents. The money will come in handy: “I’m going to be taking a vacation to Europe soon,” he said. “So it will go toward that.”

The survey offered appreciation gifts to everyone who participated. You have only until this Thursday (March 29) to pick up your gift at the Campus Store or the UC Davis Health Fitness Center.

New deadline for computing conference proposals

The conference is scheduled from Monday to Wednesday, Aug. 13-15. The theme is “sustainable technology,” and organizers are calling for proposals that fit any of several tracks:

• Health
• Leadership/professional development
• Research
• Security/privacy
• Technology and security policy
• Web and applications
• Women in technology

Up to 12 sessions will run concurrently, according to the organizers, who added: “We’re looking for session submittals covering a broad range of IT topics, both technical and nontechnical, and a mix of intermediate and advanced-level material. Conference attendees are sysadmins, developers, QA, ed-tech people, designers, former-developers-turned-managers, and many more, with experience levels ranging from beginner to veteran.”

The conference website is here, and you can submit your proposal here.

Registration will open the second half of May; the fee is $250 per person (waived for one person per presentation).

New quarter for Staff and Faculty Womxn of Color

New members are welcome to Staff and Faculty Womxn of Color as it begins a new quarter. The group holds informal gatherings to discuss issues confronting womxn of color and to build community.

While this is not a therapy group, the organizers ask that the meetings be considered a “private” space; i.e., information is not shared outside of the group. Satinder Gill, licensed clinical psychologist and clinical director of the Academic and Staff Assistance Program, aids in facilitating dialogue and providing support.

The group will meet from noon to 1 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month: April 11, May 9 and June 13. Please RSVP here.

IN MEMORIAM: Prodyot K. Bhattacharya

Prodyot K. “P.K.” Bhattacharya, a founding faculty member of the Department of Statistics in 1981, died March 9 in Davis. The professor emeritus was 87.

He was a leading researcher in nonparametric statistics, stochastic processes, sequential statistics and change-point problems, and invented state-of-the-art mathematical and stochastic tools for studying statistical procedures. He also participated in a variety of collaborations across disciplines, making meaningful contributions to quantitative problems in mathematical biology, economics, social processes, physics and cosmology.

Bhattacharya was a native of Calcutta, India, and earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Calcutta University.

Read more in this obituary on the College of Letters and Science news page.

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