Posts Tagged: UCCE county offices

First UCCE cluster office may serve the Mother Lode

UC is proposing to restructure how it serves several Mother Lode counties by closing existing county offices as soon as January and replacing them with a single regional office, according to a story this week in the Stockton Record.

Writer Dana Nichols quoted Don Klingborg, who is spearheading UC Agriculture and Natural Resources advocacy and county partnerships. Klingborg said Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado and Tuolumne counties have been invited to participate in the proposed regional cluster. The consolidation of services in the Mother Lode counties may be the first, but such clustering will eventually happen throughout the state, the article said.

"We would not have a stand-alone office in every single county," Klingborg was quoted. "We may, however, as part of this process, have a smaller storefront, an office that would house faculty as they would be traveling through that county."

As an example, Klingborg said it is easier for UC to justify hiring someone with expertise in range and livestock if they will serve a cluster of several counties.

"From Mariposa to El Dorado County, there is huge need for somebody with that expertise," Klingborg was quoted.

Santa Barbara supervisors express support for UCCE

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on July 27 said it intends to keep UC Cooperative Extension in Santa Barbara County, according to the Lompoc Record.

All five supervisors expressed support, but requested contract language detailing the number of university academics dedicated to the county, and clarity in where the additional funding for a total of $180,000 would come from. They will meet on Aug. 10 to make a final decision on the funding, which would ensure UC Cooperative Extension programs continuing in Santa Barbara County.

On June 22, the board didn’t have enough votes to approve funding, but later decided to reconsider the proposal, according to an article in the Santa Ynez Valley News.

Santa Barbara County mulls over UCCE budget

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is tentatively scheduled to review a UC Cooperative Extension funding request at its July 27 meeting, according to an article published yesterday in the Lompoc Record.

The county had approved $111,700 for the programs and staff expertise provided by UCCE, but at its budget hearings in June, $68,000 in additional funding was requested. On June 22, the Board of Supervisors couldn’t get the four votes needed for approval.

For the article, reporter Sam Womack spoke to Don Kingborg of UC ANR Advocacy and County Partnerships.

“The $68,000 is to get us to the minimum level necessary to continue this program," Klingborg was quoted in the article. "Over the past years, the Santa Barbara County program has been funded in the range of $200,000 to $225,000. With this move and other adjustments, we recognized the terrible fiscal shape our counties are in and were able to decrease the cost to $180,000."

With the additional funding, the Santa Barbara County offices would close, but the advisors, services, programs and research would continue out of San Luis Obispo and Ventura county offices, the story said.

Interim director of Santa Barbara County UCCE Mark Gaskell told the reporter he already spends about half his time outside of county boundaries. For example, he conducts agricultural research at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

“I don’t think its necessarily a critical issue where you sit and type at your computer,” he was quoted.

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