Operations and Infrastructure

Program Team Membership

Any UC employee or key stakeholder may become a member of a program team by contacting the PT co-leaders. Ideally, most PT members will be UC ANR-affiliated academics and staff. Membership may include: 

• UC ANR academics and staff
• UC AES faculty, specialists, or other UC academics
• External partners (e.g. scientists from federal and state agencies, industry, commodity groups, non-governmental organizations) or stakeholders actively involved in scientific inquiry, scholarship, outreach, and extension that fall under the broad realms described in the vision.

Forming a New Program Team

New PTs will be assessed and potentially approved based on evolving needs and interests. PTs and WGs provide a helpful structure for networking, brainstorming ideas within a specific discipline, and identifying emerging topics and interests. Thus, PTs will evolve accordingly, with the need for new PTs periodically arising. New PTs should be based on broad support, potential membership, and interest for a new or emerging topic and should serve an important role in exploring new topics. Prior to proposing a new PT, a needs assessment should be developed, and clear research, objectives, and outreach should be developed to address the identified needs. 

1. Initial proposal ideas are to be discussed with PA Chairs and the Vice Provost of Research and Program Integration.
2. If the initial proposal receives support from the above members, a full proposal for the new PT, including needs assessment and goals, can be submitted to the Vice Provost of Research and Program Integration.
3. The full proposal will be reviewed by Program Council, who will make a recommendation to the Associate Vice President and Vice President of UC ANR.
4. The final decision rests with the Vice President who will evaluate alignment with resource allocation and general goals of the organization.

Changing the Name of a Program Team

PTs may elect to change their name as new areas of focus emerge. The process is below:

1. PT leaders and PA chairs will submit a request with sufficient justification to the Associate Vice President for Research and Extension (AVP) and Vice Provost of Research and Program Integration (VPRPI).
2. Once reviewed by the AVP and VPRPI, the proposal will be reviewed and must be approved by the Vice President.

Program Team Reviews

1. The purpose is to assess ongoing needs, member engagement, and the effectiveness of the PT. PTs may be reconstructed based on evolving needs and relevance.
2. Reviews will be conducted every 3 to 5 years and will be staggered to avoid the need for all to be reviewed in the same year.
3. Reviews will be conducted by the Program Council.
4. PTs will be evaluated against overall PT criteria to be developed by Program Council as well as their own PT-defined objectives. PTs will provide information on progress towards those objectives based on how they determine to best evaluate their achievements.

Funding

PTs are encouraged to meet virtually throughout the year. Funds will be available for one in-person meeting per fiscal year for each PT. The meeting request, including the agenda and budget, must be submitted to the Program Support Unit at least 90 days in advance of the planned meeting date. The Program Support Unit will work with PT leaders to adhere to meeting guidelines and will handle the meeting logistics. For more information or to submit a meeting request, visit the Program Team Meetings page.