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McNamara and Dillard

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday (Feb. 23) reappointed �������� alumnus Craig McNamara as president of the state Board of Food and Agriculture and named another Aggie to a seat on the board: Helene Dillard, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Dillard, a plant disease expert, was appointed dean in November 2013, and took up her position in January 2014, coming here from Cornell University where she was associate dean and head of Cooperative Extension. She did her undergraduate work at UC Berkeley, and received advanced degrees at ��������: a master’s in soil science in 1979 and a Ph.D. in plant pathology in 1984.

McNamara, a Winters farmer, has served on the state board since 2002. He graduated from �������� with a degree plant and soil science in 1976. He is a member of the UC President’s Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources, and board member of the American Farmland Trust. He has been president at Sierra Orchards since 1980, and served as president of the Center for Land-Based Learning from 1993 to 2010.

The governor’s Feb. 23 announcement listed five appointments in all to the Board of Food and Agriculure. The appointments do not require Senate confirmation, and the appointees receive no compensation.

Aggies maintain big presence in Peace Corps

�������� is once again among the top 25 large colleges and universities with the most alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers: 41 during the one-year period ending Sept. 30, 2014.

The 2015 rankings, released Feb. 18, show �������� fourth among California schools and 14th in the nation. Each year’s rankings cover the federal government’s last fiscal year (Oct. 1-Sept. 30); the data reflect only the volunteers who self-reported their alma maters.

The Peace Corps started its top-25 lists (for small, medium and large schools) in 2003, and �������� has been in the top 25 every year — that's 13 years in a row.

�������� ranks 17th historically among large colleges and universities in total number of Peace Corps volunteers, with 1,452.

Applications to the Peace Corps last year reached a 22-year high, which the agency attributed to made at mid-year to the application and selection process.

No July 1 increase in retirement contributions

Wondering if your UC Retirement Plan contribution rate is going up July 1? No, says a memo from UC Human Resources.

In 2010, the Board of Regents approved the recommendations from the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force, which called for increases in both employee and employer contributions. The phased increases have all taken effect. Also, various unions negotiated different contribution schedules for represented employees.

“As the regents’ contribution plan has been implemented and various labor contracts are now closed, there will be no additional increases for UCRP employee contributions scheduled for July of 2015,” the memo states.

“Any future changes will be broadly announced by the regents or through any of our various unions.”

Umbilical cord blood available to researchers

The state-funded , managed by �������� and based on the Sacramento campus, provides high-quality, research-grade cord blood units to qualified academics at cost.

Collection and processing teams gather and screen cord blood units from several hospitals, including the �������� Medical Center. The cord blood, from volunteers donors, is intended for storage in public cord blood banks for bone marrow transplants.

But, when a cord blood unit fails to meet the strict criteria for public banking, the unit is made available for research purposes. The blood units are less than 24 hours old and no less than 70 mL total volume. Same-day or next-day pick-ups, as well as overnight deliveries, are available.

For more information, contact the cord blood collection team by phone, (844) 734-CORD, or email.

TECHNEWS: IET upgrades wireless access points

During the first few months of 2015, Information and Educational Technology is replacing about 700 wireless access points, or APs, with newer models, at various locations that include the Student Community Center and Memorial Union

The new APs are higher capacity models that will strengthen Internet access for mobile devices on campus and set the stage for future network improvements.

IET's Communications Resources unit takes care of more than 3,000 APs, which provide wireless network access in more than 200 campus buildings. The campus expects demand for wireless connections to keep growing, as �������� enrolls more students and as people add more devices to the network.