An Investment in UCI Staff

IRVINE, Calif. – February 8, 2001 – It gives me great personal pleasure to announce the commitment of $500,000 in funding to a broad new initiative designed to enhance staff development and career advancement opportunities at UCI.

The initiative focuses on two areas: readying UCI to meet the staffing challenges posed by anticipated campus growth over the next decade and expanding the scope of professional development and training programs to better position staff for growth-related opportunities.

To accomplish these goals, we are forming a Chancellor's Task Force on Staff Growth, Recruitment and Retention. Chaired by Susan Bryant, dean of biological sciences, the task force will identify staff issues related specifically to campus growth and make recommendations on how to best develop the UCI workforce to meet the challenges of growth. Areas to be addressed by the task force include a determination of the numbers and types of staff needed to support UCI's planned growth, as well has how best UCI can recruit and retain top-quality staff. We expect an initial draft of the task force report by June 30, 2001.

On a more immediate front, Executive Vice Chancellor Michael Gottfredson and I are making a one-time investment of $500,000 in the UCI Learning, Education Advantage Program (UCILEAP) a collaborative effort between Human Resources and University Extension to expand the breadth and availability of professional development, training and certificate programs that offer skill- and career-building opportunities to staff. We will work closely with staff to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and determine how best to make future investments in staff development at UCI.

You will be hearing more about these exciting and unprecedented opportunities for staff as they evolve in the coming months. In the meantime, Michael Gottfredson and I want to reiterate our gratitude for your dedication to UCI's success and assure you that we are committed to ensuring that your career goals can be achieved at UCI.

Sincerely,

Ralph J. Cicerone
Chancellor