A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled next week for Betty Irene Moore Hall in the educational core of the UC Davis Health System in Sacramento.

Construction is already underway on the $50 million, 70,000-square-foot building that will house the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing’s graduate programs. The building, due for completion in the fall of 2017, also will support interprofessional health science education.

“This innovative new building will set the standard in nursing and beyond and further the school’s great ambition to transform health care,” said Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, who will join representatives of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for the groundbreaking. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing was founded in 2009 with the foundation’s $100 million commitment, part of which is going toward the new hall.

The groundbreaking is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, on the Larry N. Vanderhoef Commons, near the corner of 48th and Y streets. RSVPs are being taken online (click on the “RSVP” tab near the top of the page). Map and parking information.

Learn more about the new building.

10th annual Mail Services Holiday Food Drive

The Mail Services Holiday Food Drive marks its 10th anniversary this year, and what better way to celebrate than by helping to make this one the biggest ever. The Davis collection goes to the Yolo Food Bank, and the Sacramento collection to Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.

If you’d like to contribute, just leave food items with your outgoing mail. The drive runs through Friday, Nov. 20.

“We make it easy for employees to donate, and we're happy to do it,” said Jen Carmichael, general manager of Distribution Services, who has been coordinating the combined Holiday Food Drive since it began in 2006.

The Davis and Sacramento mail teams actually started collecting food for the holidays in 2005, but did so independently of each other. They began marketing the drive as a collective effort the next year — thus making the 2015 drive the 10th annual, dating from 2006. The food drive statistics, however, go back to that first year, 2005. “UC Davis employees have always been very generous,” giving 8.5 tons of food over the years, Carmichael said.

Here’s a list of suggested items to donate: canned, ready-to-eat meals; canned meat, fish and soups; canned vegetables and tomato products; dry beans (any type); enriched rice and pasta; ramen; boxed macaroni and cheese; canned fruit (in juice); peanut butter (plastic container); iron-rich cereal (45 percent or more of daily value); powdered milk; fruit juice (100 percent, in plastic containers 48 ounces or smaller); and powdered milk formula and Similac baby food.

Abandoned bicycles to be swept up

Transportation Services personnel are targeting abandoned bicycles in another “Operation Clean Sweep,” scheduled from Wednesday (Nov. 4) through Nov. 18.

The TAPS pickup crew has already been tagging bikes that seem to fit the description: flat tires, missing parts, dust, rust, cobwebs, or expired or missing registration — or any combination thererof. If this describes your bike, it’s time to make quick plans to fix it up, remove it or donate it (the ASUCD Bike Barn, TAPS, local thrift stores or the Davis Bike Collective may be able to take your bike).

Bicycles are tagged for at least 48 hours before being removed, to give owners time to collect their bikes. If you can’t move your bike because you’ve lost your key or the lock isn’t working, Transportation Services will cut it — call (530) 752-BIKE (2453) or send a message via the TAPS website.

Each year, more than 1,000 bikes are abandoned on the Davis campus — and end up recycled, sold at auction or donated to various charitable groups. With up to 20,000 bicycles on the campus on peak days, abandoned bikes take up valuable parking spaces, are an eyesore and invite theft.

More information is available online or by calling the Bicycle Program.

Reservations due for Meyer award dinner

Reservations are still being accepted for next week’s dinner and ceremony honoring Ken Tate, professor and Cooperative Extension specialist in rangeland watershed sciences, as the recipient of the James H. Meyer Distinguished Achievement Award.

It is the Academic Federation’s highest honor, recognizing a member’s achievements over a career at UC Davis. A secondary but important consideration is voluntary service to the campus and UC community, or state, regional and national bodies. Read Dateline story on Tate’s selection for the Meyer award.

The Meyer award program is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Nov. 10, in the Conference Center Ballroom.

RSVP by email or by calling Angela Oates, (530) 754-2010; the cutoff date is Wednesday (Nov. 4). Note: There is no charge for this year's dinner.

Reminders: Open enrollment, cybersecurity training, Big Ideas

• Open enrollment — This is the time every year when you can make changes in your benefit choices and renew certain choices.   Open enrollment began last week and continues until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24 (two days before Thanksgiving.

Here’s some of what you can do for 2016:

• Switch medical and dental plans.
• Enroll or re-enroll in flexible spending accounts for dependent care and-or health care. REMEMBER: These accounts do not renew automatically.
• Enroll in legal coverage.

The Health Care Facilitator Program announced the following presentations and help desk hours on the Davis campus:

• Medical plan overview — 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Friday (Nov. 6), AGR Room, Buehler Alumni Center. First-come, first-seated.
• Help desk service — 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday (Nov. 6), AGR Room, Buehler Alumni Center. No appointments needed.

More information, including how to complete open enrollment.

• Cybersecurity training — UC is mandating a new round of cybersecurity training for all faculty and staff. The online course should take about 50 minutes, and you have until Jan. 31 to complete it. The course is in the UC Learning Center. Log in with your Kerberos ID and search for “UC Cyber.”

Staff Development and Professional Services sent individual emails last week, advising empoloyees of the training course, and you’ll find a copy of that email in your UC Learning Center messages folder.

• Big Ideas — The University of the 21st Century needs “big ideas,” so let’s hear them! The chancellor and provost are asking faculty, staff and students for ideas that could be part of the university's next comprehensive campaign. “We want ideas that are transformative, far-reaching, ambitious and well-reasoned. Ideas that, if given the proper resources, can change society.”

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