Facilities Management announced that its new, web-based work order system — for repair, service, installation and estimate requests — will go online next Tuesday, July 5. The “Submit a Work Order” buttons on Facilities Management webpages will be changed that day to take you to the new system; you can bookmark the new URL at that time. If you use the old URL, you will be redirected to the new site.

Of course, you can still contact the Customer Support Center directly to submit a service request, by phone, 530-752-1655; or email.

Student Housing, and Grounds and Landscape Services also will start using the new Asset Management System on July 5, and Transportation Services will start using the AMS later in the year.

In developing the new system, and piloting it with Custodial Services, the campus incorporated customer feedback to include such features as:

• Email notifications when tasks are completed.
• Enhanced search capabilities (i.e., searching by building, floor, room and more).
• Dashboard display of work order status.

The new AMS provides Facilities Management with the ability to closely track the management and maintenance of the campus’s 1,200-plus buildings and 50,000-plus assets. Sharing the new system across multiple departments allows for a more unified approach to managing campus facilities, grounds and projects.

More information and training materials are available online.

July 13 deadline for management skills program

Applications are due by 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, for the next session of UC’s Management Skills Assessment Program, to be held Oct. 10-13 at the UCLA Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead.

UC Davis (campus and health system) has seven slots to fill. “We strongly recommend that department heads discuss the program with supervisors, managers and professionals who exhibit potential for management development and encourage them to apply,” the announcement states.

More information is available online. The site includes a link to the online application form (including applicant and supervisor components). For more information, contact a Management Skills Assessment Program coordinator: Kristin Davis, 530- 752-3700 or krwdavis@ucdavis.edu; or Kristi McMahon, 916-734-2673 or ksmcmahon@ucdavis.edu.

Statistics students compete in Berlin

See an update to this story here.

The Department of Statistics has one of the top-10 teams in Berlin today (June 28) for the culminating event in the Data Mining Cup, an annual student competition in the field of intelligent data analysis. This year’s cup drew 120 entries from 30 countries.

The UC Davis team members — Minjie Fan, Qi Gao, Hao Ji, Nana Wang, Jilei Yang and Chunzhe Zhang — came out of the course “Statistical Practice and Data Analysis” (Statistics 260). “The class provides students hands-on experience with data analysis, and we handle all data sizes, including the big data in the Data Mining Cup,” Professor Jane-Ling Wang said. “I'm extremely proud of the performance of the team.”

This year’s competition focused on online fashion retail, including the influence of rebates and coupons. Using anonymized historical order data from a real online shop, the teams had six weeks to develop models that predicted new orders and returns.

The top teams are presenting their models during cup sponsor Prudsys AG’s annual summit on “personalization,” or, as the data company puts it, “presenting your customers with the right offer at every touch point.” Winners will be announced during the summit.

Children's hospital ranked among nation's best

U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Davis Children’s Hospital in five pediatric specialties in the new 2016-17 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings.

It also ranked 32nd in urology and 38th in orthopaedics, in collaboration with Shriners Hospital for Children – Northern California, its longstanding partner in caring for children with burns, spinal cord injuries, orthopaedic disorders and urological issues.

"We are proud to be recognized nationally by U.S. News and applaud our UC Davis Children’s Hospital staff — the physicians, nurses, technicians and our teams who deliver excellence for children in the Sacramento region and beyond,” said Ann Madden Rice, chief executive officer of UC Davis Medical Center and its children’s hospital.

The U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals rankings rely on clinical data and on an annual survey of pediatric specialists. The rankings will be published in the U.S. News “Best Hospitals 2017” guidebook, available for pre-sale Aug. 1.

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