Calif. The two-day symposium, the first of its kind for the University of California complex, brought together representatives from all nine UC campuses, its five medical centers and three laboratories to share ideas and information on how UC can improve employee effectiveness, the efficiency of the university and continue to recruit those who make the university one of the best in the world. The symposium, put together by the UC Office of the President, had speakers from corporations such as Disney, nonprofit organizations and researchers from other universities. It is not just the environment of highly touted faculty or researchers the university is concerned with, it is absolutely everyone. A supportive work environment is integral to productivity, according to a researcher from Purdue University who was one of the symposium speakers. Child care, or more precisely, the lack of adequate child care, was a concern at all UC locations.
Parking is a big issue for most locations.
The Los Alamos team decided that Labwide communication and education of existing programs and top management buy-in, folded together, were the top priority. Civility, which was defined as mutual respect to create a supportive work environment, and instituting flex time were other issues. Three of the grants to the Laboratory support research in advanced technology development, and one supports microbial genome research. The technology development initiatives are designed to develop methods to determine the structure of large numbers of proteins using advanced technologies. This information will be valuable in a variety of areas, such as health, industry, environment and agriculture.