[Microplantpath_faculty] Continued Developments with the BMPN Transition

[Christine Morgando]

*On behalf of Dean Atkinson*


Dear BMPN Faculty,



The Dean's Office & BMPN unit continues to strategize and take steps to
improve operations in support of the faculty.  As we mentioned, structural
changes are underway to right-size the workload for the BMPN and ensure
that all services to faculty are timely and efficient.  Like the transition
of Nematology faculty to the Entomology administrative unit, the planning
and behind-the-scenes coordination to support the Center for Conservation
Biology's transition to the Botany & Plant Sciences (BPS) Admin Team is
already underway.  CCB transition from BMPN to BPS will be complete by
January 1, 2026.  Debbie Brown, as an expert in CCB operations, has primary
responsibility for the transition and will be available to the BPS Team as
needed during the transition period and beyond to ensure the impact of the
transition to CCB operations is minimized.



BMPN has two staff additions to include a Research Analyst III and a
Chair's Assistant; both new employees started with the unit today.  We also
note that the additional 1.0 FTE provided to the unit, a Research Analyst
II position, has been posted and is accepting applications as of last
Friday.  With new staff in the unit, plans are being made to bring all
faculty support back to BMPN, thereby reducing the need for assistance from
Botany & Plant Sciences.  This will not happen overnight or hastily; it
will be planned over the next 2 months as capacity and training are
provided to new staff, ensuring they are prepared to assist faculty.



Lastly, I want to let you know that based on our work with BMPN, Jennifer
and her team, but principally Sanjesh Lal, have developed a PI portfolio
analysis tool that allows us to speed up the evaluation of PI portfolios.
The tool enables analysis of all C&G awards & projects *within a single
portfolio* such that we can see balances, expenses, staff paid, PO
encumbrances and future payroll commitments *in one place.*  The tool
enables decisions to be made more quickly and prompts appropriate action
without delay.  The portfolio analysis tool, while developed with BMPN in
mind, will be made available to all analysts college-wide as we expect it
to be extremely useful.  For some time, the Dean's Office Finance Team has
been evaluating PI reporting tools that can help automate the monthly PI
reporting cycle.  The tool we've now developed for PI portfolio analysis
has influenced and sharpened our overall view of PI reporting.  While these
efforts are not directly witnessed by faculty, the portfolio tool is *a
giant step forward for CNAS.*  We will continue to improve the tools with
analyst feedback and are confident in our ability to deliver capable,
automated PI reporting.



Thank you again for your understanding, patience, flexibility, teamwork and
cooperation as we navigate through these multiple transitions.  The PI
portfolio analysis tool development has been a real advance and we are
excited about its positive impact on BMPN and then the whole college
thereafter.



Peter



Peter W. Atkinson, Ph.D.
Dean
College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences
2315 Olmsted Hall (Dean's Office)
2234A Genomics Building (Faculty Office)
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521, USA

Ph: 951-827-3101
e-mail: peter.atkinson at ucr.edu
https://atkinsonlabentm.ucr.edu/

Executive Assistant: Jennifer Markovski
(office) 951-827-4597
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