UC ANR envisions a thriving California in 2025 where healthy people and communities, healthy food systems, and healthy environments are strengthened by a close partnership between the University of California and its research and extension programs and the people of the state. The University remains connected and committed to the people of California, who enjoy a high quality of life, a healthy environment, and economic success in a global economy.

Making ecosystem-based integrated pest management THE way Californians manage pests.

The mission of the UC IPM Program is to:

• Increase use of ecologically-based integrated pest management programs
• Provide leadership in IPM including building coalitions and partnerships that link with communities and public agencies
• Increase the predictability and effectiveness of pest management techniques
• Develop science-based pest management programs that are economically and environmentally sustainable, and socially appropriate
• Protect human health and the environment by reducing risks caused by pests and pest management practices

The following values are core to the Program’s success and are embedded in all products and practices.

• Communication
• Trust and mutual support
• Effective problem solving
• Collaboration
• Diversity, appreciation and respect
• Commitment to quality work
• Objectivity
• Intellectual rigor

UC IPM’s strategic planning process was designed to actively engage the program’s diverse urban, agricultural, and natural resource stakeholder groups (within the UC ANR network and external) throughout the process to provide input into the development of the program’s strategic plan. In addition, the strategic planning process was designed to incorporate information on implementation and accountability in order to ensure an executable plan and enable progress to be assessed over time. The strategic plan sets direction for the program over the next 5 to 10 years using a broad matrix that links strategic goals and key actions with implementation responsibility and deliverables. The strategic plan is a "living document" because strategy cannot be static given the environment is always changing. Thus, the plan will be used as a flexible framework for the program to develop annual priorities and to evaluate progress.

Eight focus groups were conducted throughout the state with the following key stakeholder groups: the Urban and Community Stakeholder Advisory Group, public agency partners, UC ANR academics (in Northern and Southern California), pest control advisers (PCAs) (in Northern and Southern California), program staff, and UC IPM CE advisors. The purpose was to actively solicit broad input to provide assessment information for the Program’s strategic planning process. The desired outcomes were: 1) understanding of stakeholder insights on significant topics relevant to developing future program strategy; and 2) a list of stakeholder identified program strengths, challenges, and future opportunities. Forty-eight people external to UC IPM participated (Figure 1). Stakeholders in all the eight focus groups were very engaged in the discussion.

The Strategic Planning Committee was carefully selected to represent the program’s primary, diverse stakeholder interests. The committee met in-person three times. The committee reviewed and discussed the summary of the focus groups’ assessment to identify the common themes for opportunities, which served as the basis for developing the strategic goals. The committee identified key actions for each broad goal then shared this basic strategy with their stakeholder contacts (Figure 2) to help ensure they were on the right track. The stakeholder feedback was discussed and the draft strategy revised. A subcommittee of program representatives worked together to determine the primary program members who would be responsible for implementing the key actions and the associated milestones/deliverables for the entire Strategic Planning Committee’s feedback. The UC IPM Program Advisory Committee (PAC) and the UC ANR Program Council provided input. All the engaged stakeholders were provided with the final draft so that they could recognize how their input was valued and incorporated. The strategic plan will not be finalized until the new Director of the UC IPM Program is appointed and agrees.

Figure 1. Stakeholder groups (external to UC IPM) that participated in the UC IPM assessment focus groups. Each group had one participant unless otherwise noted in parentheses

• California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) (3)
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (2)
• California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
• County Agricultural Commissioners (2; Fresno and Marin)
• Housing Authority for City of Los Angeles
• Department of the Environment, City of San Francisco
• Consolidated Central Valley Table Grape Pest and Disease Control District
• Sacramento County Stormwater Program and California Stormwater Quality Association

• Independent consultants for agriculture (5)
• In-house corporate for agriculture (4)
• Pest control adviser and pest control operator for landscapes (including for school contracts and public agency contracts)
• Note: retail chemical company representatives were invited but unavailable

• Nichino Product Development
• Orkin Pest Control
• Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories
• Consultant to retail stores/Our Water Our World
• Retail garden center manager

• AES faculty, Dept. of Entomology (4)
• CE Subtropical Plant Pathologist Specialist, Dept. of Plant Pathology and Microbiology
• CE Nematology Specialist, Dept. of Nematology
• Director, Urban Pest Management Center

• AES faculty, Dept. of Plant Sciences
• CE Weed Specialists, Dept. of Plant Sciences (2)
• CE Specialist, Dept. of Entomology
• Director, Urban Horticulture Center

• CE Urban Entomology Specialist, Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management

• CE Advisors (6; Merced, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Riverside, Monterey, Ventura, San Joaquin)
• Master Gardener Coordinator, San Diego

• Director, UC Master Gardener Program