2022 VCA Annual Report - BEARS Region

The BEARS Region serves administrative units including the Chancellor and EVCP offices; administrative units; the University Library; Intercollegiate Athletics; Student Affairs; University Development and Alumni Relations; auxiliaries, and other units.

Check out the BEARS regional website to learn more about the region and the services they provide.

The BEARS Region is under the direction of Regional Vice Chancellor Marc Fisher, and the operational leadership of Patrick Reedy, Regional Director.

FY22

 One of the biggest news feature for the BEARS Region was the retirement of Lori Tannyhill, Regional Director (RD) in July '22. While a national recruitment was launched, HR Supervisor Dominga Estrada fulfilled the role of (interim) RD in addition to her HR duties. Patrick Reedy was named BEARS Regional Director in December, 2022.

In FY22, the BEARS Region counts the following amongst their accomplishments:

  • The BEARS HR team began using Smartsheets to process the majority of new student hires. This allowed the region to utilize mass upload for those departments that have high numbers of student hires. It streamlined the process for both departments and the regional staff.
  • BEARS successfully launched their Regional Onboarding Team in August ‘22 and now fully handles the onboarding activities for new Berkeley employees within the campus departments and units they support. The team is continuing to leverage best practices and methods from the established SHARE, ProS, and ERSO regional processes.
  • The Region also consolidated payroll and human resources data entry into the new HR Transaction Specialist position, which will eliminate handoffs and improve transaction timelines.

FY23

Looking ahead, the BEARS Region hopes to rebuild its internal team after a significant number of staff retirements in July ‘22 as well as enduring budget cuts and attrition.

As part of the rebuilding effort, the region is looking to grow the number of research proposals being serviced by BEARS while also looking for prospective new sources of funding.

The region will continue to focus on innovation by evaluating their processes to be more efficient; using technology whenever possible, and offer more transparency.

Image of the Macchi Bears statues

The Macchi Bears statue outside McLaughlin Hall. Photo credit: Adam Lau.