Employee Assembly Minutes
September 15, 2004
12:15–1:30pm
Boardroom Day Hall

Attendance

Present: Beth Burlew, Joseph DeMarco, Donna Goss, Meredith Graham, Nathaniel Guest, Hazel Hall, Patricia Mahoney, Mary Smallwood Churchill, Cindy Williams

Excused: Stephanie McConnell, Janice Miles, Seth Peacock

Unexcused: Pamela Dusseau

Others present: T. Bishop, K. Pillot, D. Stein, Nina Fixell. Patrick Young

I. Call to Order

D. Goss called the meeting to order at 12:20 pm and welcomed Hazel Hall as the newest EA member.

II. Call for late additions to the Agenda

There were no late additions.

III. Mock Election Speaker

N. Fixell addressed the EA on the upcoming Mock Election events. From September 20–26, volunteers will be registering voters on Ho Plaza during dinning hall hours, and in the dormitories. EA members are encouraged to assist with events. The deadline to register for voting is October 8.

M. Smallwood Churchill suggested the use of print media to advertise the events.

H. Mandeville suggested the use of PawPrint, which has a penetration of around 3,000.

Suggestions that were given by the EA were to place poster on the busses, to meet people in the A-lot or other bus stop areas, and to meet people in the Ag-Quad and Trillium in order to reach potential faculty and staff voters.

M. Smallwood Churchill suggested sending something to D. Stein for an article in the PawPrint. It was also suggested to include a deadline.

N. Guest asked if there are list servs set up to connect with constituents.

D. Goss responded that there are no specific list servs, but PawPrint Flash could be used.

IV. Approval of Minutes

H. Mandeville had two suggestions for the EA on how the minutes could be handled. The first suggestion would be for K. Pillot to send the minutes to T. Bishop, then to P. Mahoney, and then finally to the EA. The second option would be to have the EA appoint a member to do the minutes.

In the current format, K. Pillot sends the minutes to T. Bishop, which are then sent to the EA.

P. Mahoney commented that she would love to work with T. Bishop on the minutes.

After some discussion, D. Goss summarized the process: It was agreed that the minutes will follow H. Mandeville’s fist suggestion. The minutes are not done verbatim but will be kept to a factual basis and will mainly highlight important points.

Approval of August 18 and September 1 minutes:

P. Mahoney motioned to approve the minutes as submitted. J. DeMarco seconded. Motion carried.

V. Unfinished Business

There was none.

VI. Committee Reports

IOC: J. DeMarco reported on behalf of the IOC. The proposed template for committee reports has been passed out and P. Mahoney also has a template for budgetary requests that will be sent out to committee members to submit for next year’s budget.

Campus Planning: D. Stein reported for the Campus Planning Committee. Currently it is under new leadership and they will be setting a meeting with the President on committee plans.

D. Goss commented that the university architects meet with the President this afternoon to talk about the Campus Master Plan. This plan entails looking at the campus picture and will also look at areas of dense population and growth to see what area the university needs to move in, as well as transportation issues.

N. Guest remarked that he would like to get involved in this project to fill the staff vacancy on this committee. He was encouraged to do so.

Emergency Grant Fund: D. Stein announced that there will be a three page feature on the Emergency Grant Fund in the PawPrint. The Emergency Grant Fund began five years ago when a terrible storm struck the island of Puerto Rico, affecting a number of Cornell employees who worked in the Arecibo Observatory. $5000 was raised and sent to Arecibo. From this event, it was agreed upon that a grant like this should be available for all employees in times of need. This grant was seeded with $25,000 from the President and there is currently approximately $30,000 in the fund.

VII. New Business

A. President’s Event with Staff:
H. Mandeville announced that the President’s Office authorized publicizing the event for October 14th. The office also made it clear that the President has to leave at 12:45. Currently there is no location but there is an overall consensus by the EA to have the event in Barton Hall.

P. Mahoney commented that the event is a budgeted item. Last year $3,800 dollars was spent, therefore the EA should set soft money aside for the building.

An ad-hoc committee was formed to oversee the event, and will consist of: J. DeMarco, M. Graham, P. Mahoney, N. Guest, T. Bishop, and M. Mandeville.

D. Stein suggested bringing back the ambiance from the inauguration.

J. DeMarco commented that he would like to see the President speak first given the time constraints however, his focus should be geared toward the Call to Engagement and how it is relative to staff rather than of his general vision of Cornell.

It was also suggested that the President’s event could be incorporated with the George Peter Award for Dedicated Service and invite the past recipients of the award.

M. Smallwood Churchill commented that since Cornell is a global campus, the President could expand on staff contributions and how staff can contribute to the global face of Cornell.

N. Guest suggested that the President could address Work Force Planning — i.e. what would be the plan for the future, how would it be different in the future, what the role of staff is, and what his vision of the group may be.

VIII. Open Forum

There were no items for discussion

IX. Meeting Adjourned at 1:30PM