Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
12:15 — 1:30 p.m.
316 Day Hall
Minutes

I. Call to Order

D. Goss called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m.

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda (D. Goss)

There were no late additions to the existing agenda.

III. Report from the Chair (D. Goss)

D. Goss reported that she was busy with lots of items over break. She said she would like to direct the EA to be more focused in the new year, and spring will be exciting for us.

As a good start to the year, D. Goss would like to invite Jim Sheridan to facilitate a mini-retreat for us. He can help us look at what progress we have made on our goals, and help us get ready for the Spring Leadership lunches. All were in favor, D. Goss will make the arrangements.

IV. Trustee’s Report

M. Esposito was not in attendance, but D. Goss reported on his behalf that the next Board of Trustees meeting will be at the end of January, so we can expect a report at the first EA meeting in February.

V. Committee Reports

Communications — Leadership Lunch update
H. Hall reported that the committee had met with Mary Opperman and she was envisioning the Leadership Lunches to be similar to the Frontline Feedback (FF) events that were held a while back. The committee decided to go ahead with the existing three questions that were asked at the Chili Chats, but modified slightly.

The three dates that are scheduled are as follows;
1. Tuesday, 2/27 at the Statler
2. Monday, 3/19 in Geneva, and
3. Tuesday, 4/10 at Appel Commons
H. Hall said these events should not be like FF’s because we are not seeking to gather more data, this is to share the data we already have. The FF’s took more than 15 months to complete.

P. Korolov added that we do not want to lose momentum by planning many events instead of just a few. These events should be all about the EA, not really Human Resources based.

H. Hall said that Mary Opperman suggested that we send out our invitations to the DDD list.

D. Goss said we need to advertise it properly so that it interests managers and supervisors specifically.

L. Lawrence asked if one of them would be targeted for 2nd or 3rd shift personnel.

H. Hall replied that it could be the one at Appel Commons since no specific time has been set for this.

A. Goncarovs asked what the cost of the events might be. If Mary is not supportive of this format, she may not help with funding.

D. Goss stated that the President is very supportive and has said that he would give $3,000 toward this initiative, and we would ask for $3,000 for what we have already accomplished. D. Goss and P. Mahoney will write a letter requesting the funding from Mary Opperman directly.

D. Stein added that Mary is a little concerned about attendance. With the Chili Chat it was for all staff, so what is the “hook” for participation in the Leadership Lunches?

D. Goss said that we will count on Dennis’ help with advertising it appropriately in Pawprint.

P. Mahoney said that it may be difficult to get academic faculty to attend.

D. Goss said that the President is so supportive of this, and has stressed this repeatedly. If our notice goes to the DDD list, this should help target the right members of staff.

J. DeMarco asked if it could come from the President.

D. Goss said that her impression is that he would be willing to do that.

A. Goncarovs asked whether we would accept RSVP’s.

D. Goss and H. Hall replied that we would definitely take RSVP’s for planning purposes, as we did for the Chili Chats, as there is approximately 2,000 supervisors and we would want to be informed of the count ahead of time.

P. Korolov explained the format;
I. Introduction from Mary Opperman
II. Introduction from EA to go over Chili Chat results on a power point
III. Questions on paper to be filled out and called out during the discussion
IV. Open discussion to get info from supervisors
We would collect all sheets at the end and record all the comments in a separate document. We could also circulate the questions in the invitation. Also, remember to highlight our webpage with the complete Chili Chat results.

D. Goss would also give this presentation to senior staff after all Leadership Lunches are finished. These lunches would be around 1 1/2 hours in length. It is important to have one be a breakfast in order to get a bit of a different crowd, maybe more facilities people.

H. Hall said that food will not be chili. Maybe wrap sandwiches for the lunches, and continental breakfast for the other.

There was continued discussion on how many people might attend, and what time the events should be held.

D. Goss said that the idea is to have all information in by the middle of May, so that she can present it in her EA report to the Board of Trustees at the end of May.

J. DeMarco said that we should definitely have some recommendations at the end, and even if they are not followed, at least we gave the effort.

K. Howell suggested this information be incorporated into the Supervisory Training programs.

There were no other committee reports.

VI. Old Business

D. Goss asked if there were any items of old business that needed to be discussed.

Presidential event
J. DeMarco said that he gets the feeling that the president wants to have another staff program. How can we organize this?

D. Goss said that the President will be addressing some people on his trip to Geneva in February, but it is not an “official” staff address.

P. Beach said that the format she has found he likes is a “town meeting”, that could be considered. The staff could come and ask questions to him directly. He likes it to be spontaneous, no prepared questions or lists.

D. Stein agreed with this idea, and thinks that Mary Opperman would be supportive.

D. Goss said that she would write this request into the letter that she and P. Mahoney write about the funding of the Leadership Lunches.

Ezra Cornell Birthday update
A. Goncarovs asked if this idea had been dropped, or if we were still participating.

H. Hall said the bakers are off at that time during the break, so they are still trying to secure a cake.

D. Stein outlined the format for the January 11th event;
- University historian will give a talk at 11 a.m.
- They will have the cake at 12 noon
- There will also be a chimes concert at this time
D. Goss said that the EA is in dire straights with the budget. For the remainder of the year we will volunteer and do items on our own.

B. Bryant asked if there was a price we could offer?

D. Goss said that there is no budget for this event at all. She offered to give anyone donating the cake the “Save the Day” award and much press if that would help.

There was then some discussion on other ideas and events that could be considered.

P. Beach added that there will be many celebrations happening throughout the spring. Be on the lookout for birthday banners that will go up around campus at the main entrances also.

A. Goncarovs commented that the budgetary issues we are experiencing are a real challenge. It is hard to do the work without money standing behind it. We need to do outreach and we cannot always plan these expenses in advance.

D. Goss said that she has always intended to ask for more money in the EA budget.

P. Beach said that the EA should be realistic that there may not be any more money in next years budget. She then asked the EA to please be mindful that the EA’s role is a vehicle of communication, not a program board.

A. Goncarovs replied that an event driven idea involves more people, but events are not free.

P. Mahoney said that food is not the sole expense, that the room charges around campus are also a big problem.

L. Lawrence offered to ask his dean to have two town meetings at AA & P, one on the Master Plan and one on the Code of Conduct.

D. Goss offered to follow up to the Dean with a phone call if needed.

Book reading project
L. Lawrence asked if it is too late to discuss the Ezra Cornell book reading project.

D. Goss said that she would like to discuss this in March instead.

VII. Business of the Day

D. Goss then directed the discussion toward P. Mahoney and the finances.

Budget proposal 07–08
This is currently at $17,600, and we currently have a budget of $9,400. P. Mahoney then asked the group to please take a look at all expenses and we need to try to reduce and refine this down to a more realistic dollar amount.

P. Beach said that the EA should use the base of $9,400 as a starting point, and then prioritize from there. That would be a $0 increase. From there, incrementally prioritize what is important and put forth those items that are top on your agenda that will facilitate the most communication.

L. Lawrence asked if the EA budget has always been the same amount.

P. Mahoney said that it had gone down once, and that perhaps all the money was not used, and therefore removed the next budget year.

There was some discussion on expenses for the Communications Committee and how to reduce the projected costs.

P. Mahoney asked P. Beach what a workable budget number might be.

P. Beach reiterated that the EA needs to prioritize initiatives, and put those at the top forward first. She asked that the EA consider other ideas, outside of what has been done historically. There may be ways to save money while still holding some important events.

L. Lawrence asked P. Mahoney for a more specific breakdown of the totals.

P. Mahoney asked each committee chair to resubmit their budgets with specific breakdowns by the end of next week, or 1/12. She will plan to send out a reminder so no one will forget.

We are currently in the negative by $1,378, and P. Beach has agreed that her office would help with the President’s address to staff, and Mary Opperman may reimburse us $3,000. This would help a great deal, and would put us into the positive. This would at least carry us until June. The majority of expense is food, approximately 45%. A big chunk is our EA lunches.

P. Beach agreed that food is a large cost, and there is no way around it.

Finance Committee Membership
P. Mahoney made a plea for other members of the EA to join the Finance Committee. Currently, there are only two members, Donna and Pat. We could use email and teleconferences to communicate.

P. Beach asked that P. Mahoney bring this item back to the agenda with more information.

VIII. Open Forum

I. Mahler asked if there is a Mary Opperman lunch on 1/10, and A. O’Donnell replied that there is, so everyone should plan on attending this.

D. Goss told the group that from now on the EA agenda will always list all committees, and that committee chairs should always come prepared to give an update on what their committee is up to.

P. Beach reminded the EA that there may be other updates from committees that are non-EA related; TAC, UA, etc.

All agreed, and D. Goss asked that anytime anyone has an update from any committee, that it should be on the agenda and reported on.

IX. Adjournment

A. Goncarovs made a motion to adjourn the meeting, and P. Korolov seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m.