Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
12:15 — 1:30 p.m.
316 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

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

II. Business of the Day — President Skorton and VP Mary Opperman

D. Goss welcomed President D. Skorton and M. Opperman to the meeting, stating that this would be the last meeting with them this year.

� Role of the EA — 2007 — 2008

President Skorton said he had four issues he wanted to address.

He said he wanted to review scheduling for next year, if not now then later, to ensure he would still have regular interaction with the EA, and to make the best use of everyone’s time.

He said there was discussion for him to go to Geneva at least once a year and that, when he went, he would like to involve some of the employees in Geneva in an EA session, perhaps via phone or other means, so that they would feel included.

He said that, because the EA did not represent the employees at Weill Medical College, there is some overlap with Weill and Ithaca employees, in terms of functions and initiatives. He said that Weill didn’t have an assembly of their own and that it was an open forum, but he’d like them to work together, at least to see a reduction in the overlap.

He said, in reference to the incident at Virginia Tech., that he was concerned about the effectiveness of using communication strategies, such as text messaging, to reach staff members, in the event that something similar happened on the Cornell campus. He said there was currently a group of staff members considering more efficient and effective methods of contacting staff in the event of an emergency, such as calling trees and siren systems. He said they were trying to eliminate the bureaucracy in current procedures.

There was a discussion about establishing communication with Weill Medical College employees. D. Goss said the issue with Weill had come up before. She said they had no efficient way to communicate with them and that she thought it would be a good idea to establish a better communication system and this would be an effective first step in reaching out to them. M. Opperman said that, when Weill had their open forum, it might be a good idea to send some representatives from the Cornell employee community to touch base with them. She said that, while their work and environment were very different, they were still part of the Cornell community. P. Mahoney asked if the plan was to form an EA at Weill or to assimilate them into Cornell’s EA. M. Opperman said she’d started discussing that with them but they have not really reached any decisions. She said she does not think they will want to be assimilated with Cornell, but that some sort of representation will need to be established since they currently have none.

M. Opperman asked D. Goss if she needed anything from them in advance of her presentation to the Board of Trustees.

D. Goss said she didn’t think she needed anything. She said her presentation to the Board of Trustees was on Friday, May 25, at 2:45pm in Sage Hall. At that point, the meeting would be open so the EA members would be able to sit in on the presentation if they wanted to.

President Skorton said he thought it would be great if the EA members could attend the presentation so that he could formally recognize all of them.

D. Goss said they needed to recap the year and consider what their role would be for next year. She asked President Skorton what he had found useful in his meetings with them and what they could do to help him next year.

President Skorton said the main benefit to him was getting to know the processes, hearing the criticism and just getting to hear direct feedback from staff members. He also said that he gained a lot from being invited to attend their staff events; it was a great way for him to meet a lot of people in a short amount of time.

D. Goss said one of their goals that year had been to be more proactive and having President Skorton has really helped with that. She said there seems to be more recognition of the value of staff involvement in campus initiatives; involvement seems to be increasing and she attributes that to President Skorton’s interest.

President Skorton expressed his appreciation for the work that the EA did in addressing staff issues, representing staff and giving them a presence in meetings.

D. Goss asked what the hot issues for the upcoming year were.

There was a discussion about some of the topics they would focus on such as establishing a more caring community, the revised Campus Code, and establishing connections with Geneva, Weill Medical College and Qatar. President Skorton said it was up to the EA; he felt they should set the agenda.

� Resolution #4 — 2007 — 2008 — EA Budget Proposal

There was a discussion regarding resolution 4 regarding the proposed employee assembly budget for the 2007–2008 fiscal year. M. Opperman reminded them that they had missed the budget cycle, and that because they had missed the deadline this was more of an over funding request than a budget request. She said they would need to work on the budget proposal for next year during the summer and have it finished by early fall.

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

D. Goss called for late additions to the agenda.

One representative brought up commencement, which they had discussed before.

D. Goss asked if there were any volunteers to work during commencement. She said it was a fun event, very important to the university and she encouraged everyone to help out. She also reminded the EA about the Staff Graduate Reception being held that afternoon at 4:00pm in Willard Straight Hall and encouraged them to attend.

IV. Report from the Chair (D. Goss)

D. Goss briefly discussed the presentation she would be giving to the Board of Trustees. She thought the EA should do a report card evaluating President Skorton, since it was getting close to graduation and final grades time, so that the Board of Trustees would have information about his performance in his first year.

There was a brief discussion about other things D. Goss could mention when addressing the Board of Trustees, such as the Chili Chats and Leadership Luncheons.

D. Goss said she was also interested in having a luncheon with the Board of Trustees, with just the EA or with all of the assemblies, where she could address these things as well.

V. Trustee’s Report (M. Esposito)

D. Goss said that M. Esposito was unable to attend the meeting that day. She said that he would present the May reports in the June meeting.

VI. New Business

� Elections

P. Korolov said he did not feel comfortable holding the elections without all the nominees present, and that they should postpone the elections until all the nominees are there to accept their nominations and make statements.

L. Lawrence disagreed saying that the meeting was held specifically for that purpose. He said it was the last scheduled meeting and they should hold the elections that day. He asked for verification that K. Howell had made her position known.

H. Hall said that K. Howell sent an email to D. Goss, P. Korolov and herself saying that she heard she had been nominated for positions and that she would be unable to attend the meeting, but she enthusiastically accepted any nominations to the Board.

There was a discussion about the election procedures and the order of voting.

There was a request for the list of nominees.

H. Hall listed the nominees on an available board. Additional nominations were made and declined.

There was a discussion about who could vote and about delaying the elections.

H. Hall made a motion to delay the elections until the June 6 meeting. It was seconded. There was a brief discussion about adding nominees.

There was a vote. The EA unanimously voted to move the elections to June 6.

VII. Committee Reports

� SRAC

J. DeMarco said the last edition of the PawPrint had the story of the winner of the George Peter Award.

� Communication

P. Korolov reported there was no report since they had not had a meeting. They were waiting for the new officers to be elected.

� Finance

P. Mahoney said the budget was completed.

� Emergency Grant Fund

There was no report because they had not had a meeting. They will only have a meeting when an emergency grant is requested.

� Employee Education

There was no report for the Employee Education Committee.

� Internal Operations

There had been no word from A. Goncarovs regarding the Internal Operations Committee.

VIII. Old Business

� Approval of the minutes for January 3, 2007

P. Mahoney made a motion to approve the January 3, 2007 minutes. L. Lawrence seconded the motion. There was a hand-count vote. The minutes were unanimously approved.

� Approval of the minutes for January 10, 2007

L. Lawrence made a motion to approve the January 10, 2007 minutes. J. DeMarco seconded the motion. There was a hand-count vote. The minutes were unanimously approved.

� Approval of the minutes for March 7, 2007

P. Mahoney made a motion to approve the March 7, 2007 minutes. L. Lawrence seconded the motion. There was a hand-count vote. The minutes were unanimously approved.

IX. Open Forum — Once around for all members

J. DeMarco said it had been a great 10 years and it had been a privilege working with the EA.

Each attendee expressed his or her appreciation for J. DeMarco’s commitment and contributions to the UA over the years, and let him know that he will be missed.

X. Adjournment

P. Mahoney motioned to adjourn the meeting. P. Korolov seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 1:42 p.m.