MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
316 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

J. Seymour called the meeting to order at 12:18 p.m. He then called the roll.

Present-D. Brooks, K. Coldren, T. Denesevich, P. Dongtoe, C. Ferguson, T. Grove, L. Croll Howell, L. Meyerhoff, L. Morris, C. Phillips, J. Seymour, G. Sewart

Absent-G. Osborne

Also attending - GPSA liaison Ben Heavner, Employee Trustee Beth McKinney, A. O’Donnell, A. Epstein, K. Dessources

II. Approval of Minutes-

a. May 19, 2010

L. Morris made a motion to approve the minutes. D. Brooks seconded. The members voted and approved the minutes.

The members then discussed the new member list and the new meeting calendar. There was a brief discussion about cancelling the meeting on 6/16 due to the retreat on 6/22.

III. Business of the Day

a. Open Discussion and Q & A with Allan Bishop & VP Opperman

They both confirmed there have been less staff layoffs than expected due to extensive cost cuts and the Staff Retirement Incentive of 2009. 175 people laid off so far, with a few more possible due to the uncertain NYS budget funding situation and the Bain recommendations.

Allan Bishop explained how the process works when a department needs to reduce workers. They look at the work to be done and the people who can do it, and then proposes who to lay off. Then a proposal is put together and then that proposal has to be approved by HR and the counsel’s office. The process has been approved by the Board of Trustees. All this is to make sure no one is treated unfairly and that the people left were chosen fairly. Alan Mittman convenes the parties to review, and any questions are answered, WDELQ is involved also. At any point in the process, it can be stopped if there is any perception of unfairness or bias.

If the process goes all the way through, the person is then given notice of their layoff. They are given a letter in person face to face, and then another letter is given to them that outlines their

benefits for the next 12 months; auto, health, education, retirement, severance, etc. They are then given 6 months of services. This includes a case manager that will help them figure things out, think things through for the future, advise them on workshops, counseling, etc. Sometimes people work at their jobs through the lay off notice period (30–60 days), some do not, some need a few days off to process the change — each situation is decided on a case by case basis. M. Opperman commented this is quite different than it was even 5 years ago. The case managers are no longer Cornell staff, they are from another company who specialize in this.

M. Opperman said there are 147 positions open this year, when usually there are close to 1,000. There is great pressure to fill the job openings quickly, but they are trying to be thoughtful about it. Laid off personnel are given priority for an interview, but not for hiring. She also noted laid off workers are given one weeks pay (after a year service) for every year they have worked up to 24 weeks. However, there are some options with this, especially with sponsored funds.

J. Seymour thanked Allan and Mary for attending the meeting and sharing the information.

IV. Election of EA Officers for 2010–2011

The members did quick introductions around the table.

Chair

D. Brooks nominated T. Grove. She accepted. L. Morris seconded. There were no other nominations. G. Stewart made a motion to elect Tanya by acclimation, the members voted to do so.

Executive Vice Chair

G. Stewart nominated L. Meyerhoff. She accepted. There were no other nominations. G. Stewart made a motion to elect Leslie Meyerhoff by acclimation, the members voted to do so.

VC for Internal Operations

T. Grove briefly explained the duties of the position.

There was a brief discussion. J. Seymour noted G. Osborne was interested in the VC for Finance position.

K. Coldren said she would be interested in the position. C. Ferguson nominated K. Coldren, G. Stewart seconded. The members voted unanimously in favor of this.

VC for Finance

J. Seymour had noted G. Osborne’s interest in this position earlier. There were no other nominations.

Parliamentarian

C. Ferguson nominated J. Seymour. Jason accepted.

G. Stewart made a motion to accept the slate off officers as decided above. D. Brooks seconded. The members voted and the slate off officers for the 2010- 2011 year was passed as follows;

Tanya Grove — Chair Leslie Meyerhoff — Executive Vice Chair Kathryn Coldren — VC for Internal Operations Gemma Osborne — VC for Finance Jason Seymour - Parliamentarian

T. Grove said if anyone was interested in chairing or participating on any committees, to please let Kathryn know.

V. Open Forum

T. Grove then made the motion to cancel the meeting on 6/16 as discussed earlier in the meeting. C. Ferguson seconded. The members voted in favor of this.

L. Meyerhoff said the EA spring retreat will be held on 6/21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Tatkon Center in Balch Hall. Parking is available in A lot or there is limited metered parking close by.

They will be filming short introductions of themselves to be featured on CornellCast, so be thinking of this. A campus tour in a driven van with a tour guide is planned. Also, Charlie Walcott, chair of the UA, and former Dean of Faculty, will be attending to discuss the role of the assemblies, and then a discussion on goal setting will end the day.

B. McKinney listed a few updates from the Board of Trustees meetings on campus last week.

-The Buildings & Properties committee is concerned about the NYS budget situation.  She will report more on that at a future meeting.  

-She also said they spent a great deal of time discussing the bridge barriers. They need to come up with a long-term solution for the bridges. Cornell will be going to the Common Council to ask for an 8-week extension to the chain link fences currently installed. She said it is likely there will be a “mid-term” solution between what is there now, and what will ultimately be installed for the future. -The organ in Anabel Taylor is being tuned, and the first concert is planned for November. -All building projects are moving along. -The budget has been approved with small raises for staff and faculty. -Faculty hiring still not where it should be -Lots of work being done by those who are left (who have not been laid off or retired) so EA should think about this. -They are still trying to balance the budget, but things are looking good. Administration hopes to have it balanced in 2 years, when it was originally a 4 year plan.

B. McKinney also commented that Jason did a great job on his speech to the Board at the May meeting.

VI. Adjournment

G. Stewart thanked Tanya Grove for taking on the role of the Chair, and then made a motion to adjourn the meeting. C. Ferguson seconded.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.