MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
316 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:18 p.m.

Present - D. Brooks, P. Dongtoe, C. Ferguson, T. Grove, L. Croll Howell, L. Meyerhoff, G. Osborne, J. Seymour, G. Stewart

Absent - K. Coldren, T. Denesevich, L. Morris, C. Philips

Also present- P. Beach, B. Fry, M. Kitchen, A. O’Donnell A. Prescott

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

There was one late addition made by P. Beach on the behalf of L. Croll Howell regarding a discussion about the faculty and staff assistance program. This was added to the “New Business” portion of the meeting.

III. Business of the Day

a)Cornell United Way Campaign - guest, Bill Fry

Bill Fry, Dean of Faculty, gave a presentation to the members concerning the Cornell United Way fundraising campaign. He explained that one of the major topics being discussed is the creation of a permanent pledging system for the United Way. B. Fry stated that a permanent pledging system would allow the donor to go from year to year without having to worry about re-submitting the form each year. The donor would receive a notice each year, which would inform him/her about the re-pledge that would include info on how he/she can opt out if they wish. B. Fry then opened the topic for discussion.

J. Seymour asked whether this system exists or whether it is planning to be created? B. Fry stated the system does not exist yet but the people who are working on the project are trying to gather ideas. C. Ferguson asked what percentage of the people at Cornell make pledges to the United Way and whether the automatic re-pledge would distance the people who continually give? B. Fry responded that approximately sixteen percent of Cornell staff make pledges/gifts to the United Way. He also mentioned this system will not eliminate the campaign but is designed to make it easier on those who pledge to the United Way year after year. T. Grove noted that this system has environmental benefits because less paper will used to print and distribute if pledges can be handled electronically. Finally, B. Fry asked if there were any disagreements to this idea, no arguments were proposed.

b)Academic Calendar

L. Meyerhoff pushed up the discussion about the Academic Calendar Committee in the agenda so Bill Fry could be included in the discussion. She said the committee has developed some basic principles around the design of the academic calendar. The most pertinent of these principles concerns the spring semester specifications. L. Meyerhoff noted that currently the spring semester is seventy (70) days and there is only one scheduled week long break. The committee is attempting to create an additional shorter break in the spring while also changing the winter break so students would come back sooner in January and consequently get out of school earlier in May.

P. Beach added that shortening the winter break would also decrease the number of days that dining workers would be off work, which would be beneficial for them. L. Meyerhoff stated that these changes will change a lot but that any changes would be gradually implemented over the next five years. T. Grove said that from a staff perspective it would be nice to have some breaks so the staff can take time off.

D. Brooks questioned whether the new break in spring semester would coincide with the recent resolution to professors to not assign homework for students over their breaks. B. Fry stated that they are unrelated. The calendar is separate from that resolution but that hopefully this extra break would relieve some of the stress and tension on both the students and the faculty. Another question posed was whether or not Martin Luther King Jr. Day will officially be given as a holiday for staff, since it is currently not a holiday on the Cornell University calendar. This is not in the purview of the committee.

IV. Report from the Chair

T. Grove began by thanking everyone who attended the George Peters Award Reception. The recipient of this award was Joann Shepherd. T. Grove then stated that the assembly has to get ready to pick the next winners as soon as a meeting can be arranged.

T. Grove stated that she, L. Meyerhoff, and B. McKinney will be meeting with Vice President Mary Opperman the week of April 11th. T. Grove asked if anyone has any topics that they would like brought up in the meeting. G. Stewart said he felt that faculty-staff relations should be brought up. He said that he has seen that some staff are despondent about how they are treated by the faculty and that it is not too much to ask the faculty to have respect towards the staff. T. Grove questioned whether there is any training for the faculty? L. Croll Howell mentioned that there is training for faculty but that it is the department/unit/college’s choice whether to have their faculty attend. T. Grove stated that this issue might be a good discussion to have with the deans once a meeting can be set up with them.

T. Grove thanked L. Croll Howell for setting up Soup and Hope. She stated that this was a good event to be involved with and thanked all the EA members who could attend.

V. Approval of Minutes

a)March 16, 2011-

There were two minor corrections to be made to the minutes. T. Grove made a motion to approve the minutes. L. Croll Howell seconded the motion. The minutes for March 16, 2011 were approved.

VI. Committee Reports

a) Elections Committee — Curtis Ferguson

C. Ferguson stated that the deadline had been extended. The EA is currently looking for non-exempt staff to join. C. Ferguson urged all of the EA members to inform their coworkers about joining the EA. For the elections there are fifteen available seats and currently there are eight candidates. A. Prescott asked if the verdict is that there will be elections next week? T. Grove stated that there would be elections next week even if all of the seats are not filled. The candidates’ profiles will be displayed in the PawPrint by N. Doolittle, which will hopefully garner more interest. The profiles of the candidates will also be posted online. If elected the candidates’ and the current members’ information will remain on the website for the time that they serve on the assembly.

b)CARE Committee — Beth McKinney, Linda Croll Howell, and Gemma Osborne

B. McKinney explained this program is Cornellians Aiding and Responding to Employees. The project was handed to the committee about a year a half ago and since then the committee has given approximately $14,000 to people with emergencies. B. McKinney stated that as of right now there is only enough money for about one and a half more grants. She stated that this is not a dire situation since there is still money left in the investment account. B. McKinney stated that fundraising needs to occur and is hoping the committee can partner with the EA to raise the money. T. Grove thought that a smaller committee should be created to help with the fundraising. One idea to raise money was to have an auction. L. Croll Howell offered to donate a piece of jewelry and asked others to consider donating. She also suggested that any of the staff who might be artists could possibly donate their creations to the auction so that it can also showcase some of their art. T. Grove suggested an article be put in the Pawprint to show people who may not have heard of this before. B. McKinney said she would gather more information so that publicity could be initiated. If anyone would like to volunteer they should contact B. McKinney.

VII. Old Business

a) Transportation Advisory Committee — David Brooks

D. Brooks asked for comments on the resolution. B. McKinney said to change ‘last” to “Be it further resolved.” J. Seymour asked how the $60 annual figure was arrived at? D. Brooks stated that it was a compromise from being $108 to a more reasonable price of $60, or basically $10 per month assuming that motorcycles can only be used for approximately six months. P. Beach mentioned that a “resolved” clause could be added to explore the suggested probabilities.

T. Grove said that she will send an e-mail to the president regarding this resolution. She also mentioned that she heard the UA will likely be doing a resolution that is similar.

VIII. New Business

There was no new business discussed at the meeting.

IX. Open Forum

There was no open forum for this meeting.

VIII. Adjournment

L. Meyerhoff made a motion to adjourn the meeting. C. Ferguson seconded the motion. The EA meeting was adjourned at 1:33 p.m.