Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
12:15–1:30 p.m.
316 Day Hall
MINUTES

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:19 p.m.

Present: J. Boodley Buchanan, D. Brooks, B. Cristelli, L. Croll Howell, B. Esty, C. Ferguson, T. Grove, M. Kitchen, L. Meyerhoff, L. Morris, G. Osborne, L. Sayam, B. Schaffner, J. Seymour, G. Stewart

Absent: K. Fahey

Also Attending: P. Clark, A. Epstein, N. Doolittle, B. McKinney, A. O’Donnell

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

T. Grove added one new item to the agenda regarding an e-mail she received from a staff member who is hoping to create of a bulb garden in Cass Park.

II. Approval of Minutes

a. Minutes from December 21, 2012

L. Morris made a motion to approve the minutes. L. Meyerhoff seconded the motion and the minutes from December 21, 2012 were approved.

b. Minutes from January 18, 2012

L. Meyerhoff made a motion to approve the minutes. D. Brooks second the motion and the EA unanimously approved the minutes from January 18, 2012.

III. Business of the Day

a. Cornell Recreation Presentation - Pat Clark

P. Clark began by passing out a hand out to the members of the EA and explaining a brief history of the Cornell Recreation Connection. She explained it is a club for staff, faculty, and graduate students. The purpose of the club is to provide outreach opportunities for the staff, faculty, and graduate students who may not have the opportunity otherwise. Some of the events the CRC currently holds include a Halloween event, baseball games, and trips to New York City.

P. Clark said the Cornell Recreation Connection will be holding a recruitment event in May before which a survey will be sent around the campus. She stated that the results of the survey will hopefully be discussed at the recruitment event in May. P. Clark also mentioned that currently there are only six members in the Cornell Recreation Connection and they are looking to increase their membership through the recruitment event. The club is currently looking for a sponsor for their event in May so that the event can include a light luncheon. P. Clark stated that currently there is no money in the budget so it is essential to find a sponsor for the event.

P. Clark then opened up the floor for questions. T. Grove asked what P. Clark envisions the Employee Assembly doing for the Cornell Recreation Connection? P. Clark stated that the Employee Assembly has always been supportive in the past and the Cornell Recreation Connection would like the Employee Assembly to continue their support. P. Clark also stated that currently other than support the other thing that the EA might be able to help with is co-sponsoring the recruitment event in May. P. Clark explained that the Cornell Recreation Connection will be having two trips to New York City which will raise some money for the group but that a co-sponsor will be necessary to cover the other half of the event. T. Grove stated that in terms of financial support the Employee Assembly would like to know what the Cornell Recreation Connection would like specifically. P. Clark stated that the group will know more about the financial situation after the survey and after the two trips to New York City. She said that once more information is gathered she will email the Employee Assembly with specifics on what the group needs. C. Ferguson asked when the survey would be going out and suggested that the survey could be included in the EA E-news. T. Grove also suggested that the EA E-news should include some information regarding the Cornell Recreation Connection and the events and resources they provide to the staff.

V. Report from the Chair

a. Leadership Breakfast

T. Grove stated at the Leadership Breakfast on January 25, there was a presentation from Laura Brown, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. L. Brown talked about her office and the new center that was funded for human engagement. The breakfast was center around undergraduate research and the connection between undergraduate research and how to build on it. G. Stewart asked what the employees got out of a presentation focused around students and he questioned if the employees could make suggestions for the speakers? T. Grove stated that although this breakfast did not pertain to employees other speakers are more geared towards for employees. She also stated that suggestions for speakers can be made and the Employee Assembly has made suggestions in the past.

b. Meeting with Mary Opperman

T. Grove stated that M. Opperman has received more information on the staff survey. M. Opperman stated that Marine has done more narrowing of the results. The results have indicated that there are not a lot of differences in the pockets and that the results are pretty consistent with the overall picture. M. Opperman is looking more specifically at four pieces of information from this survey: supervisor evaluations, career development and developing yourself, rewards and recognition, and employees’ work loads. T. Grove stated that the issue or career development, choices, and developing yourself will be discussed more with the Employee Assembly when Anne Snell presents at the February 15, 2012 meeting. The individual comments from the surveys will be going to the Deans and the Vice Presidents of the colleges. T. Grove explained the M. Opperman does not believe that the individual comments would be beneficial on a smaller scale, which is why they will only be given to the heads of the colleges. M. Opperman offered to come and talk to the Employee Assembly with Marine to discuss the results even father. T. Grove stated that M. Opperman can not attend another Employee Assembly meeting until May but that if the Employee Assembly would like another meeting it may be possible to schedule the meeting on an off Wednesday. T. Grove than asked the members of the Employee Assembly if they would like an additional meeting with M. Opperman. D. Brooks suggested that T. Grove forward any Employee Assembly members’ questions to M. Opperman or bring them to her at the next meeting with her. T. Grove stated that she would be happy to forward on questions. She will also be inviting M. Opperman to an executive committee meeting and any Employee Assembly member who is interested is encouraged to attend.

T. Grove asked if any of the members of the EA had any questions or comments regarding the staff survey. C. Ferguson stated that an overwhelming number of staff had concerns about financing and that it may be good to have HR talk about financing programs. He also mentioned that it would be good to get M. Opperman’s opinion on staff diversity and how the Employee Assembly can play a role in achieving this goal. N. Doolittle said an update on diversity will be published in the upcoming issue of the PawPrint. L. Meyerhoff stated one issue to be concerned about is reporting back about what actions will be taken as a result of the survey. She mentioned these actions should be published so the staff feels as though their time and input are important and influential. T. Grove stated that M. Opperman said once there is something actionable she will send something out regarding the action. Finally, G. Stewart stated that the Employee Assembly should be very proud of this achievement. N. Doolittle commented that the University Assembly was blown away by the response rate from the survey especially considering that this was the first survey.

T. Grove stated the breakfast with the trustees will be held on March 8, 2012. Formal invitations will be coming in the upcoming weeks.

VI. Committee Reports

a. Education Committee

L. Sayam stated that the committee met on Wednesday, January 25th. The main topic discussed at the meeting was the education survey that the committee is attempting to put together. L. Sayam then passed out the initial draft of the survey. She explained that the committee tried to keep the survey simple and is targeting mainly employees who have already graduated from the education program either here at Cornell or from other colleges. L. Sayam asked for the Employee Assembly’s approve of the survey questions. T. Grove asked if the members could review the questions and then update L. Sayam by Friday, February 3rd. L. Meyerhoff suggested that there should be a question asking if people would be willing to be interviewed so that their story could be shared with other employees.

b. Personnel Committee

J. Boodley Buchanan passed a handout to the Employee Assembly. She explained that the Personnel Committee met on Friday, January 27th and discussed the research that each member had done prior to the meeting regarding the bereavement policies at other colleges. She stated that Cornell’s policy is very similar to most other policies and that no one exceeds five days off. However, J. Boodley Buchanan explained that some policies had wording which would allow more opportunities for days off. J. Boodley Buchanan also explained that at the meeting it was discussed how to reach out to supervisors and HR for training on sensitivity and providing better options for employees who have just lost someone. L. Croll Howell stated that from a mental health stand that when someone is in a session of bereavement that he or she is disabled and depressed. She explained that time off for mental health could be an option and it would allow the employee protection under the law. Finally T. Grove asked if the handout could be emailed to the members of the EA. If any of the members have questions or further ideas they are encouraged to contact J. Boodley Buchanan.

VII. Old Business

a. Logo Winner

L. Morris stated that the winner for the new Employee Assembly logo was option “L.” She will be in contact with Steven regarding putting together a logo packet so that people can begin to use the new logo. G. Osborne asked if a pdf of the new logo could be put up on the Employee Assembly website.

b. Trip to Geneva

T. Grove asked if the members would like to go to Geneva again. The members unanimously agreed that they would like to go to Geneva. T. Grove asked L. Croll Howell to send out a doodle form asking the members which dates would work best with their schedules.

c. Questions for Kyu Whang and Ted Dodds

T. Grove asked if anyone has any questions that they would like answered by either of the two gentlemen. G. Stewart stated that he could come up with a lot of questions for Kyu Whang. J. Boodley Buchanan stated that a topic to discuss is that facilities went through a large reorganization and it would be a good idea to gather staff feedback regarding it. T. Grove asked if there were any questions that could be posed specifically for T. Dodds. L. Morris stated that the EA could ask him to talk about the lay offs. L. Meyerhoff added that it would be good to ask him how do we become cutting edge with fewer staff? T. Grove stated that she will attempt to paraphrase all the questions posed and will see if the two men can attend an upcoming EA meeting. G. Stewart suggested meeting at facilities and taking a tour to see how the campus has evolved. J. Boodley Buchanan offered to set up the tour of facilities.

d. Elections

T. Grove stated that B. Schaffner and herself spoke with M. Opperman and M. Opperman believes that the EA should give people the option to vote using a paper ballot. A. Epstein is looking into how HR notifies people who do not use email and will be updating the EA later in the week. T. Grove then encouraged all the members to recruit other employees to join the Employee Assembly. There will be seven open spots, which is approximately half of the membership. N. Doolittle offered to put something in the PawPrint regarding how employees can become involved in the Employee Assembly.

VIII. New Business

a. Budget

G. Osborne handed out a sheet indicating where the EA has allocated funds. She will be working on the budget more and will send the members of the EA the excel spreadsheet with the entire budget later in the week. G. Osborne explained half of the budget was spent on the President’s Address. L. Morris asked if survey costs were included in the budget yet and quoted an estimate of two hundred dollars for the surveys. G. Osborne said this was not included. She will be working on the budget and encouraged the members of the EA to email her regarding any questions.

IX. Open forum

G. Stewart received an email from a staff member who had a stillborn child. The staff member has been working with the Ithaca Children’s Garden with the hope of creating a bulb garden. The staff member made a financial request to the EA. There was some discussion regarding what the EA would be allowed to donate but it was suggested the EA could put out something for people to volunteer to help create the garden. L. Meyerhoff explained the garden would be a three-season bulb garden. L. Croll Howell suggested an email regarding information on the garden should be sent to the multi-family listserv. Finally, L. Morris asked T. Grove to send her a summary of the topic so she can add an article into the EA E-news.

L. Meyerhoff mentioned that Soup and Hope is on February 2nd. The EA is on the list to volunteer however the specific date has not been set yet. At the upcoming Soup and Hope about thirty images of hope will be displayed.

X. Adjournment

T. Grove made a motion to adjourn the meeting. G. Stewart seconded the motion and the Employee Assembly meeting was adjourned at 1:29 p.m.