MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday April 3rd, 2013
12:15 −1:30pm
401 Physical Science

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m.

Voting members present:J. Ambrosetti, N. Bell, J. Boodley Buchanan, A. Capogrossi, L. Croll Howell, B. Esty, C. Ferguson, T. Grove, M. Kitchen, E. Lee, G. Osborne, G. Mezey, L. Morris, M. Stefanski Seymour

Voting members absent:R. Blanco, D. Brooks, B. Cristelli, L. Sayam, B. Schaffner

Others present: A. O’Donnell, President Skorton, VP Mary Opperman, Incoming EA member J. Rogan

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

There were no additions to the existing agenda.

III. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

The minutes from the March 20, 2013 meeting were approved with two minor changes.

IV. Business of the Day

a) Open discussion with President Skorton and VP Opperman

T. Grove said quite a few people have had positive experiences with the survey process and the EA is appreciative they were kept informed and allowed to share their input. They have also had positive feedback from their many Open Forums. The EA is now putting together a summary of recommendations for the administration to read.

President Skorton said the Board of Trustees recently met and wanted to hear about the movement to divest from fossil fuels. This national movement emphasizes shifting schools’ endowments toward renewable fuels. The Investment Committee has charged Cornell’s Chief Investment officer to actively look into divesting. The trustees also discussed IT strategic planning and shared governance issues.

T. Grove said the EA had breakfast with the Board last week and had a lot of good conversations.

President Skorton mentioned recent talks about attracting businesses to Roosevelt Island to increase investments in the island where the Tech Campus is located.

G. Mezey asked for the administration’s thoughts on Resolution 4. M. Opperman has drafted the administration’s response to the resolution. So far, everyone has had a positive response to it. The administration is committed to responding to it in the most constructive manner possible. President Skorton said his response would probably be released by Friday.

J. Ambrosetti asked if the administration has looked any further into endowing the CARE Fund. If the CARE Fund was endowed with $500,000, the fund would have an operating budget of $25,000 a year. M. Opperman said the CARE Fund came into being years ago, and the EA put together auctions to try to keep it going. It is a lot of work each year to keep it going. The University keeps reseeding it with money when a particularly bad incident happens, such as the Owego floods last year. They will continue to look into the options for endowing the CARE Fund.

L. Morris wondered about the administration’s response to recent surveys. T. Grove said that according to survey responses, the EA is trying to do more work to acknowledge the work of staff members. Employees also think it is time for position analysis and streamlining, to clarify changing job duties. Career options is another topic area of concern. For example, many employees find that it is difficult to be hired by Cornell for a new position if you are already working here. It is much easier to leave and come back and then be hired. Inadequate supervisor feedback is also a concern. Finally, the EA also recommended creating a policy for 2.5 hours of release time each week for employees so they may take a walk, go to the gym, take a class, etc.

President Skorton said VP Opperman has already been talking about some of these concerns in staff meetings. G. Mezey asked how the administration could show the staff they really are a priority. President Skorton said the faculty and students at any university are the single largest source of revenue so they have a different status from everyone else. However, he is dedicated to improving this problem.

M. Opperman said the Workday system will allow the administration to break through on some of these issues for the first time. It is important to make sure people feel as if they can get to the level of employment they want. Employee Days is always a good event, but it is getting harder and harder to get administration to go serve meals to the staff. This is a problem. Additionally, many people who are comfortable within their current work are afraid to take a chance and leave to improve their careers. So we need better leaders across campus to encourage employees to not be afraid to take this chance.

C. Ferguson said many of the staff’s diverse characteristics are not often recognized. Many people have upper level degrees and their jobs here are their careers. These are the type of people who often leave Cornell because they feel under-appreciated.

M. Opperman said Cornell segments its workers so much and this creates hierarchies. These hierarchies should be eliminated because everyone is needed to work together in order for the university to run.

President Skorton said the school tends not to run features in the Chronicle or Pawprint on staff member research or presentations. He wondered if it would make a difference to run a feature on staff once in a while.

L. Morris asked for the administration’s personal take on college tuition.

President Skorton said this issue is extremely important. He thinks there needs to be a change in the amount of time required to obtain a degree. A. Capogrossi said it is often difficult to get a job if you only have a bachelor’s degree. We need to work toward grouping areas of study toward a vocation.

V. Report from the Chair

a) Board of Trustee breakfast

T. Grove said the breakfast went well for all in attendance.

b) Meeting with VP Opperman

T. Grove said they discussed the survey and where going at the meeting with VP Opperman.

c) EST follow up

T. Grove said she is finalizing her report from and will get it out soon.

VI. Old Business

a) Resolution 5

T. Grove introduced the resolution to commend VP Opperman for “fostering a positive environment where staff are valued contributors to the campus community and its mission.”

L. Croll Howell said that Mary Opperman shared the results of the staff survey instead of her report at a recent meeting of the Faculty Senate. She spent half the time talking about how to be more civil and more considerate to staff members. She noted many faculty members asked questions and wanted more information.

There was a call to question, which was seconded and followed by a vote on the resolution.

The resolution passed by a vote of 14–0.

VII. Committee Updates

a) UA Update — G. Mezey

G. Mezey said the UA discussed Policy 6.4 at their last meeting. This policy deals with the treatment of student employees. They discussed whether these employees should be dealt with through staff channels ie-A. Mittman or through student channels ie-the JA’s office.

The UA also passed a resolution on other groups, providing information on violators. There was a lot of discussion about freedom of speech and expression issues.

President Skorton and J. Mingle also recently sent out a report. The Faculty Senate and UA will do the same.

VIII. Adjournment

T. Grove adjourned the meeting at 1:31 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet