Student Assembly

DRAFT Minutes
Student Assembly
Thursday, 12 October 2006
4:45pm-6:30pm in Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room

Call to Order (00:01:00)

M. Coombs called the meeting to order at 4:48pm.

Roll Call (00:01:10)

Excused: R. Gousse

Absent: D. Mitarotonda, N. Chadda

Also Present: John Gutenberger, Carolyn Peterson, Janet Vertesi

Open Microphone (00:02:15)

The chair invited members of the community to speak.

No community members came forward.

Approval of Minutes (00:03:00)

The chair asked for a motion to approve the minutes of October 5, 2006.

There was a motion to approve, which was seconded.

Minutes were approved unanimously.

Announcements/Reports (00:03:25)

PR Update � C. Slicklen (00:03:25)

C. Slicklen said he spoke with the dean of the hotel school, and it went well. He would be willing to help any representatives who wish to make similar arrangements with the administrators of their colleges.

C. Slicklen said that Homecoming was coming up, and related resolution needed to be passed before the event.

SAFC - S. Boxer (00:04:10)

S. Boxer said she had asked everyone to take the President and Treasurer Test before appeal hearings. Hearings will be held in two weeks, still leaving plenty of time to take the test.

K. Thomison arrived and assumed the role of chair.

The chair said he was late from a meeting with President Skorton.

Early Decision Discussion Summary � E. Greenberg (00:05:05)

The chair introduced E. Greenberg.

E. Greenberg said he wasn’t going to discuss all the details of his meeting with Doris Day, Vice Provost of Admissions and Enrollment, but would say that most of the questions of representatives present at that meeting were answered. The assembly would go into executive session at the end of the meeting to appoint an informal liaison to the Vice Provost for Admissions and Enrollment.

Fire Prevention Week � M. Coombs (00:06:35)

M. Coombs said that this week is National Fire Prevention Week and he wanted to bring everyone’s attention to the issues surrounding fire prevention as well as to honor the firefighters of the community. He encouraged everyone to read the (US) Presidential Proclamation included in the meeting materials.

The chair asked if there were any other announcements or reports.

There were no additional announcements or reports.

Business of the Day (00:07:17)

The chair moved to business of the day.

Mayor�s Visit � C. Peterson, Mayor of Ithaca (00:07:17)

The chair said that the Mayor of Ithaca, Carolyn Peterson, was here today to answer questions of the students. He gave the floor to S. Boxer to introduce her.

S. Boxer that she realized this summer that there hadn’t been a direct dialogue between the SA and the mayor in several years. She arranged for the mayor to visit to discuss town-gown relations and answer any questions members of the assembly or community might have about things going on off campus.

C. Peterson said that she was really pleased to be here. As mayor she said she does not have a formal connection with the Student Assembly, so she thought that this meeting was an important opportunity to share ideas. There are a number of task forces that provide formal connections between the city government and students. Additionally, in recent times students have been elected to represent wards of the city in the common council. She served in public office in Ithaca since 23 years ago. She said she would be happy to take questions.

The chair opened the floor for questions.

R. Goldfarb asked about the Collegetown Vision Taskforce.

C. Peterson said that at the last meeting she attended various areas of concern included parking, housing, and safety. She said its very important to present recommendations to the council and start with simpler things first. Rather than have the city council make all recommendations on its own, it’s better to have input from the various groups in collegetown.

(00:16:00)

C. Selth asked which were the highest priorities for the city this year.

C. Peterson said that affordable housing was a particular priority. In particular she was focused on the Southwest Vision Statement. The southwest neighborhood, near Walmart, includes a tract that has been recommended for development of affordable, green housing.

C. Peterson said environmental sustainability was personally important to her. The city has purchased a hybrid fleet vehicle and is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

C. Peterson said economic development was also an important priority. Small upstate cities have been struggling to maintain a strong downtown.

C. Peterson said that transportation was also important. She said there was a healthy city intiative. Ithaca has the highest walk-to-work ratio of any city in the state.

C. Peterson said race issues and youth violence were also ongoing issues for the city.

(00:21:31)

E. Greenberg asked what C. Peterson saw as the biggest weakness in Cornell’s relationship with the community.

C. Peterson said that the sense of connection between the campus and community could be strengthened.

(00:24:32)

C. Slicklen asked if there were particular commmunity philanthropies and charities might need help from Cornell students?

C. Peterson said Human Services was a great way to get involved in a wide variety of community service activities. It has information resources on the web. She also said that Ithaca has a limited number of internships, and always is particularly in need of help with computers. The “Into the Streets” event is another activity where student involvement is especially valued.

(00:27:37)

S. Boxer asked whether there were records about landlord conduct and tenant complaints in boxes somewhere in city hall, and whether students could help to put them online.

C. Peterson said that there were records in city files, and that the city did not have the ability at this time to put the materials online. She said there was an $80,000 request in the city budget to acquire software to maintain digital records of building inspections. This request is based on the recommendation of a prior task force.

The chair said that he would be leading a field trip next week to visit and examine the files in city hall.

C. Peterson said that students should visit her office as well, because it’s on the same floor as the files.

(00:32:30)

R. Salem said he’s one of the volunteers for GIAC, an after-school community program. He wanted to know why the funding had been cut for the program.

C. Peterson said she could not answer because that program, along with city schools and the Ithaca Youth Bureau, reports to the school board. The school board is separate from city government.

(00:33:20)

R. Lavin asked what sort of feedback C. Peterson had received about new noise ordinances.

C. Peterson said that the city’s current noise ordinance had been in place for several years. The Town of Ithaca has implemented a new ordinance recently, but it does not affect the city. She said she had some feedback at the Collegetown brunch that students don’t feel they can watch Monday night football without eliciting a complaint. She said that is certainly not the intent of the ordinance.

C. Peterson said the city has had stronger enforcement in response to concerns about parties getting out of hand. More tickets have been issued. There have been instances of bottles being thrown at officers, and it is important to make sure that people are safe. She said she was looking into complaints of unwarranted arrests based on the ordinance.

C. Peterson said that in a meeting with Belle Sherman residents, she received positive feedback on the enforcement of the ordinance. There has been significant positive feedback as well.

(00:38:56)

M. Coombs asked how concerned C. Peterson was about turnover in student membership in task forces.

C. Peterson said that task forces generally have a limited term, and that the community understands that people come and go a lot to and from Ithaca.

(00:41:00)

A. Salem said he was told that the Thurston Avenue bridge was not worked on much during the summer when traffic was relatively low, and wanted to know what planning was done to minimize impact on student travel.

C. Peterson said there is a regular city and university committee which meets to discuss the bridge work schedule, amongst other things. One concern is that the fire department wants one lane to be open as much as possible for safety reasons. The project is the most expensive the city has ever uundertaken.

J. Gutenberger said that much work was done this summer, but that it was done underneath the bridge and was just not have been visible.

M. Ehrlich said she has noticed problems with alternate pedestrian routes from North Campus. In particular the routes around the suspension bridge are not sufficiently lit. She wanted to know if temporary lighting could be added to make the route more passable at night.

The chair said that a community member asked last week about painting on bike routes. He wanted to know whether that was university or city responsibility.

C. Peterson said it was university responsibility.

(00:47:22)

A. Gay asked what authority the mayor had over the police. What causes police to arrest people rather than issue tickets.

C. Peterson said that that she had ultimate authority over the police. She said that they had discretion to arrest people who behaved abusively or who did not have or show identification needed for issuing a ticket.

M. Asgary asked who was responsible road maintenance. He said that some roads on campus were in very bad condition.

C. Peterson said that cuts in state aid to cities have affected roads budgets statewide, but especially in Ithaca. 70% of the city’s land is owned by tax-exempt groups, limiting revenues. Goal is for the city to repair 6 to 7 miles of road each year.

(00:53:30)

M. Asgary asked who owns University Avenue.

C. Peterson said that there was a difference of opinion between the city and university on this issue. The city believes that the university is responsible for the section from the Art Museum to Central Ave.

(00:54:15)

The chair asked what number students could call to report road maintenance issues.

C. Peterson said in the white pages there is a pothole number. They may also call the mayor’s office at 274–6501 or the city clerk’s office at 274–6570.

(00:54:49)

D. Budish asked what community input has been sought by Cornell for its master plan. What are some other infrastructural projects that the city has been working on?

C. Peterson said the university’s planning form has had numerous meetings with the city and has attended some task force meetings, including the Collegetown Vision Task Force. Other projects the city has been working on include the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. There’s been a dream for about 30 years of a trail from Buttermilk Falls to Taughannock Falls with a connection to the South Hill Recreation Way. Also, the city is working on a project to dredge the Cayuga Lake inlet.

The chair thanked the mayor for attending.

Trustee Dialogue � M. Ye (00:58:45)

This was discussed later because M. Ye was not present at this time in the meeting.

Unfinished Business (00:58:45)

R. 11 Resolution Regarding SA Member Duties � D. Budish, R. Lavin, and C. Slicklen (00:58:45)

R. Lavin said the resolution was updated to reflect the difficulty that representatives of larger colleges might have in arranging regular meetings with their deans. Also, the resolution scales back the number of meetings representatives are required to have with senior college administrators.

The chair asked if R. Lavin had met with the deans of all colleges to check on the feasibility of the resolution.

R. Lavin said he had met with the dean of his own college, but that several of the deans he contacted had not returned his emails.

S. Santana asked, in light of R. Lavin’s difficulty in getting feedback from deans, whether it would feasible to arrange meetings with deans for all colleges.

D. Budish said that there is usually some level of senior staff that will be willing to meet with representatives.

S. Boxer said she thought the resolution was to be tabled until the deans responded and asked the chair for clarification.

The chair said that since R. Lavin had sent an email to all deans that the requirements had been met to put the resolution on the agenda for the day.

R. Lavin said that he did not send a followup email to deans who did not respond, but felt that the changes in the resolution addressed the concerns that led to the original tabling of the resolution.

M. Coombs said that there is nothing preventing the college representatives from meeting with the senior administration of their college. Why is it necessary to legislate this into the charter?

R. Lavin said that traditionally these meetings do not happen, and the resolution provides direction for representatives to carry through with the meetings.

C. Selth moved to call the previous question.

The chair took a hand vote, and the motion passed.

The chair asked for community comments.

M. Asgary spoke in support of the resolution.

K. Thomison called a roll call vote.

Yes: C. Bodner, S. Boxer, D. Budish, D. Crockett, S. Deena, K. Duch, M. Ehrlich, D. Fernandes, A. Gay, E. Greenberg, V. Hartman, R. Lavin, G. Leonard, C. Selth, C. Slicklen

No: M. Coombs, N. Nisargand, A. Salem, S. Santana

Abstentions: C. Basil

Absent: R. Gousse

The chair cast a “yes” deciding vote to pass the resolution.

Trustee Dialogue - M. Ye (01:17:15)

There was a motion to move back to the discussion with M. Ye, as he was now present.

The chair upheld the motion.

M. Ye said he would like to introduce a new idea for a student-issued teaching award for Cornell faculty. The awards would be granted by a student-led awards committee. He proposed raising funds for the awards from the university endowment, rather than student activity fee. Combined with an effort to put course evaluations online it would provide both a carrot and a stick to faculty in teaching.

M. Ye said he needs to collect 3,000 signatures to petition the university for this idea.

K. Thomison said that students collect thousands of signatures each year just for their petitions to run for student government.

S. Boxer said that in her college of Arts and Sciences great instructors already receive many awards and much recognition for their teaching. What sort of prestige would be attached to the award that would make it stand out?

M. Ye said none of the other awards given to professors are given by students.

C. Slicklen said that college representatives should see what the deans of their respective colleges think about this resolution. If we positioned ourselves correctly, we could get of a lot of signatures for this.

M. Ye said that it is important to move quickly to make the idea happen. The longer the idea remains without action, the more time there is for opposition to organize against it and prevent it from moving forward. If it crashes at the beginning it won’t be easy to bring it back.

C. Slicklen asked about the timeframe on which M. Ye would like to see it implemented.

M. Ye said he would like to have support and signatures collected within weeks.

C. Selth said students want more information than course evaluations.

M. Ye said right now course evaluations are not of high quality, because students know that they will not be circulated.

S. Boxer asked whether M. Ye considered implementing this with the graduate students. Starting with graduate student might be simpler than with the relatively large undergraduate community.

J. Vertesi said that graduate students have a different relationship from undergraduate students. The primary contact with faculty for graduate students is the relationship with their advisors and committees, rather than the teaching performance of professors.

Discussion continued.

J. Vertesi said that graduate and professional student are also often instructors and this could affect their feelings about awards for faculty. She asked whether M. Ye had explored student-driven course evaluations implemented at other universities as models of how to implement such programs at Cornell.

Discussion continued.

The chair ended discussion because of time constraints. He said that the topic should be discussed further outside of the assembly.

R. 12 Resolution Regarding Academic Bill of Rights Referendum � A. Salem and C. Slicklen (01:41:50)

There was a motion to table resolutions 12 and 13 due to time constraints.

The motion was seconded.

There was no opposition.

R. 13 Resolution Regarding SA Purview � M. Asgary and A. Salem (01:41:50)

Motion was tabled.

New Business (01:42:00)

R. 15 Resolution Regarding Transportation Committee � V. Hartman (01:42:00)

V. Hartman said that there was a need to explore alternate modes of a transportation outside of Ithaca beyond those options available to students. It costs $1,000 to rent a bus for 50 students.

V. Hartman said he wants to create an ad-hoc committee to explore other, more efficient transportation.

The chair recognized a motion to suspend the standing rules, move the resolution to business of the day, and vote on the resolution today.

There was no opposition to the motion.

The chair called for community discussion.

V. Hartman said this resolution would be a way for the assembly to get its image out.

There was a motion for a hand vote, which was seconded and carried.

The chair called for a hand vote, and the motion passed.

Adjournment

There was a motion to go into executive session. It was seconded.

The chair asked if there was opposition to the motion. Finding none, he called the meeting into executive session.

The assembly went into executive session at 6:45pm.

The assembly selected TODO to be liaison to the Vice Provost for Admissions and Enrollment.