Minutes
University Assembly
November 28, 2001
Art Gallery, WSH
4:30 — 6:00 PM

I. Greetings and Call to Order

D. Tobias, Chair, called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.

Attendance:

Present: Carol Bader, Scott Beemer, J.S. Butler, Tyrell Haberkorn, Karsten Hueffer, Dawne Martyniak, Alan Mathios, Peggy McKee, Kristie McNamara, Tom Mendez, Jane Mt. Pleasant, Michael Sellman, Adam Schleifer, Donald Tobias

Excused: Mark Greenbaum, Pamela Hampton

Absent: Gregory Pratt, Aaron Saathoff

Also Present: H. Mandeville, K. Nobles, K. Riley

II. Reports

D. Tobias reported on the most recent Leadership Meeting. Polly McClure from CIT spoke at the meeting about the fee increase. It was raised because the current fee structure does not support the bandwidth needs of the students, so it also needed to be increased. Also, Susan Murphy addressed the topic of hazing at the meeting. She explained the proposed definition to the meeting participants. Finally, Dean Hubble spoke about the progress of the Slope Day Committee.

III. Additions to the Agenda

There were no additions to the agenda.

IV. Approval of Minutes

K. Hueffer pointed out that the guests who were present at the last meeting were not listed under ‘Others present.’ A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of October 31, 2001. The minutes were approved as amended.

V. Business of the Day

Definition of Religious Symbols

D. Tobias explained that Mary Opperman has asked the UA to review the definition of religious symbols, which was decided upon in a resolution passed in 1993. The current definition does not address symbols that represent a religion’s celebrations, and the UA has been asked to determine if they should be addressed in the definition.

J.S. Butler asked if there was a complaint or problem that prompted the re-examination of this issue. D. Tobias responded that there has been.

D. Tobias suggested that, since there was no material for the UA to review at this meeting, the information would be sent and the issue addressed at the next meeting.

VI. New Business

Filling Faculty Vacancies on Assemblies and Committees

D. Tobias announced that there are three faculty vacancies on the University Assembly, and 5 faculty vacancies on various UA committees. He asked that members give thought to faculty members who could possibly fill those vacancies and send them to T. Nobles over email.

Information regarding the Hiring Freeze

D. Tobias explained that this item was put on the agenda to give UA members an opportunity to voice any issues regarding the hiring situation, in case the UA should formally address these.

K. Hueffer mentioned that the hiring freeze regulates that an employee cannot be hired even if a faculty member has grant money to fund them.

J. Mt. Pleasant explained that this is because there are infrastructure expenses that go along with hiring any employee that would not be covered by the grant. She also pointed out that there is a waiver process for cases when hiring is necessary.

A. Mathios noted that the hiring freeze does not apply to accepting new graduate students.

H. Mandeville announced that this topic would be addressed in an article in the next issue of PawPrint.

T. Mendez questioned whether an upper-level administrator could come to UA meetings regularly, to keep the UA members updated regarding the freeze.

H. Mandeville replied that Mary Opperman expressed a willingness to speak to the UA regarding this issue.

D. Tobias said he would contact Mary Opperman regarding this issue.

General UA Business: Committee Reports

D. Tobias announced that there have been three replies to the email requesting committee reports on the new form. He asked that the committee conveners send an update on the form once their committee has met.

VII. Constituent Assemblies Reports

Employee Assembly

H. Mandeville reported that at the Employee Assembly’s last meeting, they discussed the hiring freeze and the possibility of a spring fundraiser.

Faculty Senate

J.S. Butler reported that there was discussion about the appeals process for different schools. He said that no resolution was reached.

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly

K. Hueffer reported that the GPSA had approved the graduate student activity fee. He shared that the Cornell Cinema director told them that they would need to approve the entire amount to avoid a price increase. The graduate students approved the entire increase, but the undergraduates did not. The director said that, as a result, the prices for the graduate students would remain the same while the price for undergraduates would increase. K. Hueffer explained that this indicates there might be some way to distinguish between graduate and undergraduates implemented in the future.

Student Assembly

T. Mendez reported that the SA has been working on the activity fee, and they would be hearing from the final few groups at the next meeting. He announced that the fee would probably be around $125, a significant increase from the current $92. He also explained that with such a large increase, it is possible that the President will not approve it.

VIII. University Assembly Committee Reports

Assemblies System Review

S. Beemer reported that there are no members in the committee as of right now. He remarked that he hopes to have the first meeting at the end of this year or the beginning of next.

Campus Planning

K. Hueffer reported that the committee was given a tour of the new North Campus facilities at the last meeting. He also reported that the Trustees questioned to the proposed location of the Life Sciences building, next to the Biotech building.

Campus Store

K. McNamara reported that the most recent meeting of the Campus Store committee was canceled.

Codes and Judicial Committee

D. Martyniak reported that the Codes and Judicial committee is working on revising the definition of hazing, to present to the UA at the December 5th meeting.

Committee on Committees

D. Tobias reported that the committee has two issues it will be bringing to the UA: the possibility of reducing the number of UA committees, and the charter issue regarding UA and committee membership.

CURW

No report.

Financial Aid Review

No report.

Health Services

No report.

Minority Affairs

T. Mendez reported that the committee met with the Multicultural committee. He also hopes to have the UA and SA committees meet to discuss a possible merger.

Transportation Advisory

C. Bader reported that the TCAT Board members spoke to the Transportation Advisory committee to answer questions.

IX. Adjournment

D. Tobias, Chair, adjourned the meeting at 5:30pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Kristen Riley