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University Assembly Meeting Minutes
Biotech G01
4:30 � 6:00 p.m.
September 28, 2005

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 4:39 p.m.

II. Attendance

For attendance see: Attach: 20050928minutes.pdf

III. Meeting

P. Dusseau gave an Office of Assemblies staffing update (which also explains the lack of a printed agenda at today�s meeting). Martin has been out of work for about a week and a half now dealing with personal issues. It does not look like he will be returning. This has been unexpected. Until they fill the position, Lisa the clerk, will be the UA coordinator. The executive board will also take on some of the responsibilities in the mean time. The executive board had their first executive breakfast with Tommy Bruce today. President Rawlings came as the guest. They discussed with Bruce what they saw as the needs of the assemblies and how the Office of Assemblies can work to meet those needs. Bruce recognized that this is a problem and it will get resolved as soon as possible; the UA should get the support it needs. Martin did email the executives and apologize for his absence. Dusseau said she had emailed him back to tell him that we support him and hope he gets the help he needs.

O. Hammer said that on September 20, she sent an email telling the members that they could send agenda items to Martin. He has obviously not been here to put those together. She asked if anyone had anything to add to the agenda. There were none.

J. Vertesi announced who would be on which committees. The safety committee will be Randy, Jim and Laura. The academic integrity committee will be Christine, Gwen, Robert, and Henry. The Redbud/transportation committee will be Julie, Jon, and Doug. Zuoming will be the liaison to Gannett. Leon will be the liaison to religious works. Jon will be the TAC liaison. She asked if this was ok with everyone or if anyone wanted to request to change.

L. Lawrence said that he spoke with CRW and they said they haven�t had an advisory board for almost a year now. He asked what he should do.

J. Vertesi asked if that meant they should strike CRW from the groups they have purview over.

P. Dusseau said yes. She also said that this was something they basically knew already, but it is good to have it reconfirmed.

L. Lawrence said his second choice was academic integrity.

J. Vertesi said that would be his new committee. She asked if the committees had met.

R. Kay said that academic integrity tried to meet but was unsuccessful.

J. Vertesi suggested that they set aside time later in the meeting for the groups to get together and schedule a time to meet.

O. Hammer outlined the expectations for the liaisons. She said that the TAC liaison should contact Doug Mitarotonda, who was the TAC liaison last year. This person should find out the current issues and how the group plans to work with the UA on these issues. The liaison may also like to find out about issues for the forums from TAC. Gannett has a couple of different boards. The liaison should find out about their meetings and stay in contact with their leaders. This person should find out about the current services provided and also their status on the academic integrity issue and sick notes. The campus store has several committees as well. Once they figure out more information about the store structure and contacts, it will be more clear which committees are most important to the liaison. Every few years the store does a survey. This survey occurred last year and the liaison should see if it is possible to get the results. Also, this person should try and find out if the store is self sufficient; they have made some very costly renovations and it would be nice to know where the money for those comes from. Also this person should find out about textbook issues.

R. Wayne said that the store pays the university a pretty large amount of rent currently. He said it might be interesting for the liaison to find out how much that is and what percent of each purchase goes toward that rent. That is something students might be interested in. It might be a good idea to see if they can get rid of that cost or change the agreement somehow.

O. Hammer said that they have no expectation for the CRW liaison anymore since that is no longer pertinent.

E. Loew said that they are in a catch 22 because of the situation in the OA. CJC staffing is not complete because the GPSA and SA still need to send members. Once that happens, he can call the first meeting. The staffing problem doesn�t just affect CJC. The UHB is staffed by CJC so that group can�t meet either until the staffing of CJC is complete. He said he doesn�t blame Martin; he just hopes things work out soon. He said that one other issue is that there are still 1 or 2 faculty UA seats unoccupied. Sandie Sutfin was supposed to meet with Martin about this, but he never showed up to the two meetings they set up. He wonders how they came up with the number seven for faculty representatives. It has been very difficulty to find faculty to serve. Basically, the nominations committee will just call up and beg someone to fill the seat. He said traditionally there have been seven faculty members, but he can�t remember a time when all seven members actually came to meetings. He said it might be worth reexamining that number in the charter before they call the committee and ask for members. They should decide if five active members are better than seven who only occasionally show up. He said the same might be worth examining in other constituencies too. They already are looking into doing a charter amendment in regards to the chairs and to CRW, so they can look into this one too.

L. Lawrence said that he is on the EA and they just received an urgent email that they need two staff members for the UA. He agreed that maybe they need to look at the reality of the membership.

E. Loew said he felt that the idea is to have UA members that want to be there and are active, not just people who fill positions on paper.

P. Dusseau said that the number of members they have depends on how they want to structure themselves and their work. It depends if they want to do most of their work at the meeting or in taskforces. If they do the work in taskforces, they won�t need as many members at the meeting because they will be able to involve more people from the constituencies outside of the meeting.

J. Vertesi said that there are really two issues. The first is that there are empty chairs now and we should get people here. The second, which can be addressed later, is how many we really need.

P. Dusseau said that the reason it is so challenging to get people to participate in the UA is that right now they don�t do anything that people see that catches their interest. Therefore, if they actually start to do some things that get their name out there, like the forums, they might have more people wanting to join the group than they need. Maybe in a year or so this won�t even be an issue.

L. Wang said that it is a shame that people don�t step up to serve on the UA when students fight to get a position. She said she thinks it�s a good idea to revisit the charter and see if they numbers still make sense. She felt that maybe it should be percentage based.

L. Lawrence said that he thought this is an issue they should deal with sooner rather than later because their numbers determine what you will be able to do and what your business is. He said that just because seven was the number in the past doesn�t necessarily mean it�s correct.

J. Feldman asked what kind of publicity they do for the university as a whole. For instance, in the past few weeks both Josh Katcher and Doug Mitarotonda wrote a column in the Sun to get their names out there. Maybe the UA executive board should write a column in the Sun to let people know what the UA is about. They could do the same thing for whatever publication is the equivalent for staff and faculty as the sun is for students.

H. Granison said that finding staff members has always been an issue, and the main reason is the time and commitment. They�ve tried advertising in Paw Print, but it�s just not high enough on most people�s priority lists. He asked if they had the same problem in the Faculty Senate.

R. Kay said that they don�t really have that problem in the senate because they have a quorum requirement and nothing can get done if they don�t meet quorum. In the past five years, they�ve had pretty good attendance rates.

P. Dusseau said that the senate also talks about things like salary and benefits that people have much more interest in.

R. Kay said that at their last meeting they discussed a resolution about faculty governance in relation to Redbuds and sustainability. It didn�t pass because they felt there were more issues to include. Basically, it sounds much like the things the UA is doing.

E. Loew said that he can�t speak for all faculty, but faculty east of the Dairy Bar could probably not even name two buildings on the arts quad. They operate in different spheres and have very limited interest. Many of them probably have no idea what the UA is or does.

R. Wayne said that there is no interest because spending time on things like the UA is more of a demerit for faculty, whereas it is a definite merit for students.

P. Dusseau agreed and said that many faculty feel they have to just focus on what it is that they get paid to do. She joked that you don�t publish anything at a UA meeting. She made a motion to reduce the number of faculty from 7 to 5. It was seconded.

C. Tschiderer asked if they would also need to reduce in the other categories to keep a proportional representation.

L. Lawrence made a motion to add that they change the number of employees from 5 to 3.

E. Loew asked whether establishing quorum was based on the full 21 people or just the filled positions. That makes a significant difference for them being able to get things done.

P. Dusseau read that the charter requires a majority of seated members. She said they can table the resolution have a group of people to look at the issue in an ad hoc committee of sorts and report back to the UA.

J. McCrindle said that he thinks the UA should really have a voice from all constituencies and they should make sure that it doesn�t become dominated by students.

R. Kay said that membership does make a difference, for instance on some close votes dealing with alcohol policies.

Jim, Leon, and Ellis volunteered for the group.

E. Loew said that he�d like to know the logic behind the current numbers. He said he�d call Hope and ask about the history of the UA to see if there was a good reason. He said he�d report what he found via email.

O. Hammer asked if that group could report before October 18 then they could discuss it at their meeting on the 26th of October.

J. Vertesi said she would try to find a graduate student to join the group. She made a motion to add committee meeting time to discuss scheduling to the meeting. It was seconded. A vote was taken via hands. The motion was unanimously approved.

O. Hammer brought up the transportation forums. She said that the executive committee was going to meet with Tommy Bruce to get more details and an idea of his expectations.

R. Wayne asked if they had discussed with Tommy Bruce a contingency plan for parking pending issues with TCAT.

P. Dusseau said not really. She said that there are a lot of duplicate efforts throughout the assemblies. They need to see what other people are doing and work together. Rawlings had brought up the forums and he said he thought they�d have something in the fall, before November, and something in the spring.

E. Loew said that Martin was supposed to do something about figuring out their budget. He asked if anything had come of that.

P. Dusseau said that they have a couple options. They could make a motion to ask for money from the various groups, for instance the different constituent assemblies. They can create their own budget.

R. Kay voiced his opinion that they should use the phrase �sustainable development� instead of �transportation� or anything else. It is a better, less provocative title.

R. Wayne said that President Rawlings bears the burden of proof that he would even listen to anything that came out of a forum. He said that the presidents committee runs in a vacuum; for example they didn�t really have any plans with alternative parking with the TCAT situation. There are two issues with these forums. The first is money and the second is the administration listening to them.

P. Dusseau said she worries about running interference with the administration.

R. Wayne said that he will resign before he runs interference with interim President Rawlings.

L. Lawrence said that President Rawlings made it pretty clear that anything that comes out of the forums is non-binding.

R. Kay suggested that they stay away from �Redbuds� entirely.

J. Vertesi asked if the alternative lots should be considered as one of the topics.

Multiple people answered no.

H. Granison asked if they have a copy of the agreement that was signed at the end of the Redbud controversy. He thinks the UA is mentioned specifically in it.

P. Dusseau said the yes it did mention us. Tommy said it would be a joint effort with the UA, himself and Susan Murphy. She said she would feel more comfortable knowing more of the specifics before they just become pawns of the administration or any other group.

R. Kay said that Susan Murphy is being kept very busy with the part of the agreement that said that charges against the students would be dropped. Ithaca Court has said no to that, and so she is dealing with those issues.

H. Granison said the agreement mentioned �amnesty,� but Ithaca Court is saying that the charges aren�t really negotiable. He said they should talk about how they want to structure the forums. He felt that they should hear all sides and get the issues of the Redbud Group to consider them too.

R. Kay said that the Senate University Faculty Committee will be redrafting an agreement. That group doesn�t want to involve the Redbud Group at all, which upset members of that group. He agreed that they should be included in the UA�s efforts.

H. Granison said that their input doesn�t have to be binding. He doesn�t want their forums to be taken over by the Redbud Group or the administration; the UA should decide what they want to do.

E. Loew said that a lot of constituencies have already started a lot of their own forums and discussions already. Maybe they should look into it and make sure they�re not duplicating efforts.

H. Granison said that he�s pretty sure the agreement specifically mentions the UA.

E. Loew said he would like to see it. He doesn�t think they should just duplicate efforts.

J. Vertesi said that the SA and GPSA are each supposed to hold a referendum. Different groups are working on different parts of the problem.

O. Hammer said that their responsibility is to the constituencies to get information out to them, for example about alternate means of transportation.

R. Kay said that hot issues also often result in forums from the faculty senate. They haven�t said they are going to do anything, yet but it would not be inconceivable. He said, though, that they would most likely be on sustainability, not just transportation.

O. Hammer asked if they really were supposed to be focusing on sustainability or if it really was transportation. She said they could ask Tommy Bruce.

H. Granison said that another issue the UA may want to raise is that of university governance. There were allegations made about how things were handled by the administration, especially in events where people said they had said one thing and would do another.

L. Lawrence said that he seconds Randy�s opinion. He doesn�t want the UA to be set up by the administration. He wants everyone to be heard. The UA should do research on the issues and make sure things are fair.

E. Loew said that the administration is the one group that isn�t represented on the UA. President Rawlings can�t really tell them what to do; he can just make suggestions. The UA is not a tool of the administration, but they do need to respond to the charge. He said he doesn�t know what the outcome should be.

P. Dusseau said the problem was that they weren�t really given much of a charge. She had the same issue when academic integrity came up last year and Lehman had told them he wanted them to work on it but didn�t give much more direction than that. She said she would like for there to be a formal charge to the group with written expectations.

J. Vertesi said that they should just approach the situation by saying what they are going to do, not asking what the administration wants them to do.

P. Dusseau said she thought it should be a combination of both. She is a firm believer in building relationships and that�s what they need to do in this situation. She also thinks they should put forth a report about what the UA needs from the office of assemblies.

J. Vertesi said that the transportation committee needs to report back to the executive board about what they�d like to do before the executive board next meets with Tommy Bruce.

O. Hammer said that they are trying to schedule the next meeting for Wednesday, so they would need the information by Tuesday. She said the only two people on the committee are Jon and Julie; Jon�s the only one here. She said they needed more people than that.

L. Lawrence said he could do that instead of academic integrity.

J. Vertesi said they should meet in individual groups and try and schedule meetings.

J. McCrindle asked how they should go about getting other members for their committees.

J. Feldman said he had really talked up some of their committees at the freshman election meetings and there were some interested people. He asked who was in charge of staffing and said he�d talk to Calvin about the interested students.

The group split up for fifteen minutes for discussion and scheduling in groups.

IV. Reports

Executive Committee � J. Vertesi said that the executive board has decided to go ahead with planning the advance they�d discussed last meeting. They plan to do it sometime in late October or early November.

Transportation Committee � J. Feldman said that the biggest thing they need to do is get a hold of the agreement that was signed during the summer. They plan to talk to the president�s office to do so. Also, they discussed the issue with Kyoto Now! Kyoto Now! had approached the SA with a byline funding request that out of each student�s activity fee, $10 would go toward purchasing renewable energy for a total of 6.3% of the university�s energy. The SA supported their cause, however, they didn�t feel that using SAF money was the appropriate method of moving forward on the issue and so their request was denied. The SA thought that the initiative should be campus-wide and include everyone, students and employees. Maybe the UA can help make that happen. It also might be a topic for a forum.

P. Dusseau asked them if they were thinking about going more in the direction of sustainability, not just transportation.

J. Feldman said yes.

O. Hammer asked if they would be able to give the executive board some specifics before their next meeting with Tommy Bruce.

L. Lawrence said that they would try to meet and email her.

O. Hammer said she�d like it if they could email her by midnight on Monday.

L. Lawrence said they would try. They are planning to meet Friday or Monday.

Safety Committee � L. Wang said that they discussed a lot of ideas from last year. They plan to focus on a freshman initiative, a Collegetown initiative, and a campus-wide call for ideas, for which they might use the Sun.

Academic Integrity Committee � R. Kay said that a lot of this issue was discussed in the spring. It started with Gannett and medical notes and went from there. That�s where they want to start addressing the issue from of how do you trust people. They discussed honor codes as one way to do so. He felt they should continue to include Charlie Walcott, who is very interested in the issue.

O. Hammer said the executive board will be meeting with Walcott and could discuss specifics with him.

H. Granison said that last year they thought they should have one member of the senior administration sit on the committee, maybe a presidential appointee. They still would like to have a member for input. He said that there was a survey recently of graduate students at Cornell about cheating. He suggested that they get a copy of that survey if possible. He said there are a number of different solutions to academic integrity issues that they can explore, for example, things like exam centers.

L. Lawrence recommended the book Cheating in America to anyone interested in the topic. It provides some very good information.

J. Vertesi asked if they had thought about trying to set up a system where there were incentives not to cheat, not just punishments for cheating. She felt that was something worth looking into.

E. Loew said that academic integrity obviously has to have an educational component, especially for freshmen. Also, they need to address the issue of who enforces the code.

O. Hammer said that the next meeting of the UA would be on October 26. She said committees should report to her by email (okh2@cornell.edu) by October the 14th so the executive board can look over recommendations and have something to discuss at the meeting.

There was a motion to table the approval of the minutes from 08/31/05 until the next meeting. It was seconded. The approval of minutes was tabled until the next meeting.

V. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted, Lisa Gilbertson University Assembly Clerk