Minutes
University Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
4: 30 � 6:00 p.m.
Art Gallery, Willard Straight Hall

I. Call to Order

R. Orme called the meeting to order at 4:37 p.m.

Roll was taken via sign-in sheet. Present: J. Cetta, K. Laden, A. Nicoletti, J. Spiegel, B. Webb-Binder, S. Zhang, L. Lawrence, R. Orme, W. Ghiorse, M. Hatch, C. Walcott, R. Wayne, B. McKinney Not Present: I. Akinpelu, A. Brokman, E. Strong, K. Speiser, E. Loew, E. Sanders, A. Craig, M. Walsh Also In Attendance: K. Hubbell, P. Streeter, A. Epstein, A. O’Donnell, Y. Zhang

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

K. Laden brought up a resolution about forming an Ad-hoc committee for the purpose of charter review.

III. Approval of Minutes from Sept 30 Meetings

The UA waited for more members to arrive before voting to approve the minutes. When quorum was reached later in the meeting, R. Wayne moved to approve the minutes. S. Zhang seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously (11–0−0).

IV. Middle States Accreditation Presentation

Paul Streeter and Kent Hubbell gave a powerpoint presentation and introduced what the accreditation process was. The university has to be accredited every 10 years and the process includes two parts: an institutional self-study report and a site visit by an external review team. Cornell must demonstrate that it meets the 14 standards for accreditation by early 2011. The standards are separated into several groups and each group has an oversight committee.

P. Streeter and K. Hubbell went through each of the committees and its members and answered questions from the UA members. Some UA members said they thought the committees should include more students and alumni.

K. Hubbell said they’ll be back in a year at the completion of the self-study. They explained after getting more input from the Cornell community, a final draft will be submitted. They noted there is work being done to connect the self-study with the “Reimagining Cornell” project.

V. Family Services Report

B. McKinney explained her role as the new chair of the Family Services Committee and what the committee has been doing. She introduced the resolution asking the President to make a statement about the importance of career-life balance. The statement is newly worded and has less focus on the “wellness” component. B. McKinney read the statement and UA members voiced some other wording possibilities to include more personal flexibility regarding career-life balance. B. McKinney said she was open to making changes but explained there may be changes that come from the President himself.

M. Hatch moved to call the question. L. Lawrence seconded. The resolution passed with a vote of 11–0−0.

B. McKinney said she would re-type the statement with the changes suggested and send it to R. Orme to forward to the President.

VI. Childcare Services Report

B. McKinney then introduced the Childcare Affordability and Accessibility resolution. C. Walcott felt that this should be addressed to the university administration instead of the Board of Trustees. M. Hatch and W. Ghiorse suggested a footnote or a better title on the last column of the chart to clarify what it meant. B. McKinney found these changes friendly.

M. Hatched moved to call the question, L. Lawrence seconded. The resolution passed unanimously by a vote of 12–0−0.

B. Webb-Binder, the UA’s liaison to the Family Services Committee, will give updates on the committee to the UA from now on.

B. McKinney presented the second resolution about the use of computers at the Cornell Childcare Center. This resolution would allow parents to opt their children out of computer use and would make sure the caregivers are informed of the parents’ decision.

C. Walcott voiced his concern about having this resolution go through the President. M. Hatch suggested the resolution be passed back to the Child Services Committee with the UA’s endorsement. This may also be forward to the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality or Mary Opperman in Human Resources.

W. Ghiorse moved to call the question, L. Lawrence seconded. The resolution passed with a vote of 10–0−1.

VII. UA Charter Discussion

R. Orme explained that the executive committee had met and wanted to better understand what “legislative authority” meant.

C. Walcott asked if the UA is being as effective as it could be. Many things stated in the charter are not happening.

K. Laden said he will send out an info sheet so members can look it over until the next meeting. The UA needs to address what legislative powers it has.

J. Cetta said he couldn’t find the Statement of Student Rights online and wondered why the UA charter cites this document when this more concerns the SA and the GPSA. M. Hatch replied that the statement has been diffused into various other documents.

M. Hatch explained that the last time Jim Mingle discussed this, he said the UA has legislative power at the behest of the President.

R. Wayne said he believed the UA is not only acting in an advising capacity, but that it does have its own legislative power to propose policies.

K. Laden said the UA needs to hold on to its responsibilities instead of letting more assemblies and committees take over.

There was some discussion on having a meeting with Jim Mingle or Mary Beth Grant.

VIII. Adjourn

J. Spiegel moved to adjourn. W. Ghiorse seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 6:12 p.m. by R. Orme.