Minutes
University Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
4:30 � 6:00 p.m.
316 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

C. Walcott called the meeting to order at 4:34 p.m.

Roll was taken via sign-in sheet.
Voting Members Present: R. Ataya, W. Candell, J. Feldman, G. Yorgakaros, E. Cortens, E. Strong, M. Walsh, K. Baier, L. Lawrence, N. LaCelle, M. Hatch, H. Howland, C. Walcott, R. Wayne
Voting Members Absent: A. Brokman, C. Cunha, J. Blair, W. Ghiorse, E. Loew
Non-voting Members Absent: B. McKinney, A. Craig, N. Evensen
Also In Attendance: L. Croll Howell, L. Chappell-Williams, J. Kellock, P. Beach, A. Epstein, A. O’Donnell, Y. Zhang

II. Approval of the Minutes from January 26, 2011

H. Howland moved the minutes. L. Lawrence seconded. The minutes were voted on and unanimously approved.

III. CJC Resolution

E. Strong moved to table the resolution so a CJC representative can come and give some background information as well as a CJC update. L. Lawrence seconded the motion. The resolution was tabled.

IV. Charter Resolution

E. Strong said the Sun did not want to distribute the information about the charter, so it was distributed as widely as possible by the assemblies’ chairs. All feedback has been good so far. He held an open forum with R. Wayne at Weill Hall and no one attended. J. Feldman agreed there had been no negative feedback. E. Cortens made two minor changes. They were approved.

E. Strong talked about the by-laws, including the committee structure section. They concern the internal operations of the UA and are much more fluid to change.

R. Wayne said he felt they did not talk about the by-laws enough so he is not comfortable voting on it, but he wants to pass the charter. C. Walcott agreed the by-laws need more attention. We can vote for Resolution 1, pass the charter and the by-laws, and come back to the by-laws later, which are very easy to change. He said he did not want to leave the by-laws in limbo.

Since this required a 2/3 majority (13 votes) and there were only 12 members present, the UA decided to establish an open running vote. All 12 members voted yes, and later in the meeting 2 additional members arrived and also voted yes. Resolution 1 was passed by a vote of 14–0−0.

Childcare Update

L. Croll Howell reported many positive changes have occurred at the Cornell childcare center. The survey was finished and all items were reported as improved. 100% of parents reported the center met or had exceeded their expectations. Linda reported the center had received significant support from the UA childcare sub-committee, which offered many good suggestions and also helped with the fairness of the childcare grant distribution. She said they are now looking at the local school calendar to try to better match the center’s schedule. There are still lots of challenges ahead, and it is important to recognize the need for employee flexibility. Personal care and adult care giving are becoming an issue for more staff. L. Chappell-Williams added the childcare sub-committee could really help us understand what our community needs and what the best options available would be.

J. Feldman asked about the sliding scale at the childcare center. L. Croll Howell said there has been no development on this but they are still gathering data.

H. Howland asked when and where the survey was conducted. L. Croll Howell said it was done in December to January anonymously through SurveyMonkey online.

E. Cortens asked if there is any recent data on how many students have children. L. Croll Howell said there is only the information from a survey that was done 6 years ago.

E. Strong said after the president made his decision, the sub-committee had worked hard. Has this been a smooth transition and what is the new focus? L. Chappell-Williams said yes, they are shifting gears and looking at the school system now.

JCC Committee

A. Epstein said a UA representative is needed on the search committee for the new Judicial Codes Counselor. C. Walcott said the JCC is very important in helping students. W. Candell volunteered to be the representative.

V. Discuss By-Laws

R. Wayne hope the childcare sub-committee can be permanent because there will be increasing challenges as we get more children from new hires, etc.

E. Cortens said the in the new by-laws, we are looking at a broader committee in charge of overall welfare that would include childcare. This broader committee would have more authority. R. Wayne said for all the work the sub-committee had done, he thought it deserved to be mentioned in the by-laws. E. Strong said there could still be a childcare committee, but suggested we try to utilize the welfare committee for the most part and use “ad hoc” committees as needed for childcare, eldercare, etc.

M. Hatch said it would be difficult to have UA members on committees in June, since the full UA isn’t assembled by that time. He said he also thought childcare and possibly other committees will react negatively to being removed.

A. Epstein said the communication between the committees and the UA has not been great, likely due to the fact there is no overlap with the UA members. For example, this happened today with the CJC. The resolution listed on the agenda had to wait because no one on the UA knows anything about it, and no one from CJC attended to give information or explanation.

C. Walcott suggested postponing the by-laws discussion until the next meeting. M. Hatch suggested people give some thought as to how to make the transition so the UA could continue to function through the summer.

VI. CCA Resolution

J. Kellock from the Music department then explained some history about the Cornell Council for the Arts. The new committee has eliminated the smaller individual grants. The provost has made available $68k (the average yearly grant amount over the last three years), to be disbursed by the departments themselves over the next two years. After two years, it will be up to the colleges to find the money to fund the projects, and it is likely that the colleges will not be able to find the money. E. Cortens came up with the resolution to the UA, and there has also been a petition circulating. The resolution has encouraged Dean Kent Kleinman to reopen the issue.

There are other awards that will also be uncertain. The big issue is that no one outside of the Arts departments will be able to get any money, and unfortunately in the future, there is no binding agreement for the colleges to find funding for projects.

E. Cortens read the two “be it resolved” clauses from the resolution. J. Feldman seconded.

The resolution passed by a vote of 10–0−1.

VII. Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 6:01 p.m.