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

I. Call to Order

C. Walcott called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.

Roll was taken via sign-in sheet

Voting Members Present: R. Ataya, A. Brokman, W. Candell, J. Feldman, E. Cortens, M. Walsh, K. Baier, J. Blair, L. Lawrence, N. LaCelle, H. Howland, E. Loew, C. Walcott, R. Wayne

Voting Members Absent: C. Cunha, G. Yorgakaros, E. Strong, W. Ghiorse, M. Hatch

Non-voting Members Absent: B. McKinney, A. Craig, D. Evensen

Also In Attendance: A. Epstein, A. O’Donnell, Y. Zhang

II. Approval of the Minutes from March 16, 2011

R. Wayne asked that the minutes reflect the means restriction discussion talked about what is “measurable vs. meaningful.” E. Cortens added there was discussion on the childcare subcommittee that should be noted. With those changes, J. Feldman moved the minutes. R. Ataya seconded. The minutes were voted on and approved unanimously.

III.Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

C. Walcott said Cornell had a visit from Middle States for the accreditation process. He was happy to report the visiting committee had found Cornell satisfactory but did give a couple of recommendations for improvement.

E. Cortens asked about the monitoring and measuring process. C. Walcott said they are doing a tough job. M. Walsh asked if there was a timeline for when this information will be released. C. Walcott responded we will get a report from Middle States in a few weeks, and we can correct it if need be. It is expected we will get the final results of the entire report in June.

IV. Discussion: Student Bill of Rights — A. Brokman

A. Brokman said he sent this document out to the list-serve last week and plans to present it as a resolution to the Student Assembly tomorrow. He said he wants this to be a democratic process, so in 3 weeks there will be a 2-day convention as part of the collaborative approach to amend the document. He would like feedback and input on this, and urged people to pass on the word and encourage their colleagues to participate in the convention.

H. Howland asked what if the student used the “Freedom in the Classroom” clause to speak out against evolution in a biology class. W. Candell suggested having a limitation clause. A. Brokman said the specific limitations would be determined during the convention.

E. Loew reminded the members the “Bill” would not overrule anything that already exists in the Campus Code of Conduct. There was a discussion about putting “Abiding by the Campus Code of Conduct” in the preamble of the Bill.

E. Cortens and J. Blair said this document will not be binding for the university, so what problem will it ultimately solve? A. Brokman said it could be a useful tool as a simplified version of the rights of the students and it can help the students feel more protected.

E. Cortens asked about the timeline of getting this document approved, because it is unlikely to be approved by all parties by the end of this semester. A. Brokman said other students would continue the work to see this through.

V. Approval: Judicial Codes Counselor

C. Walcott read a letter from President Skorton regarding the appointment recommendation of Jessica Liat Hittelman as the JCC. E. Cortens moved to approve the appointment. M. Walsh seconded. The appointment was voted on and unanimously approved.

VI. UA Bylaws

R. Wayne asked about the status for the Transportation Hearing and Appeals Board, which had been discussed at the previous meeting. A. Epstein said he was asked to put the Board down as an associated committee of the UA.

E. Cortens said in section 3.2.1, point 5 is a repeat of points 2 and 3 and suggested it be removed. He also asked if we should talk about the audio minutes at section 2.8. After some discussion, the UA agreed that since it’s the written minutes that are approved, the written minutes should be the official minutes. E. Cortens also moved to strike “and the committees” at the end of section 2.10. The UA approved these changes.

M. Walsh said the UA had discussed committee membership last time regarding section 3.2.2. The breakdown should be (3) UA members and (2) members from each constituency, one of whom is from the constituency assembly. This would bring the total number to 11. This way we can make sure the UA members are not overloaded with committee duties.

A. Epstein said when we have too little UA representation on the committees, the UA is uninformed on what the committees are doing. Therefore, the committees should have more UA representation.

E. Cortens agreed we should have UA representation on the committees, but said that being a member of the assembly should not be a full-time job. M. Walsh added that the new membership breakdown would create more buy-in for the constituencies.

H. Howland said three people from the UA should be enough to let the UA have a voice in those committees and help lead the committees’ discussions.

A. Epstein said the UA committees get the lowest staffing priority and members from the other constituencies aren’t always active. M. Walsh said that should change now that we have the executives of the other assemblies on the UA as members. This will naturally provide more communication with them and we could directly ask them to staff the committees. J. Blair added right now the committees don’t have to have any UA members on them, so this new system would be totally different.

C. Walcott called for a straw vote. Most UA members were in favor of the 11-member model over the written 8-member model.

H. Howland moved to vote on the 11-member model. R. Wayne seconded. By a vote of 10–1−2, the 11-member model passed.

E. Cortens moved to vote for the bylaws. E. Loew seconded. By a vote of 12–0−1, the bylaws passed.

Childcare Sub-Committee Discussion

R. Wayne said the childcare sub-committee is one of our most effective committees. He said he still feels they deserve to be named in the charter.

There was more discussion over the necessity of specifying the existence of a childcare sub-committee in the charter. E. Cortens said since Bylaws are flexible now, even if we put them in this year, the next assembly could decide to take them out next year. E. Loew added that if we specifically list the committee in the charter, then we will be responsible to staff them. J. Feldman said it is hard to fit a specific sub-committee into the current hybrid structure.

L. Lawrence suggested we invite them to give an update once a semester.

J. Blair asked if they still exist after all the changes that have been made to the charter. A. Epstein said as of June 1st, they will need to be re-chartered.

E. Cortens said last year, the GPSA tried to have a sustainability committee but it didn’t pass. It was addressed in the fall and now exists as an ad-hoc committee. Can we do something similar with the childcare sub-committee?

C. Walcott asked if the UA could mandate the sub-committee continue for another year while we continue to discuss this. J. Blair noted many members of the UA will turn over next year, so we could conceivably wait and let the next assembly decide what is best to do.

N. LaCelle said the UA is the right place for the sub-committee, since childcare is an issue for all the constituencies. J. Feldman said he thought the sub-committee would likely be able to sustain itself.

J. Blair moved to table the discussion until next time.

VII. Parking Permit Plan proposed changes — J. Lalley

Joe Lalley from Transportation Services was unable to attend, so the presentation was postponed.

VIII. Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.