Minutes
University Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, April 27, 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, E. Cortens, E. Strong, M. Walsh, K. Baier, J. Blair, L. Lawrence, N. LaCelle, W. Ghiorse, H. Howland, C. Walcott, R. Wayne

Voting Members Absent: A. Brokman, C. Cunha, J. Feldman, G. Yorgakaros, M. Hatch, E. Loew

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 April 13, 2011

E. Cortens made a spelling correction. H. Howland moved to approve the minutes, L. Lawrence seconded. The minutes were voted on and unanimously approved.

III.Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

There were none.

IV. Codes and Judicial Committee Report

Gleb Drebkov from the CJC gave a bit of background information. Mary Beth Grant, the Judicial Administrator, asked if the UA could change the Campus Code of Conduct according to the letter that the Office of Civil Rights sent to all universities recently regarding Title IX. She explained the difficult position she is in. The CCC currently states that “clear and convincing evidence” is required in sexual violence cases and the letter requests that the standard of proof be lowered to “preponderance of evidence.” The university needs at least an interim policy.

E. Cortens asked when the letter was received. M. B. Grant said it was received April 4.

L. Lawrence said he has been following the case at Yale, and Yale is at risk for losing federal funding due to non-compliance, so Cornell needs to take this seriously and make adjustments quickly because this would mean millions of dollars lost.

Evan Magruder, the Judicial Codes Counselor, said he feels M. B. Grant is asking for permission to unilaterally make up the rules. He said the changes she is proposing could make students open to charges without clear and convincing evidence. He has spoken to the accused student and there is some question on whether there is a hearing coming up on May 10, so he feels there is no rush to make the decision before May 10. E. Strong said if something is urgent, the UA executive committee can make a decision on behalf of the UA over the summer if need be.

R. Wayne asked what is the current standard since there are questions being raised? Can we have two standards — one for the students already in the process and one for any incoming students? Kathy Zoner, the Cornell Police chief, said we are not in compliance so we must correct the problem as soon as possible.

E. Strong said it is not clear to him what the letter means. He said he would be comfortable to let the CJC hash this out. L. Lawrence agreed, as long as the University Counsel is on board.

E. Magruder said he does not want to see the standard of evidence watered down for all offenses. G. Drebkov read from his correspondence with law professor Kevin Clermont. Professor Clermont does not disagree with the OCR, but said amending the Campus Code is not a good way to comply.

K. Zoner said the University Counsel has weighed in and said the university has to be in compliance.

E. Cortens moved to close debate and vote on the resolution. L. Lawrence seconded.

M. B. Grant asked what the resolution will do to the university’s policy on the standard of proof. C. Walcott clarified this resolution gives the UA the authority to act but gives CJC the opportunity to review. The CJC will meet and pass on recommendations. R. Wayne asked for a date. J. Blair said this will be effective until the next UA can review it. R. Wayne asked for the “several parties” in the resolution to be identified. There was no second to the motion.

C. Walcott ended debate and asked the UA to vote on the resolution.

There was a tie of 6 votes in favor and 6 against. C. Walcott voted yes as the chair to break the tie. The resolution passed by a vote of 7–6−0.

H. Howland moved to vote on the issue itself. It was seconded.

M. B. Grant dictated a statement saying we are compliant with the letter and the standard of proof for sexual violence charges is “preponderance of evidence” and not “clear and convincing” until the Code can be properly adjusted. E. Macgruder added that this only applies to specific articles regarding sexual violence in the Campus Code, Articles 1a and 1c.

The call to question was approved by a vote of 7–4. The motion passed by a vote of 7–4−0.

V. Transportation management proposals presentation

Joe Lalley from Transportation gave a powerpoint presentation on the parking situation around campus. He said they want to simplify the system and try to reduce the number of permit types and tiers. He also noted there have been no raises in parking fees in 3 years. He said they are trying to cover more needs and costs of people who park on campus. He then passed out a draft map of parking lots around campus.

L. Lawrence said it’s very dangerous that buses don’t have a pull-off area in front of Statler, and asked if there was any plan to fix it. David Lieb from Transportation said the need has been identified, but it would be very expensive to fix and there is currently no funding identified.

L. Lawrence then asked about the Milstein parking lot. J. Lalley said the Sibley lot by Milstein will open in the fall.

E. Cortens moved to extend the meeting to 6:15 p.m. R. Ataya seconded.

J. Lalley said the best way to communicate is to e-mail transportation @cornell.edu

N. LaCelle said people riding motorcycles are forced to get 2 parking permits, one for their motorcycle and one for their car when they drive in the winter, so they will be double charged. J. Lalley said he will be in touch about this issue.

VI. Hearing and Review Board Appointments

C. Walcott thanked the assembly for all their hard work this year. E. Strong said the UA still needs to vote on the Hearing Board members. C. Walcott moved to approve the member list. E. Strong seconded. The members voted and the list of Hearing Board members was unanimously approved.

M. Walsh said the executive committee should make sure there is a smooth transition. H. Howland thanked C. Walcott for being a great chair. E. Cortens said the new UA members will meet next week.

VII. Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.