Minutes
University Assembly Meeting
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
4:30 — 6:15 p.m.
316 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

M. Lukasiewicz called the meeting to order at 4:36 p.m.

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

There were no late additions to the agenda.

Present: K. Albert, R. Ataya, E. Cortens, P. Goldstein, H. Howland, K. Javaji, R. Kay, N. La Celle, M. Lukasiewicz, S. Murphy, B. Schaffner, R. Wayne

Absent: J. Blair, B. Cristelli, W. Fry, T. Grove, N. Raps

Also Attending: J. Cai, A. Epstein, E. McNelis, A. O’Donnell

III. Updates

a. Campus Infrastructure Committee - S. Murphy

S. Murphy stated the group met on April 30 to discuss goals for the new members to consider for next year. M. Lukasiewicz said the group created a form, which she will share with R. Ataya and P. Goldstein.

b. Campus Welfare Committee - R. Ataya

The committee did not meet; however, at the previous UA meeting the committee presented a few issues that were then discussed. R. Ataya said he is attempting to create a file with important information for next years committee.

c. Codes and Judiciary Committee - P. Goldstein

P. Goldstein stated this was a challenging year for the committee; however, there were a few proposals passed regarding Title IX. He will be adding information regarding the CJC onto a Google document for the next set of CJC members.

IV. New Business

a. University Hearing and Review Board

M. Lukasiewicz asked if the interviews had been completed. Most of the interviews were completed on time; however, A. Epstein stated thirteen interviews had not yet been completed. P. Goldstein explained this issue was due to lack of time from all of the members. A. Epstein explained several years ago two members of the committee would interview someone and decided who would be on the board. About five years ago, the amount of the applicants increased and two interviewers were no longer available to interview all of the applicants. This year there were about fifty candidates. In recent years, because it has been difficult to ascertain how many vacancies there are the UA has been approving the most qualified candidates and ranking them. The Office of Assemblies would finalize how many positions were available and then ask the top qualifiers and continue down the ranking list of candidates. However, this year since all of the interviews were not completed, the Office of Assemblies could not prepare the list. M. Lukasiewicz asked for a motion to approve the slate of applicants. S. Murphy made a motion to approve. It was seconded. The UA voted 9–0 in favor of creating a ranking slate for the candidates.

b. Update on recent Campus Planning Activities by R. Wayne. (10 minutes)

R. Wayne said there were two items discussed. The Vet School would like to expand on the order of building 30,000 - 96,000 sq ft. R. Wayne’s main question to this was “what is the need?” Two answers were presented: there is a national and state need for more veterinarians and Cornell has a very highly ranked vet school. The goal is to bring in more students, on the order of 20% more students. There was a question posed about increasing the faculty. R. Wayne said he is unsure, as that was not incorporated in the building plans.

The other item discussed was the Master Plan, which R. Wayne said was a success. It stated the University wanted to maintain green space. Part of that was making Tower Road a pedestrian way, which will not work since there is too much traffic. There is a plan that will be finished in 2015, which will get rid of all parking on Tower Road. Instead, parking lots will be replaced by gardens. R. Wayne said this might occur little by little or all at once depending on money and aesthetics. M. Lukasiewicz asked if there were any further question.

M. Lukasiewicz asked for a motion to suspend the meeting. The UA took a ten-minute recess before continuing with the meeting.

c. Discussion on what happened to a UA Resolution related to Intro Biology by R. Wayne (12 minutes)

R. Wayne explained that E. Cortens mentioned the UA is not well informed about what occurred in past years. R. Wayne stated this was a good time to explain Resolution IX passed by the UA in 2009. R. Wayne then read the resolution to the UA and explained this was a closed resolution, and therefore no one besides the UA was able to read or suggest input on. R. Wayne has brought the issue before the faculty senate. W. Fry concluded the course was never officially cancelled. It was taken off of the course catalog and all the material was distributed to other courses. R. Wayne said he learned the class was removed from the course catalog by a link of emails but never from a direct email to himself.

R. Wayne requested for the grievance letters and W. Fry’s response regarding the cancelation of the course to be linked to the Resolution page on the UA website. A. Epstein said there are standard practices the office follows such as posting official resolutions and official communications surrounding resolutions. In the case of the resolution that R. Wayne is discussing, the resolution was proposed and then emailed to the president. President Skorton responded twice and then the matter was recorded and closed. Individual discussions around the resolution are not posted partly do to practicality and also because only the official actions are reported. A. Epstein said this meeting is an organizational meeting and it would not be fair to ask current members to make an informed decision regarding a resolution that was first proposed three years ago.

M. Lukasiewicz stated that another issue regarding the emails is that the individuals in the email were not asked if their emails could be posted publically. R. Wayne moved to post the emails with the resolution and the emails from President Skorton on the UA website. R. Ataya seconded the motion. The motion was then discussed. H. Howland said that the issue was not well handled; however, this type of issue has occurred before. He stated this does not serve anything now due to the length of time passed between the grievance and the actual passing of the resolution. H. Howland said the issue should be dropped. E. Cortens then asked what publishing the grievance will accomplish beyond possible embarrassment. R. Wayne said he has a list of remedies regarding what procedures should occur when considering a change to the curriculum. E. Cortens asked if the UA could adopt a resolution next year regarding when changes occur discussing the changes with the stakeholders. A. Epstein said at the discretion of the UA executives the emails could be added to the website as attachments to the UA meeting for May 1, 2012. R. Wayne agreed to this action and withdrew the motion.

d. Transition (elect an interim executive board)

M. Lukasiewicz stated the interim executive board has to be elected for the summer. The first question posed was who would be on the UA next year who would remain over the summer. S. Murphy said M. Paine could not attend but would be available over the summer. There was some discussion on the duties that the interim committee would be responsible for over the summer. One possible issue for the summer board might be working with Gannett regarding mental health.

M Lukasiewicz asked for nominations for the interim chair. E. Cortens nominated K. Albert for Interim Chair. K. Albert accepted the nomination. S. Murphy nominated M. Paine. The voting was by paper ballot. K. Albert was elected interim chair.

P. Goldstein nominated R. Kay as Interim Vice Chair. He was unanimously appointed as the Interim Vice Chair.

S. Murphy nominated N. La Celle for Interim Vice Chair for Operations. N. La Celle was elected Vice Chair for Operations.

K. Javaji nominated E. McNelis. P. Goldstein nominated J. Cai. E. McNelis withdrew his nomination. J. Cai was elected Interim At-Large.

V. Adjourn

M. Lukasiewicz adjourned the meeting at 5:43 p.m.