‘ ’ ‘Minutes
Employee Assembly
February 4, 1998
Day Hall Board Room
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
!!!I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 12:20 p.m. by M.Overstrom.

II. Open Forum

a. LGB Resource Office -

M.Esposito announced that the LGB office is expanding to accommodate the needs of employees and has developed discussion groups for employees. Therefore, the EA should write a letter congratulating them for their efforts. M.Esposito will write this letter.

b. Town & Gown -

G.Brandt stated that this was a meeting with concerned citizens who wished to know about various items at Cornell. He believes that it would be helpful if the EA sent someone to each of these meetings, especially since the participants would like to know about what Cornell does for the community.

IIIc. EA Brochure - G.Brandt queried how the brochure handed out at the EA Open Forum was put together and why the EA did not have any input into what went into the brochure. C.Gardner responded that the Communications Committee decided that there should be some items promoting the EA at the EA Open Forum and therefore, the Office of Assemblies put together the brochure. The only new material in the brochures was on the back panel entitled, “What Does the EA Do For You?” Ideally, the brochure would have been shown to the EA before being handed out, but there was no time for it. C.Gardner requested that members take a brochure and write any changes that they would like upon it, so that these changes can be made for the next printing of the brochure.

d. PawPrint -

T.Calvert stated that at the last meeting, the idea that PawPrint include statutory benefits was put forth, and it was decided that it would be better if statutory benefits were published in For Your Benefit, especially because everyone receives it. Paul Bursic, Director of Benefit Services, Endowed, should also be asked to include statutory benefits in this newsletter. M.Overstrom stated that she would approach him about this topic.

e.”Did You Know…” -

L.Caswell stated that this column will first appear in the February 19 issue of PawPrint. However, it will be called “InfoBits” since the other title is overused by campus publications. L.Caswell thanked members for their input and asked that if they have additional ideas, that they e-mail her with them.

f.Dedicated Service Award Reception -

M.Purvis announced that the DSA Reception for all nominees who did not win the award was held on Monday, February 2. About 50 people attended the event, and both M.Opperman and the President spoke. She noted that the Communications Committee should be thanked for all their work on the DSA.

III.Minutes

The minutes were approved as submitted.

IV.Announcements and Reports

a. Opperman/Rogers Luncheon -

The next Opperman/Rogers meeting will be held on February 16. A sheet was passed around for questions.

b.Assembly Leadership Meeting -

The next Leadership Meeting will be held on February 24, and a sheet was passed around for questions.

c.Frontline Feedback Kickoff -

M.Overstrom stated that the Frontline Feedback kickoff event was held last week. Approximately 65 office professionals attended the event. They were split into groups and asked what their ideal workplace would be like. Afterwards, they discussed what the University and they could do about improving the work environment. Finally, there was some time to have M.Opperman,Associate Vice President of Human Resources, answer questions. Unfortunately, this section of the event was not very long; in subsequent meetings, this part should be lengthened. A lot of evaluations were given about the event, as well as many offers of assistance with the project in the future. M.Overstrom stated that there will hopefully be a fewer in attendance at subsequent meetings.

d.EA Open Forum -

M.Overstrom asked for general feedback about the EA Open Forum, which about 400 people attended.

Members noted that there should have been more prepared questions. The questions generated via e-mail dealt with compensation, which was addressed in the presentations. Also, some people noted that they would have liked the presentations to be a bit longer.

Members also stated that there should be guidelines set for questions asked. For example, no personal questions should be asked. Should a person ask such a question, they will be told that the administration will be informed of their concerns. The way that questions were asked needs to be improved. Also, the person receiving the questions to be asked needs time to discuss each question with the author, so that they know the specifics of what the author’s inquiry. Members also suggested that if there are any important announcements that need to be made or new developments, these should be held and made by the President at the forum. This would hopefully draw a bigger attendance.

M.Overstrom asked that members ask attendees for feedback. It would also be helpful if members could find out why people who went last year, did not attend this year’s forum.

V.Business of the Day

a.Campus Planning Committee -

P.Haine stated that the Campus Planning Committee meets once a month to review plans for construction. Almost everything physical that happens on campus goes through this committee.

Currently, the clock tower is under repair. The scaffolding is going up, and it will be done within the month. The stonework on the top will be replaced since it has been damaged over the years. The new stone will be provided from the original quarry. The bells will be taken down, tuned, and repaired. Also, one bell will be retired. There are no plans to touch the pumpkin.

The Bailey Hall restoration is still on hold, awaiting money from New York State.

There is also a new project on the golf course. There will be a new pond for irrigation. The work is being funded by alumni, as well as by Robert Trent Jones, the designer of the golf course.

Tjaden is almost finished, as of January 23. The elevator is still not working. The ashes of Olive Tjaden were interred in the central panel of concrete in the basement. There will be two cabinets on the first floor displaying her memorabilia.

For Sage, the moving date is April 15 and the steeple should be going up soon. A bronze replica of the original finial has been designed by the sheet metal shop at Cornell. Also, there is the notion of creating a Cornell Women’s Hall of Fame within Sage.

Mallott Hall will be the new home of Math and Statistics. However, the Bache Auditorium and two lecture rooms will be open to use throughout the University.

The Beebe footbridge is now open and has a heated path.

The zoning of the campus is under discussion. It may be changed from P1 zoning, which is institutional, to U1 zoning, which is academic. There will be a transition zone around the campus. Also, there will be a height limit on Central Campus buildings of 175 feet.

The selection process for the North Campus architect is almost complete.

The current plan for Duffield Hall, the new engineering building, is to have a long, skinny building alongside of Philips Hall, so the Engineering Quad will not be blocked off from the rest of the campus. It will be three stories high and 300 feet long.

P.Haine stated that she will come back after the next meeting of this committee.

b. EA Goals -

M.Overstrom passed out a sheet of paper listing the result of the concept maps generated by members at the EA Retreat. The original concept maps were pinned to the wall for reference. The potential goals that each group came up with were prioritized. M.Overstrom asked members to look at the goals that were generated by various groups and tell her what they think should be done.

L.Clougherty stated that there appears to be two types of goals, those that are philosophical in nature, and those that are practical. She thinks that the EA should attempt to accomplish one of each type of goal.

C.J.Lance-Duboscq stated that she thinks that it is important to start with the internal organization of the EA. Unless the EA is strongly cohesive, there is little else that can be done.

In response to questions, L.Clougherty explained that the topic “research enterprise units” dealt with the fact that there are some units that are able to make money and turn a profit. She believes that this money should be used across campus, as opposed to by the individual unit. This question will be placed before Fred Rogers at the next Opperman/Rogers meeting.

T.Calvert stated that the EA has a tendency to form a committee, but not really do anything. She would prefer that something more concrete be done. She noted that quite a few of the goals were philosophical and, therefore hard to act upon.

M.Purvis stated that the goal of improving employee morale has always been a part of what the EA does. She noted that with the loss of D.Poland, the topic of transportation has not received the attention it should. She believes that transportation is an issue that must be addressed all the time, instead of waiting for an issue to come up, such as increasing parking rates.

M.Overstrom stated that Katrina Ellis, chair of the Transportation Advisory Committee, requested that the EA send a liaison to their meetings. This liaison would be able to report back to the EA on various meetings. T.Calvert stated that she would be willing to attend these meetings. C.Gardner stated that she would send information about the time and place of this committee’s meetings.

C.Gardner noted that the EA already has appointed two employees to TAC. She suggested that the EA encourage employee representatives to these various committees report to the EA.

G.Brandt suggested that the budget cycle be followed for Office of Transportation Services. A copy of the budget should be requested by the EA four to six weeks before it must be submitted to the administration. Therefore, if there are any criticisms of a particular budget item, Transportation will have time to consider changing it before it is actually submitted.

M.Esposito noted that there are other items that Transportation deals with aside from the setting of fees and fares.

M.Purvis stated that she would like to have some long-term goals along with short-term goals that are identified.

C.Gardner stated that there was a survey performed for the graduate committee to identify transportation needs. She suggested that the EA consider havving a similar survey of employees’ needs conducted.

T.Hoebbel stated that he believes that it is important to work on the infrastructure of the EA. However, this should not be the only item that the EA should do. Items such as transportation should not be ignored while restructuring the EA.

C.Hayes agreed that it is necessary to work on the infrastructure in order to make such other goals can be accomplished. For example, nothing has been done on the budget even though everyone agreed that the EA should have one.

M.Esposito stressed that he believes that it is very important for all EA members to attend the retreat. It should happen after the elections in the spring in order to make the group more cohesive.

L.Caswell suggested that a list of the goals with the highest priority be e-mailed to the members, and let everyone prioritize them.

G.Brandt noted that the process of setting goals is something that needs to be done each year.

L.Clougherty stated that it is very important to work on employees access to computers. She would be willing to either form a committee, or work on this herself, but either way it should be done. There are already such computers in place for students to use.

D.Marsh stated that it is very important to have people on committees report back to the EA, so that members do not have to work on two or more committees. If necessary, the rules should be changed to improve this.

M.Overstrom stated that she will send out the goals with the highest priority for members to rate. There should be suggestions listed in the response. The response should be sent to the whole group. She will put all the comments together and send it to everyone. This will be discussed further at the next meeting.

VI. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.