Employee Assembly Minutes
Wednesday, February 17, 1999
Day Hall Boardroom
12:15 p.m. — 1:30 p.m.
!!!I. Call to Order and Introductions

T.Hoebbel called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m.

Present: T.Hoebbel, C.Hayes, J.Worden, L.Clougherty, J.DeMarco, D.Howland, G.Brandt, D.DiBene, A.Vail, C.Gardner, J.Gordon, D.Stein.

Members of the EA had a brief conversation regarding the wording of a referenda question which asks whether or not employees would like to donate money to an emergency fund. The Assembly agreed that C.Gardner and T.Hoebbel would work on the wording and bring it back to the EA.

II. Approval of Minutes

The Minutes of February 3, 1999, were approved as amended:

• All references to Jill Hazelman should read Jill Haselman
• Footer should read 2/3/99 EA Minutes
• Under section IV, paragraph 2 should read: L.Clougherty reported there had been a meeting last week when Paul Bursic discussed endowed health insurance providers. She said statutory employees were upset because they weren’t getting timely information about health plans. Endowed employees pointed out troubles that Aetna was having returning claims to people.

III. Open Forum

G.Brandt reported that the Faculty Senate meeting was both interesting and lengthy, and dealt with a resolution regarding freedom of speech on the campus. He said the minutes would be posted on the Senate Website, and urged people to look at the contentious second clause of the resolution which was the cause of much debate. T.Hoebbel added that there was an article in the paper regarding the vote, and that Dean of Faculty J.Robert Cooke had said the issue would be revisited.

IV. Announcements and Reports

a. Announcing Spring 99 Employee Assembly Candidates

J.DeMarco announced each of the Spring 99 Employee Assembly Candidates.

T.Hoebbel explained there were seven candidates for six seats, but because L.Russell’s seat would be vacant, it would be filled by whoever the lowest vote earner was in the election.

C.Gardner informed the Assembly that L.Russell’s seat was not advertised for the election because at the time of printing of the petitions it was not determined that the seat was to be vacant.

D.DiBene wondered if people who were appointed, not elected, could get placed in positions on the EA that don’t match their job descriptions? C.Gardner explained that yes, after the seats were filled by regular election, other seats could be held by appointed EA members who may not fulfill the specific job responsibilities the seat is designated for.

b. Annual Presidential Address to Employees

This event, which was formerly called the Open Forum, will be taking place on June 7th. The President has agreed to meet with the Employees pending a committee decision regarding a specific topic and direction for the meeting, which needs to be drafted by this Friday. J.DeMarco, A.Vail, and T.Calvert, along with the Officers, agreed to work on drafting language for a topic.

J.DeMarco questioned what the feelings at the Rogers/Opperman luncheon were regarding the forum?

T.Hoebbel responded that the group felt putting together a forum might be hard in June, with so much going on in the University. People felt that the topic should be left open to perhaps include elements of the campus discussion on inclusion, town/gown relationships, campus climate, etc.

J.DeMarco stated his belief that some sort of an update on the Project 2000 status should be presented by the administration, now that it’s getting closer to the finish date for all of the changes. C.Gardner suggested that others would be better suited than the President to give employees detailed information about Project 2000, and J.Worden agreed.

G.Brandt asked planners of the event to make sure there was enough time for questions, and C.Gardner reminded the group that this meeting should not become a gripe session for employees, and should be set up to avoid that happening. J.DeMarco explained that he just wanted an opportunity for employees to learn more about the progress and eventual conclusion about P2K, more of a summary statement then anything else.

C.Gardner noted that the President’s speech, which would be a modification of his State of the University address, would probably include information about P2K. The speech, while applying to all of campus, would be tailored to employees, specifically.

G.Brandt suggested that in promotion of the event, the EA somehow makes it clear this will not be a time to air personal concerns.

c. Opperman/Rogers Luncheon

T.Hoebbel characterized the luncheon meeting as productive, with thorough discussions on University benefits, among other things. He said that P.Bursic would report back to the EA in a month of two with more information.

L.Clougherty reported that a discussion about paycheck deductions for an emergency fund also took place.

D.DiBene noted that M.Opperman gave an explanation of benefit packages and the high costs for Cornell, specifically. He noted she also discussed certain policy blocks to implementation of a wide variety of benefits, such as dental.

T.Hoebbel explained that the concept of a pool of sick days for leave time for employees was a difficult one which was still being worked on.

d. Assembly Leadership Meeting

T.Hoebbel let the EA know that last week’s leadership meeting with the administration was postponed, but the Assemblies’ leaders had breakfast last week where they discussed concerns all the assemblies had regarding communication with the administration, specifically the appointing of persons to university committees without the knowledge of constituent assemblies.

G.Brandt said he and L.Clougherty discussed amending the bylaws of the Charter to require the administration to refer their choices for committee members to the EA, because often, the EA doesn’t know about meetings and receives no input from these committees — however, the change never happened.

T.Hoebbel reported that the GPSA was changing their charter and bylaws (though they might retract the changes), and it would be a good document to look at.

e. EA January Retreat

T.Hoebbel requested that anyone interested in coordinating a social retreat talk to C.Gardner.

f. Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TAC meets the first Monday of every month at lunch time; make sure to let TAC know you’ll be coming so you can get food. T.Hoebbel related to the EA that about 5 employees were at the last meeting, although they didn’t get much feedback. He felt that perhaps the TAC could do with better leadership or a co-chair, because he felt that the meeting moved very slowly and there is a need to further discussion quickly and efficiently.

T.Hoebbel noted there was a large discussion at the meeting about the North Campus renovations, and that while lots of people on the committee had good ideas about responding to proposed campus changes, there needed to be lots of employees at each meeting to ensure the TAC stays on task. He noted that no undergraduate or graduate students were at the meeting.

C.Gardner let the Assembly know that copies of the TAC meeting minutes were available from the chair and the Office of the Assemblies.

g. Dialogue on Campus Climate

C.Gardner reported the committee planning the dialogue on Campus Climate was meeting weekly. On March 17th a panel discussion about a soon to be published book called Cornell’69 will take place; it has been proposed that this event be kickoff for a campus-wide conversation about the campus climate and ways to improve it. Under consideration is an afternoon devoted to discussing the Campus Climate with each academic and administrative unit engaged in discussions in their departments with all students, faculty, and employees. She said that a group known as CITE, Cornell Interpretive Theatre Ensemble, is being considered as a component of this program and that this type of program would make a powerful statement on campus. A video of vignettes would be produced that each department could use to inspire discussion. CITE people would be called upon to train a pair of people, probably a member of the Faculty Senate and another person from each unit, to be co-facilitators for the event. Despite good ideas, C.Gardner stated her belief there would be some significant problems organizing such a large event so quickly as the group discussed setting aside this afternoon in the first or second week of April. She stressed that this is a work in progress and many of the details still need to be worked out.

Several members of the EA expressed concerns regarding the feasibility of “stopping” campus for an entire afternoon for a discussion of campus climate. Members explained problems with scheduled classes, staff shifts, training of facilitators, etc.

V. Business of the Day

Charter Changes — T.Hoebbel began by stating that recently, the idea for a seat for Cornell affiliates had come up due to the departure of L.Russell from the EA since he’s taken a job with an affiliate division. T.Hoebbel explained that these employees, who were effectively Cornell workers, had no representation on the EA or in the campus at large.

C.Gardner suggested that the EA put a question regarding employee interest in such a seat on this year’s ballot, since the Charter stipulates that employees must approve the change through a referenda vote.

J.Worden noted that L.Russell was now part of about 100 employees at the Boyce Thompson Institute who were all affiliate but not represented by the EA. She asked what other affiliate units the University had, and how many members there were, adding that she knew of quite a few: CU Magazine, ROTC, Ithaca Transit Drivers who worked for TCAT, Gadabout Bus Services, etc. She said that some affiliates were business related units, but wondered what was the total constituency of affiliates.

C.Gardner recalled that some time ago CRC decided to embrace affiliates as members of this Cornell organization. People questioned if affiliates should be members of CRC since it was designed for employees, and at the time the answer was yes. Affiliates worked on campus and interacted on campus, making them members of this community. The question about a total affiliate constituency, rights of the members, and feasibility of seats on the EA, however, is a different issue given the responsibilities of the EA, voter eligibility, and definition of an employee in the EA Charter.

L.Clougherty wondered if the medical school employees were also affiliates, and similarly, what about workers at co-op extension programs? She pointed out the fact that there seems to be many disenfranchised employees.

D.Stein advocated somehow incorporating affiliated employees into the system, but wondered how it would work with the large volume of affiliated employees the campus obviously has.

T.Hoebbel reported that J.DeMarco was now co-chair of the Communications Committee.

L.Clougherty asked that anyone with questions regarding personnel policy issues should send them to her immediately.

C.Gardner reported that the Office of Assemblies would be closed March 2nd and 3rd for SA elections.

Respectfully submitted,

Julia R.Gordon