Employee Assembly Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, November 17, 1999
12:15 p.m. — 1:30 p.m.
Day Hall Board Room

I. Call to Order and Introductions

J. DeMarco called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.

Present: T. Calvert, D. Darby, J. DeMarco, B. Goodell, S. Johnson, CJ. Lance-Duboscq, A. Vail , J. Worden

Absent: T. Hoebbel, D. howland, M. Overstrom

Excused: M. Esposito, C. Woodland

Others present: Dennis Stein, Cris Gardner, Kristen Riley, Gary Brandt, Nancy Doolittle, Mike Moshella, Jonathan Mitchell, Emanuel Tsourounis, Dan Chapman

II. Approval of Minutes

J. Worden said that on the first page of the October 6, 1999 minutes, “A member” refers to J. DeMarco. The minutes of October 6, 1999 were unanimously approved as amended.

The minutes of October 20, 1999 were unanimously approved.

Under the University Assembly report on the November 3, 1999 minutes, “Transportation Advisory Board” should actually read “Transportation Advisory Committee,” J. Worden pointed out. The minutes of November 3, 1999 were approved as amended.

III. Open Forum

a. Shadowing Program

Emanuel Tsourounis, Chair of the Student Assembly, presented a program he has been working on with Mike Moshella, Sarah Johnson, and Jonathan Mitchell. It involves starting a Shadowing Program, in which students, employees, faculty, and administrators could interact on a more personal level. They hope this program could promote understanding by allowing people to experience another person’s life. He is asking the EA members for feedback and suggestions.

T. Calvert suggested that it would be beneficial for employees to shadow students, particularly for those employees who don’t interact with students regularly.

B. Goodell pointed out that shadowing some jobs would be difficult, as some employees have jobs where students are not permitted. M. Moshella explained that the details of the activity would be left to the participants to decide on. This program would simply serve to match people based on interests.

The time length of the shadowing exercise would be about four hours, however, E. Tsourounis remarked that there would be no set structure to the activity, as some parts of a person’s day are not very interesting. The program also suggests the participants have a meal together, to give them the opportunity to discuss what they do.

C.J. Lance-Duboscq asked if there were plans to take this idea to the administration. E. Tsourounis explained that they have asked each constituent Assembly to discuss the proposal, offer suggestions, and identify a contact within the Assembly. S. Johnson will be this person for the EA. Contacts in administration and faculty might include Dean of Students John Ford and Dean of Faculty Robert Cooke.

Any comments or ideas may be directed to S. Johnson by December 10, 1999.

b. Dining Debit Card

Dan Chapman spoke about changing the way Cornell Dining accepts credit cards. He hopes to work with a member of the EA on this project. He explained that the problem is that the imprint machines used for credit cards takes a long time. He suggested a declining debit card for employees, funds which could be taken directly from the paycheck. He also suggested replacing the imprint machine with swipe machines.

D. Darby explained that Campus Life is presently working on this issue, and she would be willing to work with D. Chapman. A. Vail also volunteered to work on this project.

IV. Business of the Day

a. Employee Orientation Program

Nancy Doolitte spoke on the status of the new Employee Orientation Program. Work has been done to merge the old Central Employee Registration process, which enrolls employees in the benefits program, with a new program, which orients the employee to Cornell. They developed a pilot program, but it was six hours long. The Office of Human Resources examined the program and it was found that the longest portion was for benefits. This part has been reduced to one and a half-hours. Human Resources now wants to add a presentation about the overall flavor of what it’s like to work at Cornell. N. Doolittle explained that her idea was to combine parts of other videos of Cornell into one video. The resulting video didn’t have many pictures of staff, and would not be used. Instead, N. Doolittle explained, they would pare down the original script from the six-hour presentation, and use that, along with pictures of staff. The purpose is to give a good first impression and help employees keep a good feeling about working at Cornell. N.Doolittle is asking that a few members of the EA look at the script she prepares and offer feedback and suggestions. Also, since there aren’t many pictures of staff at work, she is asking for ideas on what would make good photos. B. Goodell, T. Calvert, and D. Darby volunteered to work with N. Doolittle on this project.

b. Assemblies Advance Proposals. Foundation, Communication Groups Proposals, Steps in Progress, and Next Steps

This has been postponed until the next meeting, when D. Howland can present what she has worked on.

V. Old Business

a. Discount Cards

D. Stein remarked that the “Discount Cards” idea is still awaiting action from the EA. It is in need of a sponsor from the group. C.J. Lance-Duboscq suggested postponing this activity until after the New Year, since everyone is very busy and there were many people missing from the meeting. A motion was made and approved to postpone the discussion of the Discount Cards until after the EA has heard from Gary Ferguson, from the Commons Group, and David Stewart, from University Relations.

b. Campus Climate Committee Statement on Inclusion and Diversity

D. Darby commented that any feedback she received on the Diversity Statement was forwarded to the CCC. These comments did not reflect any opposition to the document. The final version of the statement will be brought to the meeting on December 1, 1999. The members of the EA were polled to give an idea of the support for the document. Support for the draft statement was unanimous.

VI. New Business

a. Resolution on Employee-Elected Trustee Signature Requirements

J. Worden developed a resolution concerning Employee-Elected Trustee Signature Requirements. The SA requires 200 signatures for Student-Elected Trustee, 4 times more than what is required to run for Student Assembly. The requirement to run for the Employee Assembly is 25 signatures. The resolution asks that the number of signatures required to run for Employee-Elected Trustee be reduced to from 200 to100 signatures, 4 times more than what is required to run for Employee Assembly. This way, it will follow the same pattern as the Student Assembly. It will also make the process less cumbersome for people who wish to run. The Trustee Nominating Committee is in support of this resolution. The motion was made and passed to accept this resolution.

Employee Trustee Petitions

Whereas: The Employee-elected Trustee is an integral part of campus governance, and

Whereas: candidates for the position of Employee-elected Trustee should be considered viable candidates based on issues, ideas, and vision, and

Whereas: potential candidates may be hindered and intimidated by having to solicit other employees to fill a petition, and

Whereas: viable candidates may be employed in small offices, or off campus, and

Whereas: The EA charter states:

And,

Whereas: the goal of the IOC and the Trustee Nominating Committee should be to facilitate the elections process in such a way that there exists an ample roster of viable candidates based on issues, ideas, and vision. And requiring the same number of signatures (200) as required for students running for the Trustee position, a population that is double that of staff, may discourage some viable and qualified candidates from running for this important position,

Be it therefore recommended: that the IOC and the Trustee Nominating Committee consider changing the current requirement of having candidates produce a petition with two-hundred (200) signatures, to a less encumbered requirement of a petition of one hundred (100) signatures.

Respectfully submitted,

Jayne Worden ‘ ’Employee Assembly Endowed-Exempt′

b. Spring 2000 Election Schedule, Rules and Regulations

The Spring 2000 Employee Assembly Election rules and regulations were passed out. The IOC accepted the Employee Assembly Election Rules and Procedures with no changes. The motion was made and passed to accept the Employee Assembly Election Rules and Procedures as is.

The Spring 2000 Employee-Elected Trustee Election rules and regulations were passed out. D. Stein pointed out that on January 6, 2000, Paw Print would print an article informing employees that petitions to run were available. C. Gardner explained that some of the dates for the information and educational sessions might be changed. The motion was made and passed to accept the Employee-Elected Trustee Election Rules and Procedures.

c. Charter Amendments

The new amendments to the EA Charter were handed out for review. Many items were added in the Table of Contents. Changes to the Officers Section are a result of recommended changes in officers titles and the addition of two Vice-Chairs, Vice Chair for Internal Operations and Vice Chair for Finance and Secretary. Also, responsibilities have been added and removed from the Executive Vice Chair’s position. Any comments and suggestions should be sent to M. Esposito.

VI. Report from Chair

a. Assemblies Leadership Breakfast, November 16, 1999

J. DeMarco reported that at this breakfast, they heard updates from each committee and talked at length about the Shadowing Program. A. Vail pointed out that they would also continue working with the administration to clarify how and when they contact the appropriate Assembly.

C.J. Lance-Duboscq suggested that it would be a good time to put an issue in Paw Print explaining that the administration is going to address the parking situation again. Others felt that would be a premature action, since nothing concrete has been established.

C. Gardner informed the members of two opportunities to hear updates on transportation. TAC will be meeting on December 13, 1999 with Fred Rogers, Hal Craft, and Hank Dullea to talk about TCAT. Fred Rogers will be coming to UA meeting on January 26, 2000 to talk about Transportation Demand Management Plan and what he foresees for the future.

b. Rogers/Opperman Luncheons

C. Gardner posed the question as to whether the EA would like their December 15, 1999 meeting to be a Dish-to-Pass Holiday lunch. The motion was made and passed to make this meeting a holiday celebration.

D. Darby questioned the necessity of the Rogers-Opperman luncheons. J. DeMarco pointed out that they had this discussion once before and decided to keep them. A. Vail explained that he and M. Overstrom met with Mary Opperman and she expressed the desire to have these luncheons only when there was something they wanted to talk about. D. Darby asked if there would be opposition to scheduling these lunches, but canceling them if there were no topics. C. Gardner explained that that is the current situation. It was also suggested that time be allotted on the agenda for Rogers and Opperman to report to the EA on what is going on. C. Gardner will attempt to incorporate the EA’s Holiday lunch on December 15, 1999 with a Rogers-Opperman luncheon. If this can’t be done, the Rogers-Opperman luncheon will be on December 20, 1999.

VII. Committee Reports

a. Advisory Committee on Work and Family Services

No report.

b. Campus Climate Planning Committee

No report.

c. University Benefits Committee

C. Gardner reported that Linda Clougherty was elected a co-chair of this committee. There was much discussion about the TIAA Resolution, which was a request to reduce the amount of time it takes for a transfer out of a TIAA, and how to educate people on the details of the TIAA.

d. Student Assembly

No report.

e. GPSA

No report.

f. University Assembly

G. Brandt reported that this month’s meeting has been canceled.

g. Faculty Senate

G. Brandt reported that there was much discussion concerning the Campus Climate Committee’s Diversity Statement at the November meeting and there will be a vote on it at the December meeting.

He also reported that there has been a lot of discussion about versity.com, a web-site that offers free copies of lecture notes of some Cornell classes. Some faculty members have asked that notes from their classes be removed, but the company has not complied. M. Moshella remarked that they are helpful, but not comprehensive. C. Gardner explained that there is currently a proposed resolution on the table that will reprimand any students taking notes for this company without the express permission of the faculty member teaching the course.

h. Communications Committee

J. DeMarco announced that there has been one submission for the logo contest. There was an announcement of the prize in the last issue of Paw Print, so it is hoped that will generate more submissions. The deadline for entries will be extended to the end of the year if there are not many entries.

i. Employee Education

S. Johnson reported that they are currently working on a mission statement. They also met with Chet Warzynski and Lynette Chappell-Williams about their plans to follow up on the Fall Advance.

j, PPC

No report.

k. CRC

D. Darby announced that tickets are available for the Holiday Dinner Dance. Also, the Holiday Unity Celebration will be on December 10, 1999 in the Founders Room in Anabel Taylor.

l. IOC

No report.

m. TAC

J. Worden announced there will be a meeting of TAC with Fred Rogers, Hal Craft, Hank Dullea on December 13, 1999.

n. Executive

No report.

o. Frontline Feedback

D. Darby reported that the meetings are going very well. D. Stein thanked S. Johnson for setting up some meetings.

p. Relief Fund Group ad hoc

B. Goodell pointed out that D. Darby should be included in the agenda for this committee.

q. Budget ad hoc

No report.

VIII. Adjournment

J. DeMarco adjourned the meeting at 1:38 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Kristen Riley