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

I. Call to Order and Introductions

M.Esposito called the meeting to order at 12:17 p.m.

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

Absent: C. Woodland

Others present: Cris Gardner, Kristen Riley, Mike Moshella

II. Approval of Minutes

Approval of the November 17, 1999 minutes was postponed until all members had a chance to review them.

III. Open Forum

M.Esposito suggested that for the next issue of PawPrint, the members of the EA could write a short Holiday message in place of the News & Views section. The members agreed that this is a good idea. T.Calvert asked that a reminder email be sent out with a due date.

M.Overstrom reminded all that December 10, 1999 is the last day for open enrollment for benefits.

A.Vail announced that J.Worden now works in the College of Art, Architecture and Planning. She will be filling in for the registrar.

D.Darby mentioned a proposal made by US President Clinton concerning family leave. He has encouraged states to allow families to use unemployment insurance to cover family leave. D.Darby suggested that the EA encourage Cornell to support this plan, once more information is available.

T.Hoebbel asked for clarification of the attendance policy. M.Esposito explained that an “E” means an absence has been excused, and an “A” means the person has not contacted anyone and the absence is not excused.

J.DeMarco asked if any other members have gotten feedback on open enrollment for benefits. M.Overstrom remarked that the forms are not good. B.Goodell stated that there is a large amount of material given at once. He suggested sending the forms separately to lessen any confusion. C.J.Lance-Duboscq mentioned that some people don’t understand that there are programs for which they are required to complete forms.

D.Darby explained that she did some research on the dentists in the area. Most charge more than the price quoted by the insurance company. The insurance company, for one plan, will only pay 90% of their quoted price. So, the employee would have to pay the 10% plus the difference between the prices. She also discovered that the insurance company would pay 90% of the price charged, even if it is lower than what they quoted.

J.DeMarco commented that the doctors at Gannett Health Center are not participating in the program.

IV. Business of the Day

a. Meeting Organization Discussion

M.Esposito pointed out that on many occasions, there is not enough time during the EA meeting to have committee reports. He suggested either extending the meeting to one and one half-hours, or having committee reports only one meeting per month.

S.Johnson suggested that any urgent committee announcements could be made during Open Forum.

M.Esposito explained that during the meeting with committee reports, the other parts of the agenda would be lighter.

S.Johnson recommended doing the committee reports during the second monthly meeting, as many committees meet early in the month.

A motion was made and passed to do committee reports only during the second monthly meeting.

M.Esposito announced that the officers would be meeting Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m., the week before a meeting, to discuss the agenda. If any member has an item they would like on the agenda, they may attend this meeting, or email at least two of the officers. C.Gardner pointed out that the agendas would be available the Friday after this meeting.

M.Esposito announced that the time allotted to Open Forum has been extended.

J.Worden remarked that there has not been enough time during the meetings to discuss moving forward on the retreat ideas.

M.Esposito suggested working on this at an extra meeting.

C.Gardner pointed out that extending the time for Open Forum could offer an opportunity to discuss these ideas, so an extra meeting might not be necessary.

M.Esposito asked if the members would be in favor of extending the meeting to 1:45 p.m.

T.Calvert noted that the meetings don’t always go late. She suggested just letting the meeting go longer if necessary and members can leave if they need to.

The suggestion was presented to start the meeting at 12:00 p.m. instead of 12:15 p.m. M.Esposito pointed out that some people who leave work at 12:00 p.m. might need fifteen minutes to get to the meeting.

M.Overstrom suggested, to reduce time spent in meetings, doing some committee reports over email to reduce time spent in meetings. B.Goodell pointed out that some members don’t have frequent access to a computer.

B.Goodell suggested not doing all the committee reports in one meeting, but splitting them between two meetings.

T.Hoebbel stated that the problem isn’t lack of time for retreat ideas, but that it is not on the agenda. D.Darby recommended putting items specifically on the agenda, so they will be discussed.

T.Calvert suggested having a winter retreat, for the sole purpose of discussing the retreat ideas. M.Esposito will organize it with C.Gardner for January or early February.

IV. Old Business

a. Campus Climate Committee Statement on Inclusion and Diversity Endorsement

M.Esposito stated that the final draft of the CCC statement is being presented for endorsement by the EA. C.Gardner explained that amendments and changes are no longer being asked for. D.Darby remarked that grammatical changes could still be made. T.Hoebbel made a motion to endorse the statement. M.Overstrom seconded the motion. The motion to endorse the final draft of the Campus Climate Committee Statement on Inclusion and Diversity was unanimously approved. (Grammatical suggestions were made and commas are incorporated in the text below and noted with an underscore.)

Open Doors, Open Hearts, and Open Minds:
Cornell’s Statement on Diversity and Inclusiveness

nb: Cornell University’s Policies on Equality of Educational and Employment Opportunity and the Campus Code of Conduct outline expectations and processes regarding matters of affirmative action and diversity.

11/22/99

b. Charter Amendments

J.DeMarco asked that section 4.2.6 end at “Chair,” so “�or Executive Vice-Chair” would be removed. S.Johnson remarked that in section 7.1, it is not made clear that the Executive Vice-Chair for Internal Operations will be the chair of the IOC and recommended clarifying this. She also pointed out that section 5.8.a is an odd place to discuss the meeting time. She suggested putting it in Article 6, Procedures. C.Gardner commented that the part of section 5.8 beginning with “In addition�” is also awkwardly placed. J.DeMarco suggested putting these items under section 6.2. C.Gardner recommended changing 5.8.a to 6.2.1 and removing “In addition�” from part of 5.8 and making the remainder section 6.2.2. S.Johnson noted that, in section 6.11, the Executive Vice-Chair would set the agenda, not the Chair. Other changes recommended by S.Johnson included throughout the document are: 1) hyphen Vice-Chair, 2) correct Geneva Experimental Station to Geneva Experiment Station, 3) change University Assembly to UA, 4) print arrows in proper directions in footnote under Article 2, and 5) standardize format so it is consistent when referring to articles and sections. The motion was made and passed to accept the new charter with amendments as noted.

V. New Business

a. Filling Vacant Seat as of January 1, 2000 (Meg Overstrom)

M.Esposito stated that the EA cannot wait until the Spring Elections to fill the endowed exempt vacant seat and explained how this situation has been handled in the past. The EA advertises the vacant seat in PawPrint. Interested employees send applications to the IOC. The IOC picks the best ones and presents them to EA. These candidates also can make a speech to EA. The EA members agreed to use this process.

T.Calvert volunteered to write the article about the vacancy for PawPrint. The article would explain what a person would need to do to run for the seat: fill out an application, write a statement of purpose, and get 25 names on a petition. All materials will have to be submitted by January 10, 2000 and any interested persons should begin to attend meetings.

VI. Report from Chair

a. Rogers/Opperman Luncheon � December 20, 1999

M.Esposito announced that the first Rogers/Opperman Luncheon of the semester would be December 20, 1999 and asked if any questions were prepared for this meeting. C.Gardner explained that the first part of the meeting could be an administrative update. M.Esposito suggested discussing Clinton’s medical leave idea at the luncheon. C.Gardner also pointed out that there are some holdover agenda items from the November meeting that was canceled to be place on the December agenda if still appropriate. Ideas for additional questions can be sent to C.Gardner.

VII. Committee Reports

a. Advisory Committee of Work and Family Services

No report.

b. Campus Climate Planning Committee

No report.

c. University Benefits Committee

No report.

d. Student Assembly

No report.

e. GPSA

No report.

f. University Assembly

No report.

g. Faculty Senate

No report.

h. Communications Committee

J.DeMarco reported that the logo contest is proceeding slowly � there is still only one submission. M.Esposito suggested placing an ad in the Daily Sun, where students can see it. J.DeMarco also mentioned they might rework the contest after the first of the year.

i. Employee Education

No report.

j. PPC

C.J.Lance-Duboscq mentioned the discipline policy on the PPC agenda and asked if any EA members knew what it was. No one knew the details, but B.Goodell explained there would be a meeting soon, so the policy might be explained then.

k. CRC

No report.

l. IOC

No report.

m. TAC

No report.

n. Executive

No report.

o. Frontline Feedback

M.Overstrom reported that the committee has met with two groups in Human Ecology thanks to S.Johnson and will have meetings on December 7 and December 8. They are also in the process of organizing groups in the Vet school and in the Library.

p. Relief Fund Group ad hoc

S.Johnson reported that D.Darby emailed Fred Rogers and Mary Opperman explaining that the Relief Fund would be a very helpful thing to have. She also informed the group that Mary Opperman replied to D.Darby, saying that Fred Rogers is in support of the idea.

q. Budget ad hoc

No report.

VIII. Adjournment

M.Esposito adjourned the meeting at 1:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Kristen Riley