Employee Assembly Minutes
November 3, 2004
12:15–1:30pm
Boardroom Day Hall

Attendance

Present: Beth Burlew, Joseph DeMarco, Pamela Dusseau, Donna Goss, Meredith Graham, Nathaniel Guest, Janice Miles, Mary Smallwood Churchill

Excused: Hazel Hall, Patricia Mahoney, Cindy Williams

Unexcused: Seth Peacock

Others present: T. Bishop, M. Esposito, K. Pillot, J. Atherton

I. Call to Order

Meeting was called to order by P. Dusseau, chair.

II. Uportal Presentation:

P. Dusseau introduced J. Atherton from CIT who conducted the presentation on uPortal. His presentation covered how to use uPortal and specifically the staff aspect of uPortal.

uPortal will eventually replace “Runway” in “Bear Access”. After surveying what people on campus wanted, it was discovered that these topic were customizable. There are different templates that will load depending on the user’s status in the university. Staff members will receive a staff default template to use, students will receive the student template and faculty will receive the academic template.

P. Dusseau commented that Uportal would be another tool that the EA can use to connect with constituents. However in order for it to be effective, there has to be a need to check back frequently; therefore it needs to be updated regularly. uPortal can be used to advertise EA events.

J. Atherton responded that it would be something that he would need additional help in. Volunteers currently do updates since fulltime staff have not yet been hired.

P. Dusseau asked who was the largest audience using uPortal.

J. Atherton responded that students are their current largest audience.

P. Dusseau commented that this was the first year freshmen were given their net-id before entering campus and allowed to access it through uPortal. Therefore a large target audience was created. Capturing the staff audience by having them switch to using uPortal will be an interesting adjustment.

J. Atherton commented that working with CALS for several months, CIT and CALS has modified their template for uPortal for their own people.

J. Miles asked if uPortal would take the place of the intranet.

J. Atherton responded that this was the approach CALS took but it does not have to be this way. It would target things that the intranet already has, but content is not hosted by uPortal but just displaying the content.

P. Dusseau commented about thinking how to reach as many employees as possible and making the EA visible.

D. Goss asked if there is a cost to post anything.

J. Atherton responded that there are no costs because it is part of CIT’s service to Cornell.

M. Smallwood Churchill commented that as students were given their net-ids before entering, creating a larger audience, there could be an orientation for staff to use uPortal.

III. Call for late additions to the Agenda

There were no new additions

IV. Approval of Minutes

N. Guest made a motion to accept the minutes with suggested amendments.

J. DeMarco seconded.

Motion approved.

V. Report from the Chair

P. Dusseau reported that a copy of the letter to the President has been sent out to all members. She also reported that she attended the second session of the CULPD and there will be another session in December.

D. Goss attended the leadership meeting October 2nd. She reported that the President could not be there but there was good university representation. There was interest generated by the SA on campus safety. It addressed specific areas around campus that are not properly lit. H. Mandeville is coordinating with CU Police to conduct a walk around for areas that are problematic. Any area that EA members know that are need of lights are encouraged to participate in the walk through. P. Dusseau added that she would do an email call out along with registering any volunteers today for a walkthrough.

Another issue discussed dealt with the UA and their structures. In leading committees, there are some that have not had representatives and they are looking into duplication and opportunities for collaboration.

VI. Unfinished Business

President’s event:
P. Dusseau commented that it was a very successful event. One area for improvement that has been expressed to her has been to start the marketing campaign for this event sooner because people found out too late.

J. DeMarco suggested that next time, the event should take place in a facility with its own auditorium.

Employee Day:
A thank you card was sent to the EA for their efforts in employee day. This was also a successful event that the EA took part in.

Goals:
P. Dusseau commented that under the EA goals, a few things were left out that were mentioned during the brainstorming session. Among them were membership, leadership, and development. These would be added to the goals list.

VII. Committee Reports

a) Finance Committee:
D. Goss said that M. Esposito made a request to the EA in a previous meeting for additional funding for the Employee Day event. His original allocation was $150 but he is currently asking for $1,500. If this request is accepted, this would significantly impact the EA’s budget. Currently there is $7,500 dollars but this was before the President’s address and has not yet been deducted. In the past, the President’s event has cost more than $3,000.

M. Smallwood Churchill asked what the other commitments are.

D. Goss responded that there are other events that the EA sponsors, but all of the budgets have not been turned in to the Finance Committee. A known event is the Staff Graduation Luncheon.

J. DeMarco added the additional expense of the PawPrint insert.

N. Guest added the cost for the plaque for the George Peter award.

M. Smallwood Churchill requested a listing of projected expenses for the EA and a detail listing of expenses from M. Esposito.

T. Bishop reminded members that they must turn in their committee budgets to P. Mahoney as soon as possible.

Topic has been tabled for next meeting.

b) Employee Day Finance Request:
M. Esposito could not stay for meeting.

c) UA:
P. Dusseau commented that at the UA meeting, the directors for the following committees were present: CURW, Transportation, The Cornell Store, and Gannett. How to streamline committee structures was discussed at the meeting, and P. Dusseau commented that hopefully the EA will be involved in this effort, especially those that involve staff members. J. DeMarco, Chair of the IOC, is responsible for seating staff on these committees.

VIII. New Business

a) Review of the President’s State of the University Address and the Call to Engagement Mentor Program: Due to the transition of members leaving and new members coming in, there has been a loss of mentors. D. Goss suggested using a new name for the mentoring program. The name would be “Resource Teams”. These teams will get together and talk about things going on in the EA. Each group would have one “seasoned” member. The suggested pairings are below:

Group 1:
P. Dusseau
H. Hall
B. Bryant

Group 2:
D. Goss
P. Mahoney
B. Burlew
S. Peacock

Group 3:
J, DeMarco
N. Guest
M. Graham

Group 4:
M. Smallwood Churchill
C. Williams
J. Miles

The first suggested assignment for the resource teams will be the review of President Lehman’s State of the University Address and the Call to Engagement. These teams should meet between now and the next meeting.

P. Dusseau commented that the questions the EA should be asking are: Where does EA need to be positioned in terms of being meaningful to staff and administration? and What should be our goals in terms of responding to the university’s current direction?

b) Creating Social Network
P. Dusseau asked that members who have an informal network of friends to make this network more formalized.

There was some discussion about creating a larger network and it was decided that a blog would be created by T. Bishop so that individuals can share their thoughts and opinions. The EA will pose a question in the PawPrint to which employees may respond.

IX. Open Forum

There was nothing to add.

X. Meeting Adjourned at 1:30PM