Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
12:15 — 1:30 p.m.
316 Day Hall
Draft Minutes

I. Call to Order

D. Goss called the meeting to order at 12:22 p.m.

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda (D. Goss)

D. Goss asked if there were any late additions to the agenda. A. Goncarovs asked that we add Kyoto Protocol to the agenda.

III. Report from the Chair (D. Goss)

Today, Wednesday, March 7th, at 4:30 p.m. there is an academic address being given by Provost Biddy Martin in Call Auditorium at Kennedy Hall. This is Biddy’s first address. She encouraged everyone to attend if they are able.

On Monday the United Way Luncheon was held for the official end of the campaign 2006 — 2007 academic year and the passing of the baton for the 2007 —2008 year.

Vice President Steve Golding will be the new chair for next year along with co-chair Joanne DeStefano. Steve has talked with D. Goss regarding the involvement of Employee Assembly for next year as he would like to see involvement increase.

The International Women’s Event is tomorrow, Thursday, March 8th at 4:30 p.m. with a reception to follow.

D. Goss asked that the guests introduce themselves to the group and tell a bit about what they do at Cornell.

Brian Cornell, Karen Trask, and Bill Liddick introduced themselves and told the group where they worked and how long they had been at Cornell.

IV. Trustee Report

M. Esposito reported that the trustees are on campus starting today, and they will meet collectively on Friday. Committee meetings will be held tomorrow. He stated that he will have a full report at our next EA meeting. There will be a light agenda for this BoT meeting. The SA and the GPSA will be doing their addresses. They have about 10 minutes to address the board to tell them what they are working on. All are welcome to any open meetings of the Board of Trustees.

D. Goss told the group if they are planning on coming on this Friday, please contact Kristin McHenry in the Counsel’s office. She will send an email confirming the time and location of the meeting to all. She said that it will be very interesting to hear what they have to say. She knows that Janet Vertesi will have a report on the Graduate Community Initiative. M. Esposito reported that he attended the Student Open Forum last week with President Skorton. It was not very well attended. Only about 25 students showed, which was very disappointing. Many were grad students with good questions.

V. Approval of Minutes

D. Goss asked if everyone had seen the minutes for October 18, 2006. She then asked that everyone take a close look at the attendance to make sure it is correct. P. Mahoney made a motion to approve the minutes. The minutes were approved with no changes.

VI. New Business

Executive Committee Terms Requirements
D. Goss turned this discussion over to P. Korolov.

P. Korolov said that every year the membership votes for new officers for the Executive Committee; the Chair, Vice Chair and so on. Last year, the EA voted to suspend the charter to allow P. Mahoney to serve again as Financial Officer. This year, if we want to have P. Mahoney continue as financial officer and D. Goss as chair, we need to make those arrangements. He asked to hear thoughts from others.

P. Mahoney commented that she had two ideas about this. She feels the charter was written for a purpose, and the EA should only suspend the charter for a purpose, not for a person. She then stated she would rather abide by the charter.

D. Goss added that we suspended the charter last year for Pat because no one was running against her.

P. Mahoney encouraged the Employee Assembly members to step up and serve in an Executive role. The two-term limit is there for a reason, and she would like to keep it that way.

A. Goncarovs stated that he has an opposing view. As a group are permitted to look at the rules and our situation from time to time and are authorized to suspend portions of the charter on occasion. There are a lot of things going on and he is not sure if the EA can handle a major leadership shift. We need strong leadership with all the interface we are getting from David Skorton and the other Vice Presidents. The EA also does not have a succession plan. This would be the year to have one done to replace our senior Executive members in a timely fashion.

L. Lawrence thinks the charter is very important, however it needs to reflect the times we are in. The charter needs to be revised and amended to meet out needs.

J. DeMarco commented that the charter was written a long time ago. The short term would be to suspend the charter, and the long term would be to make an amendment to it.

D. Stein commented that the new EA board would be electing officers.

D. Goss said that was correct, but the existing EA could make a recommendation.

A. Epstein commented that amendments and provisions can be made, but suspending the Charter is kind of a gray area.

D. Goss thought we should make a recommendation for next year’s committee. She then asked everyone to think about running for officer positions.

B. Cornell asked if there were requirements for the senior positions.

D. Goss replied there are none. The only thing you would have to be is an EA member but not for any specific length of time.

A. Goncarovs asked for a couple points of clarification on the matter, to suspend versus making an amendment if no other candidates ran for the officer positions.

D. Goss mentioned that right now P. Mahoney and D. Goss could not run again the way the charter is written now.

P. Mahoney filled out the remainder of a term of someone who left, then took a full term then took a second full term.

A. Goncarovs thought that the first order of business in the new year would be to elect officers.

D. Goss thought the outgoing Chair could chair the 1st meeting to establish the election of officers then pass the baton.

Employee Assembly Resolution 2 — Listening to Leaders
H. Hall said that a template was given to Mary Opperman that didn’t have all the details. This is the final version. Appointing K. Howell was R1. Basically, R2 talks about the Listening to Leaders forums; when and where it will be held. It also asks the Office of Humans Resources to help fund the forums.

A. Goncarovs asked if we could have the results by June 30th?

D. Goss stated she would like to have them by the middle of May.

M. Esposito asked why the EA was not asking the president’s office for funding. Maybe the EA should consider this since it has been stated by the president as a priority. He then commented on the great job P. Mahoney did with the budget.

There was continued discussion on changes to the resolution, funding for the forums, and specific wording until all were satisfied with the result.

P. Mahoney made a motion to approve R 2 as amended. P. Korolov seconded this motion. The membership voted and all were in favor. R 2 was accepted and approved as amended.

J. DeMarco stated that he really liked the new name, “Listening to Leaders.”

A. Goncarovs applauded the Assemblies office for pushing the EA to do resolutions and help the membership make such good progress.

Kyoto Protocol
A. Goncarovs received an email from one of the students involved in the Kyoto Protocol resolutions that have come in front of the SA and the GPSA recently. They asked if we would be interested in participating.

A. Epstein stated that the SA approved a referendum this year to add a sustainable energy fee to student tuition for next year. He was unsure what GPSA had done.

A. Goncarovs offered to put a packet together for discussion if there is sufficient interest.

A. O’Donnell stated that the results from the SA elections will be revealed by Monday, March 12, 2006. We will find out if the fee should exist, and if so, should the fee be mandatory or optional.

L. Lawrence noted that the faculty senate should be approached for a joint resolution, that would be much stronger.

VII. Old Business

Status on Inclement Weather Committee (P. Mahoney)
P. Mahoney stated the committee has not scheduled their first meeting. As soon as she has something to report, she will share it.

D. Stein said there was a little reaction from the article in the PawPrint. It was mixed but mostly people were pleased to see it.

A. Goncarovs asked if Thomas Bruce was on the committee. He asked if we expressed that we are grateful for his attendance at our meeting.

D. Goss stated that she followed up with him, thanked him for coming and yes he is on the committee.

Finance Discussion (P. Mahoney/D. Goss)
At the last meeting we identified 4 items in the budget that we needed to discuss further. P. Mahoney is hoping to discuss this and come up with a resolution so she can get this final budget on to Peggy Beach in the Assemblies office.

L. Lawrence asked about a deadline? Are you looking to resolve today or at the next meeting?

Staff Graduate Reception/SEED Event
P. Mahoney would like to resolve this budget today. From what P. Mahoney understands there has been never been a transfer of funds from EA to cover the SEED event, or the Staff Graduate Reception. There was continued discussion on how much had been allocated for each event, whether it should stay in the budget or be removed, and where our money should be going.

I. Mahler has some concerns about dropping it out of the budget because we want to be involved in these activities.

A. Goncarovs suggested the EA discuss these financial decisions in Executive Session.

L. Lawrence agreed.

The meeting then went into Executive Session for 5 minutes.

It was decided during Executive Session that $750 would be budgeted for Staff Graduation and $500 will be budgeted for the SEED event.

K. Howell motioned to keep the same money budgeted as in previous fiscal years. A. Goncarovs seconded this motion. A vote was taken, those in favor 5, opposed 3. The motion carried.

Welcome Employee Packets
D. Goss stated that we have five minutes remaining in our meeting.

The welcome packets have been budgeted at $500. This is a new request for this fiscal year, which includes printing and design of the new employee packets. It was talked about at the Comm Comm meeting.

H. Hazel asked for more time to further discuss it in Comm Comm meetings.

L. Lawrence asked what would be inside the packet.

H. Hall replied the packets would likely contain information on how to get to different places on campus, EA information, and coupons to get new employees to visit different locations such as the Cornell Store and Dairy Store.

P. Mahoney commented that this actually would be an opportunity for the EA to get in front of new employees.

H. Hall said they could possibly send it a few months after their start date.

P. Mahoney motioned to keep this item in the budget. L. Lawrence seconded this motion. This motion was voted on and approved.

Employee Assembly Lunches
D. Goss said that in 2006–07 we budgeted $800 but we have exceeded this. In ‘07-‘08 the proposed budget would be $1,500 for lunches.

P. Mahoney said she thinks we do not need this.

J. DeMarco identified it as a priority but understands the budget difficulties. J. DeMarco suggested that we come up with a compromise.

K. Howell stated that the trend on campus now is no budget for food. Most food budgets have been eliminated. Her feelings were mixed about it.

L. Lawrence experience is mixed also. Maybe we could consider providing food at every other meeting.

P. Mahoney thought we should look past the cost of food, also the supplies and Amy O’Donnell’s time and effort. There is a lot more to think about.

L. Lawrence said that we volunteer a lot to the University and doesn’t think it is unreasonable to ask for lunch. He then suggested that we have a certain amount allocated for food, and when it is gone, it’s gone.

H. Hall wanted to know if this lunch budget included Mary Opperman’s lunch meetings?

P. Mahoney said they stopped having them and the amount does not include them.

A. Goncarovs said lunch is a strong positive attribute. He feels it is a perk and feels that we should keep it the way it is.

D. Stein said the PawPrint provides a certain amount of food, $20 a meeting and everyone brings food to share also. He said he agrees 100% with A. Goncarovs that there are many benefits to the group.

D. Goss asked if we should keep the budget at the ‘06-‘07 amount of $800 and figure out how to have some food at every meeting. L. Lawrence made a motion to approve the amount of $800, P. Korolov seconded this motion. The motion was amended, voted on and approved.

VIII. Committee Reports

IOC
A. Goncarovs noted that with the help of the Assemblies office, the elections have been pushed ahead 2 full weeks. Seventeen packets have been signed out, but only one packet has been turned in so far.

D. Goss thanked everyone and asked that the EA suspend the committee reports to the next meeting, as there was no time remaining for any other committees to report.

IX. Open Forum

There was no time remaining to have an open forum.

X. Adjournment

P. Mahoney motioned to adjourn this meeting. J. DeMarco seconded this motion. The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m.