Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
12:15—1:30 p.m.
340 Duffield Hall
Minutes

I. Call to Order

B. Cornell called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m.

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

There were no late additions to the agenda.

III. Business of the Day

a) Presentation from Charles Walcott on possible academic calendar changes
C. Walcott explained the process and background for the changes proposed. They are looking to make student orientation one day shorter and add a day to the semester or take a day off during the semester. Send emails to him if you have any comments especially about Labor Day, Fall Break or Thanksgiving. Faculty will make the final decision in a recommendation to the Provost in the spring. The changes could be put into effect in a year or two. P. Beach said she felt changes to Labor Day or fall break would have the least impact. A greater impact would be felt if we added a day before Thanksgiving break, the least disruptive would be to extend fall break.

IV. Report from Chair

B. Cornell said the EA has made improvements in reaching out to the Cornell community in this economic crisis through the Energy Fair and representation on many new committees this year. He expressed his thanks to all.

V. Report from Employee Elected Trustee

B. McKinney said there would be two meetings next week (Buildings and Properties committee, executive committee), which she will report on at next EA meeting.

VI. Report from SA representative Emily Cusick said the SA met before Thanksgiving break. They discussed SAFC money allotment changes, changes to the elections process, and campus life (housing, dining). President Skorton is scheduled to attend tomorrow’s meeting. They will soon discuss the parental notification policy for students who are JA’d. They are looking to make the SA officer elections direct from all undergraduate students instead of an internal process of the SA.

VII. Report From UA representative

B. Liddick said there were many presentations for the November 19th meeting (minutes are available). He said it was very interesting, but too many presentations for one meeting.

VIII. Report from EA representative to the Faculty Senate

A. Mittman said there have been no meetings of the FS since his last report.

IX. Report from Staff Climate Survey Steering Committee representative

B. Liddick said there have been no recent meetings. The next meeting is in January.

X. Approval of Minutes — November 19, 2008

B. Cornell asked the members to quickly review the minutes from November 19, 2008. B. McKinney asked for one change to a committee name. J. Seymour asked for “No report due to time” henceforth, under the committee reports where applicable. P. Mahoney motioned to approve the amended minutes. B. Liddick seconded. The minutes for the November 19th meeting were voted on and approved as amended.

XI. Committee Reports

a) Executive committee
B. Cornell said it was agreed the Employee Assembly would support the cost savings forums.
b) Staff Recognition & Award committee
B. Cornell stated he is now chairing this committee. There will be a meeting after winter break to choose another recipient.
c) Communications committee
J. Seymour said the committee discussed the PawPrint distribution problem. The bundles are not moving past loading docks. The Chronicle is experiencing the same problem. Both publications are cutting down on printing due to waste. He asked everyone to find drop areas and clean them up and work to distribute if possible. We do not want to see these publications disappear from print altogether. P. Mahoney commented that people should be made aware where the drop areas are. J. Seymour said they would look into this.
J. Seymour stated the Leadership Breakfast was all about communication. They talked about whether the idea of a campus wide monthly email newsletter of assemblies would work. He mentioned he has had the idea of an Employee Assembly newsletter for a while. This would communicate our work to more people. P. Mahoney said CALS does a monthly email newsletter. J. Seymour said the Engineering college does as well. A. Epstein clarified some information about the newsletter. P. Korolov asked who would be in charge of the overarching newsletter. He suggested the Employee Assembly jump onboard with an assemblies’ newsletter rather than making a second one. He said the GPSA sends one email per semester where people can opt into their newsletter. P. Korolov stated it would be tough for the Employee Assembly to do if there is a tight timeline. P. Mahoney reminded everyone not to lose sight of staff without ready email access. B. McKinney said many people get information off “CU Info”. There could be a way to get this message so that it is automatically set as everyone’s home page. L. Lawrence remarked this was a great idea. He said The New York Times has a great site where you can select what you want to receive as updates. B. Cornell said an “all-staff” list would be ideal, one that could be “opted out” of. B. Liddick said this would help to know how many, who, etc. J. Seymour said there will be a Communication Committee in the next two weeks.
d) Finance
A. Mittman said he is updating expenses. This is the last call for all President’s Address or Energy Fair expenses. B. Cornell would like to see how much was spent. He thanked A. O’Donnell for all her help.
e) Emergency Grant Fund
P. Mahoney said the last meeting went well. She complimented B. Liddick on his follow-up email. There are many questions on; who is covered, how much, how the account is managed, etc. She wants to look at the EA charter to make sure they are on track. B. Liddick said they are planning the auction. B. McKinney asked if Kelly Speiser could come to their next meeting. B. McKinney said there is a staff fundraising component to the Far Above campaign. This will allow staff to give to financial aid, the general fund and the Emergency Grant Fund. K. Speiser works for development so she would be able to help with this. P. Mahoney stated she has been emailing with K. Speiser on this. She said things are progressing on this.
f) Personnel Policy
P. Mahoney said there has been no meeting yet. She is not sure who is on the committee. P. Mahoney asked about acquiring more members for this committee. B. Cornell said the information is on the web, but if anyone is interested they can contact the Office of the Assemblies or search the website. P. Korolov said people can come to the meetings even if they’re not appointed members.
g) IOC
P. Korolov welcomed back J. Magura. He said he will start looking at membership and elections in January.
h) University Benefits
J. Magura stated she has just gotten back to work and she will attend the next meeting.
i) Employee Education
J. Seymour said there would be a meeting soon. They are working to revise employee education benefits. They will meet with Paul Bursic. He added two good members have been acquired.
j) “Ad Hoc” Charter Review
L. Lawrence said there have been no recent meetings, but there are only a few pages left to review. They will have recommendations for the Employee Assembly in the spring. B. Liddick said the Assembly must set aside enough meeting time for this extensive presentation. P. Mahoney said A. Epstein has made the new document with “track changes” to clearly show changes to the charter.

XII. Old Business

a) Cost Cutting Forums
B. McKinney commented these were suggested at the last Employee Assembly meeting. Everyone is invited to the forums this week. They will have in-depth discussions on the items suggested by attendees. Cornell is serious about these forums in order to save jobs. B. McKinney said turnout has been low, but the conversations have been phenomenal. We would like to save five million in year one, ten million in year two, fifteen million the year after and then fifteen million every year thereafter. Please encourage staff to send ideas to suggestion box or to B. McKinney. A. Mittman asked what the commitment to saving jobs was. B. McKinney responded they were told the priority is to save. Senior staff has ways to search by account number. She said the Board of Trustees will discuss this issue next week and they are analyzing the budget more closely than ever before. The last cost cutting forum is tomorrow. B. Cornell said they could do this type of event again if necessary. He suggested this as a priority goal on the Employee Assembly’s list.
b) Evaluating the EA’s Priorities
J. Seymour said they could circle many things on their list of top twenty items they’ve already been doing. He wants to get these items from B. Liddick and revise it. He suggested bringing this to another meeting and keeping it on as “old business.” He read the top ten items; most are done, in progress or improving. B. Cornell said items that are internal processes don’t necessarily belong on the new list. He would like new ideas on helping employees emailed to him or brought up at the next meeting.

XIII. Open Forum

No discussion.

XIV. Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.