Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
316 Day Hall
Minutes

I. Call to Order

J. Seymour called the meeting to order at 12:21 p.m. and then called the roll.

Present-D. Brooks, P. Dongtoe, T. Grove, L. Croll Howell, L. Lawrence, A. Mittman (via phone), L. Nieder, G. Osborne, C. Phillips, J. Seymour, G. Stewart Absent: no members absent

He then recognized a visitor.

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

J. Seymour added a discussion on Summer Retreat and Committee Meetings to the existing agenda.

III. Report from Employee Elected Trustee

D. Brooks read the following report from Beth McKinney. Beth McKinney attended full Board of Trustees meeting as well as committee meetings in May/June. Highlights included: 1. An extensive review of Cornell’s finances. While we (and the world) are still in a financial crunch, the good news is that we are on target with what was predicted for the losses. In other words, our financial assumptions were as we hoped, given the situation - for the endowment, the state budget, and grant funding - so far. Cornell will soon be receiving some of the stimulus funds as requests get approved. Currently, there are over 100 requests for stimulus funds for various research projects. 2. An extensive discussion of building projects and what will move forward. As you’ve heard, much of the building and construction projects in the works have been slowed or stopped. Very few are moving forward. Most recently, the board approved the construction of Milstein Hall (AA&D building) and the Johnson Art Museum addition. A new website was created to explain each building project and the process for its approval. 3. We had 7,000 people attend reunions this year - the most ever. 4. Strategic planning project - this summer - was presented by Provost Fuchs (Fox) It has a name - “Reimaginging Cornell” which I define as a serious rethinking of how things get done. There will be chaos as we work toward a strategic realignment, but there is a plan. Fuchs is organizing a major university planning process AND the university has separately hired a consultant to work on this as well. I’ve seen the presentation about the planning process, and I wanted to point out one particular item. There are 5 guiding principles that guide the plan. The very first one reads: Sustain and renew the exceptional intellectual quality of the university. Recruit, retain, and support a diverse and talented faculty, staff, and student body. Staff were also represented in two other of the guiding principles.

IV. Report from Chair

J. Seymour thanked everyone for electing him as chair and assured the members he will work hard as Chair. He said he welcomes both positive and negative feedback. He then announced calling role would be part of the minutes this year. He asked that if members are absent or late to meetings, to please call or send an email to him and/or David Brooks.

He said President Skorton approved our charter changes, and we will get the updated one up online and start using it right away.

V. Approval of Minutes-

a) May 20, 2009

J. Seymour asked that members review the audio of this meeting because the resolution moving on the EGF/CARE fund will need to be reconsidered at a later time, so it would be helpful to hear the audio.

L. Lawrence motioned to approve the minutes. T. Grove seconded. The members voted and the motion to approve the minutes passed.

b) June 3, 2009-Organizational meeting

T. Grove pointed out two changes on p. 1. L. Lawrence motioned to approve the minutes as amended. L. Croll-Howell seconded. The members voted and the motion to approve the minutes passed.

VI. Committee Reports

a) Executive Committee

J. Seymour said they have not had any meetings recently, but they may meet a few times over the summer on Thursdays before the following EA meeting. He said that Tanya will be in charge of the retreat, and said more to follow on that later in the meeting. He also said there would be more information later on about the EGF/CARE fund resolution.

b) Staff Recognition & Awards

J. Seymour said this committee is also looking for a chair. L. Lawrence gave a quick over view of what the committee does. T. Grove volunteered to chair the committee.

c) Communications

J. Seymour said this committee is automatically chaired by David. D. Brooks said he wanted to motion to approve a resolution to set up a Facebook group for the EA and a blog to be run by the committee as two tools to help publicize their efforts. A. Mittman said we should be sure to look at Cornell’s policy on social networking, but said he was in favor of the ideas and said he is happy to help out. There was some continuing discussion about the responsibilities of a Cornell group having a FB account. T. Grove said the Schwartz Center has a page and a blog and it is moderated so it works well. L. Lawrence said this should get going over the summer without delay and seconded the motion. The members voted and the motion passed with a vote of 10–0−1.

d) Finance

A. Mittman said the budget is the same as last year. He did say there may need to be some shifting done during the year to re-allocate as needed. There was general discussion and some questions answered. A. Mittman noted the major expense last year was the President’s address/ Energy Fair. It was also discussed whether any money carries over from year to year, and since it does come from the OA budget, A. Epstein said it is allowed. A. Mittman also said that after discussion, the retreats be called “summer team building” and “winter/spring retreat.” A. Epstein suggested that the “elections” committee have it’s own page to coincide with the charter changes. A. Mittman made the motion to approve the budget as amended. G. Osborne seconded. The members voted 11–0−0 in favor of the budget.

e) Emergency Grant/CARE Fund

J. Seymour said this committee needs a chair also. The chair of this committee is going to have some important business to get to right away. The committee will need to review the history of this committee, as well as the failed resolution from last year to present a recommendation to move forward. A. Epstein said there is no committee in place now if anyone needed a grant. Additionally, the OA worked with the committee at length to make necessary changes. If new members want to present the resolution again, it will need to be re-written and presented again. J. Seymour said if no committee is formed, then the EA as a body will need to do the committees business at EA meetings. Changes to this will likely mean a charter change, and this would need a 2/3 affirmative vote, not just a 2/3 vote. There was continued discussion about what the concerns of the committee are. L. Lawrence if the Executive committee could temporarily take on ownership to call an emergency meeting if needed to address applications if any are received over the summer. He agreed to make this a motion. G. Stewart seconded. The members voted and the motion passed 11–0−0.

f) Personnel Policy

J. Seymour gave a quick overview of the committee, and asked if anyone would like to be the chair. There was some general discussion and questions about what the committee does and how long it has existed. J. Seymour said he would like to see the committee review anything they are empowered to review, except education concerns because there is another committee for those. G. Stewart said there is an HR committee on Policies, and he suggested they come to an EA meeting to talk with us. A. Mittman said the University Policy office does get notices, and our committee could tap into this to find out on a regular basis what is happening. He said HR also has it’s own policies. L. Croll Howell volunteered to chair the committee. A. Mittman said he would be happy to help out. J. Seymour said it is really up to us what we want to tackle, but he would like to see the committee take on one policy in the coming year. He said this was something else we could discuss at the retreat.

g) IOC

J. Seymour said this committee is automatically chaired by Tanya. Since there is an online application through the website, Tanya can monitor these as they come in. A. Epstein said the charter says the committee will meet in August to appoint as many members to committees as possible. J. Seymour said he is writing a “News & Views” column for the upcoming PawPrint that will be appealing for volunteers.

h) University Benefits

J. Seymour said he would look into the status of this committee, since the last he heard meetings had been suspended, but the EA would need to appoint some members, but not as chair. G. Osborne volunteered to be on the committee.

i) Employee Education

J. Seymour said he had chaired this committee previously, and may remain as a member since he has a strong interest in this himself. He said there are definitely some changes that need to be discussed. C. Phillips and P. Dongtoe said they were interested in joining the committee.

j) “Ad Hoc” Charter Review

J. Seymour said the reason this committee still exists is because the new EA will have to get a few members to look at the “membership” portion this year to consider if any changes should be made. L. Lawrence said he would chair the committee.

J. Seymour thanked everyone and said he will appoint the chairs as soon as possible. He said he will also touch base with all members to make sure everyone is comfortable with their committee assignments.

f) Old Business

Summer Retreat (Late addition to the agenda) T. Grove said she has talked to A. O’Donnell, J. Sheridan, and with the Chamber of Commerce to get information and available dates. She suggested they hold the retreat sometime during the first two weeks of August. There was some discussion among the members about facilitators, locations, dates and topics. Friday, 8/7 was decided on as the final date, time from 9 a.m. — 4 p.m., and the location was agreed to be at the Chamber of Commerce.

g) New Business

Committee meetings (Late addition to the agenda) J. Seymour said the Exec committee will probably meet a few times over the summer. He then asked the members to please work hard to explain to others what the committees do, to recruit new members to committees and to hold committee meetings over the summer as much as possible.

h) Open Forum

No items.

i) Adjournment

T. Grove motioned to adjourn the meeting. L. Lawrence seconded. J. Seymour adjourned the meeting at 1:32 p.m.