Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
B12 Day Hall
Minutes

I. Call to Order

J. Seymour called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m. He then called the roll.

Present-D. Brooks, P. Dongtoe, T. Grove, L. Lawrence, N. LaCelle, A. Mittman, L. Morris, T. Ostrander. C. Phillips, J. Seymour, G. Stewart Absent: L. Croll Howell, B. McKinney, G. Osborne

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

L. Lawrence asked to add the progress report on cost savings to the agenda.

III. Business of the Day

a) Presentation by Middle States

The three guests introduced themselves as Alan Mathios, Paul Streeter, and Susan Murphy.

Alan Mathios explained that Cornell is accredited through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Accreditation is up for renewal in Spring 2011, and this process is required to access federal funds for financial aid. Decennial accreditation involves an in depth institutional self study report and Cornell must address 14 “standards for accreditation.” A steering committee has been created to address these standards. The title of this self-study is “Any person, Any Study, and the Challenges and Advantages of Doing that Within One University.”

The working group reports are due in early 2010, and Middle States hopes to share the self-study results with the campus in Fall 2010. In May 2011, the external study group will visit the campus. A. Mathios said the self-study plan has already been planned, but old self-studies and related documents are online. If anyone has questions, they may contact him or Kent Hubbell.

L. Lawrence asked about the role of alumni input in the self-study. Susan Murphy explained there will be meetings with trustees, who are often alumni. A. Mathios added they will use feedback from alumni and post-graduate surveys. L. Lawrence then inquired about the role of assemblies in the self-study. A. Mathios said that Middle States’ goal is to give this presentation to every assembly. Furthermore, the External Study Group may meet with groups on campus. They will decide if they want to go through formal channels (the assemblies) or not.

A. Mathios said this self-study would include all major aspects of the university, even Weill Medical and Cornell’s overseas programs. Paul Streeter noted that every time Cornell adds a new educational offering, Middle States has to approve each one separately.

A. Mittman asked what the probable nature of the response to this self-study will be. He stated the most feedback and recommendations will be in assessing student learning. Currently, indirect measures of success are used�how students placed, what alumni are doing now, etc. Direct measures should be used, and it should be determined if students are learning what the university wants them to learn. Laura Brown and others want to try to measure student learning in a novel way, which is the challenge. It has taken 7–8 years to require the “Assessment of Student Learning” as a Middle States Accreditation Requirement. D. Brooks asked if there will be university support for individual colleges. A. Mathios says this will likely be left to the individual deans’ discretion.

IV. Report from Employee Elected Trustee

B. McKinney was unable to attend. J. Seymour said she had nothing to report, but would have something next time.

V. Report from Chair

J. Seymour said he needs to have orientation meeting with three new members and says he will try to have it next week.

He also said thanks to everyone who helped with President’s Address, particularly T. Grove. T. Grove, in turn, thanked T. Ostrander and L. Morris. J. Seymour said he hopes now the committees can move to other issues. Peggy Beach asked if there was any feedback on the location. T. Grove said she heard no complaints, perhaps because bus info was included.

VI. Approval of Minutes-

a. October 7, 2009

L. Lawrence proposed several amendments. After brief discussion, A. Mittman motioned to approve the minutes. P. Dongtoe seconded. The members voted and the minutes passed.

VII. Committee Reports

a. Executive Committee

No meeting last week. D. Brooks said he thought the President’s Address was a big success.

b. Staff Recognition & Awards

T. Grove had nothing to report.

c. Communications Committee

D. Brooks said he would start contacting people soon.

d. Finance Committee

A. Mittman said he was waiting on the final President’s Address funds.

e. Emergency Grant Fund Committee

G. Osborne was not present but had no report. A. Mittman asked if the Emergency Funds had been disposed of. J. Seymour said he did not think so, but would ask G. Osborne later.

f. Personnel Policy

P. Dongtoe had nothing to report, but is in the process of scheduling a meeting. J. Seymour suggested she contact Amy O’Donnell or the Office Assemblies for help to set up meetings. He also proposed meetings be put on the Events Calendar. P. Dongtoe stated she would do so, and she is in the process of circulating information to those that have shown interest in participating.

g. Internal Operations Committee

T. Grove said she sent an email today; she will fill in any remaining vacancies as they come up.

h. University Benefits Committee

There was nothing to report.

i. Employee Education Committee

C. Phillips said there will be a meeting next week. G. Stewart asked what the mission of this committee is. C. Phillips replied the committee wants to improve existing benefits by becoming well-versed in what’s offered now. She said one example would be Cornell’s GED program. She said Maureen Brull will come to the meetings to give updates and explain any changes to current benefits. G. Stewart asked if the committee could merge with the University Benefits committee. J. Seymour said probably not because the University Benefits Committee is run by the Faculty Senate. P. Beach said this might work if education is considered a “benefit.”

D. Brooks asked if Human Resources could tell the committee how many employees do not have their GEDs because this could perhaps be an issue. C. Phillips replied Human Resources would be able to, but Cornell might have changed its policy on employing people without GEDs.

j. “Ad Hoc” Charter Review

L Lawrence had nothing to report. G. Stewart said there is a meeting on Monday and they should have a report soon.

VIII. Faculty Senate Report

A. Mittman stated that the last Faculty Senate Meeting happened on October 13, 2009. There was no quorum, so nothing was formally approved. A straw vote, however, approved the Cornell Climate Action Plan and a motion for faculty to get 20 task force reports about “Reimagining Cornell” before any final action is taken.

IX. Old Business

There was no old business.

X. New Business

J. Seymour introduced the New Business item of the President’s Suggestion/Cost Savings Box. L. Lawrence said he thought he EA should have regular updates on this, specifically if money and/or jobs have been saved. J. Seymour asked A. O’Donnell about the status of the Cost Savings Box because it is run by the Office of Assemblies. P. Beach replied the OA set up the Cost Savings Box, but there is no direct connection between it and the assemblies. She said there is a committee for the Cost Savings Box and A. O’Donnell could contact its chair, Mike Powers from University Communications.

P. Beach noted the university has identified $40 million in potential savings through procurement spending and some of the savings can be attributed to suggestions made to the Box. However, she said the EA’s role is not to help save jobs. L. Lawrence said he did not mean to imply the EA should save jobs, but awareness is part of the EA’s role.

J. Seymour said the suggestion box started about a year ago, with the purpose of saving money; the university realized they had to cut their budget and needed suggestions. He said getting regular updates on the suggestion box’s current status would be helpful. N. LaCelle said he would like to know concrete examples. P. Beach suggested the EA contact Mike Powers. He chairs the committee that reviews the feedback. J. Seymour said B. McKinney is on the committee and she could provide regular updates. G. Stewart suggested the university’s cost reduction plans should be a standing agenda item for every meeting.

J. Seymour asked if L. Lawrence could work with A. O’Donnell to invite Mike Powers to a meeting; L. Lawrence agreed. N. LaCelle said it was difficult to tell whether jobs have been lost; P. Beach replied some of the job reductions are vacancies that have not been filled.

XI. Open Forum

D. Brooks said the Communications Committee would like to pass a resolution that allows confidential discussions between the EA and senior university officials. For example, when the university announces results from Bain Consulting, the EA would like to be aware before the information is public. D. Brooks emphasized the need for the EA to be knowledgeable. D. Brooks stated the strength of the confidentiality is bolstered by a resolution on paper. 
 L. Lawrence said he felt there was no need for a resolution because confidentiality is implied. G. Stewart said he felt confidentiality was not currently implied and that the EA needs to be on senior officials’ “mental checklist”. J. Seymour added it would have been helpful for the EA to know of the data theft situation before mass emails were sent. He said people assumed he knew because he was part of the EA. He was uninformed, and perhaps a resolution would avoid similar incidents from happening in the future. G. Stewart said the EA has to earn senior officials’ respect, show them the EA is a player, and verbalize what the assembly wants.

Ben Heavner, the GPSA liaison, asked what future meetings would be like as a result of the resolution, would he or other members be excluded from meetings. D. Brooks replied this would not become an issue because confidential discussions with senior officials would likely take place in executive meetings. B. Heavner said GPSA members would also like notification of university decisions so they have a voice in the decision-making process. He said the GPSA would love to work with the EA. J. Seymour proposed the idea of perhaps creating a joint resolution between the EA and the GPSA.

J. Seymour asked if there is an SA liaison to the EA. A. O’Donnell will contact SA to get the vacancy filled.

J. Seymour asked about PawPrint, and if there will be a new editor. P. Beach said she is currently the editor. J. Seymour asked if PawPrint could publish an article on the EA’s new members. G. Stewart and P. Beach said the Communications Committee could write the article. P. Beach said she would be happy to have PawPrint be a regular item on the EA agenda.

What’s New?

Members did a quick round of what’s new with them.

XII. Adjournment

T. Grove motioned to adjourn the meeting. L. Lawrence seconded. J. Seymour adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m.