MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
B16 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:17 p.m.

Present�D. Brooks, C. Ferguson, T. Grove, L. Croll Howell, L. Meyerhoff, L. Morris, C. Phillips, J. Seymour, G. Stewart

Absent�K. Coldren, T. Denesevich, P. Dongtoe, G. Osborne

Also attending � N. Doolittle, A. O’Donnell, A. Epstein

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

There were no late additions to the existing agenda.

III. Business of the Day

a) Climate Survey Discussion

T. Grove said the Executive Committee has talked about this, putting together an “ask” email for President Skorton. The members discussed whether it should be formal or informal, email, letter or resolution, and whether there would be more than one contact with this. The members would like to know how the EA will be involved in this plan and the process. T. Grove asked for any input from the members by next Tuesday, Jan. 25.

b) Elections Chair

T. Grove circulated a draft calendar for the 2011 EA elections. She emphasized there is a lot of work to be done, and everyone will need to help out with publicity and communication if they are to be successful. There are 7 current seats turning over and 6 new seats to fill. Please put important dates on the calendar. There was a brief discussion on what information or campaigning meetings to hold.

IV. Report from the Chair

T. Grove reported she had sent 2 resolutions to the President recently. The EA’s increase in members resolution and the resolution that separated the Executive Vice Chair from the Chair of the Communications Committee. She said she was happy to report he has approved both.

Also, T. Grove reported she had received a thank you note from the latest winner of the George Peter Award, Terri Natoli thanking the EA for receiving the award.

Finally, T. Grove gave the certificate of appreciation from last year to Gary Stewart, and thanked him for his participation.

V. Approval of Minutes-

a) January 5, 2011

The members reviewed the January 5th minutes. L. Meyerhoff motioned to approve the minutes. C. Ferguson seconded. The members voted, and the January 5th minutes were passed.

VI. Committee Reports

a) Communications Committee

L. Morris said the committee met last week. She reported the survey is on hold in order for the committee to focus on elections now. They have put together a plan to reach out. She circulated a draft copy of the plan which includes Facebook ads, posters, notices across campus, emails to all staff, etc. in order to generate as much interest as possible. The challenge will be to reach those who do not have immediate access to email. G. Stewart offered to review and edit the president’s email to staff.

The committee would like to know how many people ran and how many people voted for the last 3 years. The Assemblies office will look into this.

Some of this information will go into the next EA E-news. T. Grove reminded members they need to send in “kudos” if they have any.

VII. Old Business

a) Cell Phone Update

J. Seymour said he had attended the last meeting of the committee on this. He reported to members there had been a recent change in IRS policy. The policy is you must track personal use on business cell phones. He said CU has just finished negotiating a new contract with Verizon. Cornell will save and Cornell employees will save too. AT & T will likely match these rates soon. He said the next meeting will be to discuss how to update CU’s policy to match the new IRS regulations.

VIII. New Business

a) University Diversity Council

Linda Croll Howell said the UDC is looking to improve civility at Cornell. She said this discussion follows very well with the discussion we had at the last meeting with Mary Opperman on improving staff morale. Repercussions of negative behavior from employees could be reflected in promotions, raises, etc. She said it would be good to have a staff representative on this committee. Tanya Grove and Leslie Meyerhoff indicated they would be interested. Sometimes it is as simple as thanking someone. G. Stewart noted President Skorton is especially good at thanking people for even the smallest things.

There was a brief discussion on whether they could do a resolution in support of increased civility and respect on campus, as it should be an expectation, not an option. C. Ferguson said civility is not always the best word, that it can be easily misunderstood, so he suggested using the word respect instead.

IX. Open Forum

G. Osborne thanked Beth McKinney for all her work on the CARE fund. She said the EA will need to keep in mind that eventually, there will need to be some fundraising efforts to recoup some money. There has not been an auction, which is the main fundraiser for many years.

XI. Adjournment

L. Meyerhoff made a motion to adjourn the employee assembly meeting. D. Brooks seconded the motion. The EA meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.