MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
12:15 −1:30pm
401 Physical Science

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:21pm.

Present: J. Ambrosetti, N. Bell, R. Blanco, J. Boodley Buchanan, A. Capogrossi, B. Cristelli, B. Esty, T. Grove, E. Lee, G. Mezey, L. Morris, G. Osborne, L. Sayam, B. Schaffner, M. Stefanski Seymour

Absent:D. Brooks, L. Croll Howell, C. Ferguson, M. Kitchen

Also Present: P. Bursic, A. Epstein, C. Lender, A. Mittman, A. O’Donnell, Reporter from Daily Sun

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

T. Grove called for any late additions or amendments to the agenda. M. Stefanski Seymour brought up two new points. She stated that there is a new conference room up at the vet school and that the Vet School will be starting a staffing committee in response to the employee survey.

III. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

T. Grove asked to postpone this item until after the presentation from P. Bursic.

IV. Business of the Day

a. Employee Benefits- Paul Bursic

T. Grove introduced the speaker, Paul Bursic, and explained that he would be speaking about the new benefits for employees for next year. P. Bursic explained that there is an open enrollment that will begin in November. He stated that employees who have select benefits be aware of some changes that will be occurring. The select benefits will no longer be called this but will instead be named “flexible benefits.” This change is being installed since it will make it uniform with other institutions and therefore it will help reduce confusion for incoming employees.

P. Bursic then explained the University is switching vendors to Pay Flex. This vendor is a national leader in the area and they already have many more options and applications, such as a phone application that allows you to deposit checks by taking photos, which will benefit employees. The company also runs a creditable debit card which people will be able to use to pay some of their bills. Pay Flex will be taking over everything on January 1, 2013. P. Bursic emphasized that the switch is occurring very soon and that there are a few things employees should be aware of. There will be a blackout period from November to January so that there is time to move the files from the old company to Pay Flex. Therefore, people should submit their claim as soon as possible to ensure they are finished before the blackout period. P. Bursic then opened the floor for questions.

J. Ambrosetti asked what percentage of employees leave money in their accounts at the end of the year? P. Bursic did not have the specific numbers but stated that there is an extension period where people have 45 days from the end of the year to incur and pay expenses. His office will be sending out reminders to people to ensure that they spend their money otherwise they will lose the leftover balance. T. Grove asked if Pay Flex would have the same policy for childcare. P. Bursic said yes that there is a debit card that will help to cover the costs of childcare. A. Mittman questioned if the amount of maximum benefits is changing? P. Bursic said that there is a very strange arrangement but that money can be added to the maximum for medical but then employees can add $5,000 separately for childcare.

P. Bursic then explained that there is a second issue with the healthcare plans, he has no idea what the state is planning to propose and therefore employees on this plan will not be receiving any information yet. The state does not inform his office until the information is out which could be anytime between October and November. For employees on the endowment side, they made the decision to back away from the third party administrator, Health Now. P. Bursic stated that Health Now did not deliver what they promised and at the time the University purchased Health Now to create competition with Etna. However, Etna has become a much stronger vendor and therefore the University is going with them. P. Bursic informed the EA about some of the facts regarding Etna, including that they have passed the out claims audit whereas Health Now has not passed the past five times. P. Bursic said that he feels we have picked a good partner and we negotiated a deal that will make administrative fees decrease widely, thus lowering some costs for employees. He encouraged people to explore Etna’s website for more information. Finally, P. Bursic stated that there were 3000 people in the Health Now and that they have to move to Etna. They can do the move online, which P. Bursic suggested since then they will be guaranteed a card by January 1st. If they allow it to default to Etna then it will be a manual process, which will result in a delay in employees receiving their card.

There are three Etna plans that P. Bursic explained to the EA. The First is the Etna PPO which is a copy of the Health Now Plan. It is a little bit better in that it covers reimbursements eighty percent. The second program is the Cornell Program for Healthy Living. It is the same as the Etna PPO except that there is an enhanced extended wellness exam. This is a special arrangement for the people in Ithaca which took over two years to set up and get running. This plan looks at expanding the preventative care that a person can receive from professionals.

T. Grove asked about the premium and if P. Bursic had any idea about how it might change. P. Bursic stated that this information will be in the PawPrint on Friday.

III. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

T. Grove asked for any amendments to the minutes. L. Morris made a motion to approve the minutes and L. Sayam seconded. The minutes from September 19, 2012 were unanimously approved.

V. Report from the Chair

a. UA update

T. Grove said that at the last UA meeting there was a presentation from Ted Dobbs regarding campus infrastructure. The UA also discussed open forums, which are similar to what the EA is considering to begin.

b. Meeting with Mary

T. Grove and B. Schaffner met with M. Opperman and discussed the possibility of the EA traveling to see the NYC Tech Campus. M. Opperman suggested the possibility of the EA taking a virtual tour. They also discussed the President’s Address and the talking points that he would be presenting on. T. Grove reminded the EA that M. Opperman and President Skorton will be attending the EA meeting on October 15, 2012, which is a Monday instead of the regular Wednesday meeting.

VI. Old Business

a. Open Forums

T. Grove said that the origin plan was to begin hosting open forums in November; however, the survey committee would like to hear what the president has to say regarding the survey before they host an open forum.  She said that the open forums would probably not begin until January.  

b. Budget

T. Grove explained that she was going to ask people if they were okay with allocating money towards live streaming cost for the President’s Address; however, the EA will no longer have to cover this cost.

c. EA member profiles

E. Lee said that the first two were submitted to the PawPrint which would be published on October 5th. N. Doolittle only selected one of the profiles and suggested that the EA members write about what they are hoping to do while they are in the EA. E. Lee will be creating a template of questions to help guide the EA members.

d. Care Fund Auction Update

G. Osborne asked the EA to email people who may be willing to donate items for the auction. The fund is currently out of money and the auction has created a renewed interest from people in need. G. Osborne reminded the EA that is in an online auction and this year items will be staggered so that people can bid on multiple items.

VII. New Business

a. Talking points for 10/15 meeting

T. Grove asked if the members of the EA prefer giving question to President Skorton prior to the meeting or asking him directly at the meeting and having a more open discussion based meeting. The EA decided on a more discussion based meeting and they brainstormed different topics which may be interesting to discuss with President Skorton.

b. President’s Address

T. Grove asked the members of the EA to arrive at 11:30am to prepare for the address. She also explained that the spreadsheet with the survey questions would be emailed to the EA members. Finally she asked if anyone would be willing to pick up the apples from the orchards. J. Boodley Buchanan offered to pick up and deliver the apples to Bailey Hall.

J. Ambrosetti asked for a point of clarification regarding the cancelation of the January 2nd meeting. T. Grove confirmed that there is no EA meeting on January 2, 2013.

VIII. Adjournment

B. Schaffner made a motion to adjourn the meeting. M. Stefanski Seymour seconded and the meeting was adjourned at 1:30pm.