MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday February 6th, 2013
12:15 −1:30pm
401 Physical Science

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 12:20 p.m.

Voting members present: J. Ambrosetti, R. Blanco, D. Brooks, A. Capogrossi, B. Cristelli, L. Croll Howell, B. Esty, T. Grove, M. Kitchen, G. Mezey, L. Morris, G. Osborne, B. Schaffner, M. Stefanski Seymour

Voting members absent: N. Bell, J. Buchanan, C. Ferguson, E. Lee, L. Sayam, Others present: M. Paine, A. Gitlin, A. Mittman, A. O’Donnell, A. Bazinet

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

B. Schaffner proposed a round of applause for T. Grove’s presentation at the first employee Open Forum on February 5th.

T. Grove then added two items to “Business of the Day”, a trustee update and an elections update.

III. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

The minutes were approved with no dissent.

IV. Business of the Day

a) Adam Gitlin, SA President and Mitch Paine, GPSA President

A. Gitlin introduced himself and said he is interested in what the EA is working on. He came to learn about the issues the EA deals with at their meetings.

M. Paine introduced himself and gave an update on the Graduate Community Initiative. This document attempts to address the issues faced by the graduate and professional community and to guide the decision-making processes on these issues. This year, the GPSA decided to update the GCI as a strategic plan. Consequently, GPSA members have been meeting with a variety of community members and administrators. The GCI focuses on eight main areas, including the development of a graduate student center, housing, and transportation. However, there are many crossover issues that also affect employees and the EA.

M. Paine said the updated GCI should be complete by the end of March, in time to present at that month’s Board of Trustees meeting. He would like to come visit the EA throughout the semester and update EA members on the GCI’s progress.

b) Trustee Update — Alan Mittman

A. Mittman summarized the topics discussed by the Board of Trustees at their last meeting. He said Tech Campus plans are moving along quickly, with the campus’ first academic building scheduled to open by 2017. The first class of eight engineers is already attending classes.

Mittman also discussed:

• Cornell’s record number of applications to the incoming freshman class
• Weill Cornell Medical College’s Hurricane Sandy relief efforts
• Weill Cornell’s recent scientific breakthroughs
• The record number of people (12,000) who received a flu vaccine at Cornell this year
• Means restriction and fences on the suspension bridge
• Massive Open Online Classes

J. Ambrosetti asked if the Board of Trustees had discussed improving the disparities in benefits and staff representation among Cornell employees on all Cornell campuses. A. Mittman said he would look into this question and try to get more information for the EA. T. Grove said the EA doesn’t actually represent Weill Cornell employees and the Ithaca campus and NYC medical campus have a history of separation as such. However, because the Tech Campus will be represented by the EA, this could initiate a movement toward increased collaboration among the Ithaca campus and other Cornell campuses.

c) Elections Update — T. Grove

T. Grove wondered if it would be necessary to have an election this month, as everyone who is running will be automatically seated due to a shortage of candidates. D. Brooks said he thought the elections were good exposure for the EA. T. Grove asked if the EA would be better off trying to get more candidates now and pushing the election back a month.

J. Ambrosetti said he doesn’t like the idea of changing procedures and pushing elections back.

T. Grove said candidate information is not currently scheduled to go out in the Pawprint, so there is still a chance to try to get more candidates and push the election back. She asked A. Epstein about any foreseeable problems with pushing it back. A. Epstein said doing so could interfere with some elections next month.

The EA voted to not hold elections. The result of the vote was 7–0−4.

D. Brooks asked whether the EA should move toward an “open enrollment” type system rather than hold actual elections, as the EA habitually has a shortage of candidates running in its elections. G. Mezey wondered how many people voted in past elections. How much visibility do EA elections actually raise? T. Grove said she feels that it is odd to hold an election knowing everyone will be seated automatically. She thinks that a better option would be to automatically seat current candidates now and if they find more interest in the next month, hold a secondary election for the remaining seats. B. Schaffner noted there might be some interested people who are worried about campaigning and who don’t realize EA elections aren’t competitive.

J. Ambrosetti asked about reducing the size of the EA. T. Grove said the size of the EA had recently been increased and this size makes for a better group dynamic.

V. Report from the Chair

a) Leadership Breakfast

S. Murphy attended and talked about Maplewood Park and Hasbrouck Apartments, noting the latter is nearly full. She also spoke about gender inclusive housing and brought up the issue of landlords.

A. Gitlin stated student-landlord relations are an important part of the Collegetown housing problems. He noted the gender inclusive housing initiatives beginning on West Campus.

b) Follow-up on the workday photos question

D. Brooks asked if there was any opposition to the photos. R. Blanco said that a past photo-sharing program was met with considerable opposition. T. Grove responded this program provides an opportunity to connect a face with a voice.

J. Ambrosetti said he believes this program will create problems as a result of people making assumptions about employees based on photos. A. Epstein responded if the EA feels strongly against the program, then it should create a resolution to express this.

T. Grove suggested she would try to find out more details about the photos before proposing a resolution.

c) Open Forum

A small group met for an open forum the day prior to this meeting. They discussed recognition events and employee workload. The next open forum will be held on February 12, 2013 at the veterinary college. The following open forum will be held on February 21, 2013 at GLO Biotech. Also there will be an open forum for the leadership strategy group.

VI. Old Business

a) Resolution to request EST progress reports from Colleges and Divisions - G. Mezey

G. Mezey stated the resolution gives facts about the survey and asks President Skorton to call upon the Deans and unit/department heads to “submit a formal plan that addresses all areas of the survey.” The vote was delayed until the next meeting, pending changes to the resolution.

G. Mezey also suggested the current timeline for the survey seems too long and bureaucratic. He stated someone could take this on as a job, allowing future surveys to be more closely scheduled.

b) Resolution to thank HR and RED committee - G. Mezey

G. Mezey stated this resolution represented a good first step in recognizing the members. T. Grove suggested the EA might eventually wish to acknowledge the members of all the committees. She also suggested a resolution to acknowledge Mary Opperman for continuing to push forward the survey follow up. B. Cristelli seconded and there was no dissent. The resolution passed.

c) Budget check � Bob

Will give a report at next meeting.

d) Soup & Hope � March 28th

B. Schafner said the date the EA is set to work Soup & Hope is Thursday, March 28.

VII. New Business

a) UA report — G. Mezey

Will give a report at next meeting.

VIII. Adjournment

Future Guests: April 3rd David Skorton and Mary Opperman

Future Events: February 5th, 2—3 pm, Employee Survey Open Forum � Robert Purcell February 11th, 2—4pm, Employee Survey Presentation to Leadership Strategy Group February 12th, 1—2pm, Employee Survey Open Forum � Vet College March 28th, 11:45 −12:30pm, Soup & Hope - Sage Chapel

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet