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

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m.

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

J. Ambrosetti asked to add an update on the CARE fund.

III. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

The minutes were approved with no dissent.

IV. Business of the Day

1. SA Diversity Plan - Ulysses Smith

U. Smith spoke about the SA’s new Diversity Plan. He is currently serving as the new VP of Diversity and Inclusion. This position is a link between the SA and the new Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives, as well as the Center for Intercultural Dialogue.
The Diversity and Inclusion Plan’s goals include:

• Increasing targeted pipelines
• Developing administrative mechanisms to record, recognize, and motivate engagement in diversity efforts
• Strengthening academic, co-curricular, and professional development initiatives promoting engagement across differences
• Increasing the effectiveness of communication around diversity
• Supporting and increasing emotional, personal, academic, or professional achievement for a target area or constituency

J. Ambrosetti asked about the use of the terms “underrepresented” and “minority.” What is the difference between them? U. Smith said it is very difficult to define these terms and establish consistency because each college has its own definition. J. Ambrosetti said this terminology should be redefined and classified so everyone is on the same page.

2. Jonathan Saltman - United Way

J. Saltman said he is a grad student helping out with the Cornell United Way campaign. Because staff/faculty participation in the campaign is traditionally low (at 14–17%), he is looking for input in ways to increase the participation rate to equal Cornell peer institutions (30–40%).

B. Esty suggested the United Way provide compelling stories to show how donation money is actually being spent. J. Ambrosetti said one of the major problems is the United Way competes with a number of other worthy causes.

J. Saltman said Cornell’s campaign has had historically low donation rates and so they are looking to bringing their donation totals back on track.

G. Mezey asked what percentage of the donations goes directly to the charities? J. Saltman said 100% of donations go to charity because 100% of overhead costs are already taken care of by Cornell. B. Schaffner said she was bothered by the follow up letter she received from her department after she didn’t donate to the campaign. J. Saltman said this is an issue the United Way is looking into because they are not sure if this type of follow up is actually effective.

J. Boodley Buchanan said the EA is a well-informed group, yet its members still don’t know the answers to simple questions about the United Way. So it would seem there are obvious communication and publicity problems associated with the campaign.

L. Croll Howell said she was a former United Way chairperson and she increased participation in her campaign by creating volunteer days where departments/offices could work directly for a charity for a few hours during a certain week. G. Mezey suggested the United Way provide more opportunities for people to donate their time or other ways to give. They should be creative about raising awareness and involvement.

G. Osborne suggested printing some articles about the campaign in the Pawprint.

A. Capogrossi said they could send out mailers that allow people to say “I do not wish to give” and to stop further mailings after that.

L. Croll Howell suggested a video that visits certain charities in the community that have benefited by the United Way.

J. Saltman said he could be contacted for further questions and suggestions at jps294@cornell.edu.

3. J. Ambrosetti - CARE Fund Update

J. Ambrosetti said with the help of Tanya, he was able to have a meeting with Mary Opperman to discuss his proposal. He said $500,000 would allow for 5% ($25,000) to be given out per year. Mary is supportive, so they are planning to meet with VP Charlie Phlegar next. If all departments were encouraged to give enough to reach $250,000, they could go to the Board of Trustees to match that amount. This would eliminate having to fundraise year after year, unless there was something special going on.

V. Report from the Chair

Open forums

T. Grove said the last open forum is scheduled for 3/19 in Geneva. B. Schaffner said there has been good feedback from these events thus far. B. Cristelli thanked T. Grove and B. Schaffner for coordinating these events.

Leadership Breakfast

T. Grove said the leadership breakfast was held last week with VP Kyu Whang as the guest. They discussed plans for the Tech Campus and the scheduled/deferred maintenance problem at the university. B. Schaffner said the New Budget Model will change the way the departments deal with their scheduled maintenance. They also discussed the restructuring of the facilities department.

B. Esty said the facilities work that gets done now is great, but the process to get someone to come fix something is strenuous. J. Boodley Buchanan said there is a task force looking at this. They have hired a new person to oversee this, and she is really shaking things up.

VI. Old Business

Budget — Bob

B. Blanco said the budget he turned in to the Assemblies office with a small increase was approved. He consolidated and re-arranged a few things, and plans to send it out by email soon.

VII. New Business

UA Report — Greg

G. Mezey was not in attendance but B. Schaffner reported that the UA had discussed the incident in the fall that happened on Ho plaza. The UUP and the Code are currently different, so that will need to be addressed. There was also a brief discussion on students taking double majors. B. Schaffner said there was an Infrastructure Committee meeting later that day. They plan to discuss parking lots and plowing as well as safety on Tower Road. In addition, a resolution on housing has been pushed out to them to discuss. There are townhouses being built near East Hill for staff and faculty. C. Ferguson said “affordability” needs to be explained. B. Schaffner said part of the resolution was to allocate more money to the Off Campus Housing office. She indicated this could be a separate resolution while the committee works on the larger housing issue.

T. Grove wanted to ask a question on Kudos. She has recently been asked if a “team” could be nominated to receive the EA Kudos. The discussion revealed this team could be deferred to the next President’s Address to Staff or perhaps a smaller office centered cake or pizza could be considered.

T. Grove said G. Mezey had recently asked about educational benefits for spouses. T. Grove said when she was last at a University benefits meeting, it was said that no other employee benefits could be added unless something else was subtracted.

VIII. Adjournment

T. Grove made a motion to adjourn. C. Ferguson seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 1:32 p.m.

Future Guests: April 3rd, David Skorton and Mary Opperman
Future Events: March 19th (tentative), Employee Survey Open forum - Geneva (WebEx)
March 27th, 7:30—8:30am, Employee Assembly and Board Leadership Breakfast
March 28th, 11:45 −12:30pm Soup & Hope - Sage Chapel