MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday March 20, 2013
12:15 −1:30pm
401 Physical Science

1.  I) Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:23 p.m.

Voting members present: J. Boodley Buchanan, D. Brooks, A. Capogrossi, B. Cristelli, L. Croll Howell, B. Esty, C. Ferguson, T. Grove, M. Kitchen, E. Lee, G. Mezey, L. Morris, L. Sayam, B. Schaffner, M. Stefanski Seymour

Voting members absent: J. Ambrosetti, N. Bell, R. Blanco, G. Osborne

Others present: A. O’Donnell, A. Epstein

2.  II) Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

G. Mezey asked to add an update on the CARE fund under Old Business.

3.  III) Approval of Minutes from last meeting

The minutes were approved with no dissent.

4.  IV) Business of the Day

4.1  a) Assembly’s on-line tool demo — Ari Epstein

A. Epstein gave a short presentation on a new online tool for agendas, minutes, etc. He explained how it will work and then answered questions. He is looking for any feedback to improve the users experience.

5.  V) Report from the Chair

5.1  a) Geneva Open forum

T. Grove said the last open forum with the Geneva Experiment Station staff was yesterday. They mentioned issues with classes, wellness programs, etc. It is difficult for them to come to the main campus to take advantage of these programs due to the 90 minute drive.

5.2  b) Leadership Breakfast

T. Grove said the last leadership breakfast was held last week. Tommy Bruce gave a presentation of the new look of the Cornell Chronicle and CornellCast. Scheduled “viewing times” is a new feature. Also discussed a new initiative of the “honeycomb”, which allows someone to pull in different stories for customized newsletters, etc. from around campus from one central source. A. Epstein did a quick showing of what the assemblies one looks like. He took question on how to customize, how to choose the right stories, etc.

6.  VI) Old Business

6.1  a) Kudos recondition for groups

T. Grove said she had received a different kind of “Kudos” request recently. She is hoping to develop another way to “kudos” larger groups of people. Mary Opperman had suggested they accept this in the Kudos system anyway. L. Croll Howell suggested keeping people on file and choosing one of the larger groups for the award that is presented at the President’s Address to Staff. L. Morris asked where money for the expanded “Kudos” lunches would come from if they did as Mary suggested. T. Grove said she will find out more soon, but it could be a good opportunity to partner with the larger university “awards and recognition” group.

6.2  b) G. Mezey - CARE Fund Update

G. Mezey said he and Tanya were able to meet with VP Charlie Phlegar to discuss this. He told them there are many asks to their office, so he will need some high-level “buy in” in order to move this further. They should discuss at next meeting with President Skorton and VP Opperman.

7.  VII) New Business

7.1  a) Talking points for Trustee Board Breakfast′ ’

The Board of Trustee breakfast will be held next week-very early. If anyone wants to attend let Tanya know and also send her a short bio. The format of the breakfast is usually loose discussion. She said it is likely the staff survey and associated recommendations will be a hot topic. G. Mezey said there is not much in the way of incentive programs for staff, when in contrast there is big money behind faculty and student recruitment. D. Brooks said he brought this up at a past EA meeting where the president attended. He said the answer of hiring faculty so the money and jobs will “trickle down” fell short. G. Mezey said it is not always about money, but also recognition. B. Schaffner says also important to fund training and development that has been cut in recent years. C. Ferguson said we should also bring up “New Destinations” and how to make the accountability for the suggestions and impacts greater. G. Mezey asked that Tanya send out the talking points when she has them collected.

7.2  b) Prep for April 3rd meeting with the President and VP Opperman

EA members discussed some issues they could mention at the upcoming meeting with President Skorton and VP Opperman. They brought up a number of issues, including raises, payroll tax increases, healthcare cost increases, parking cost increases, increased property assessments, etc. G. Mezey said all the Workday presentations show lots of information about paying “mid” salaries, which goes the opposite of the Cornell “leader, elite, top tier” mentality that is published. B. Schaffner said some of the survey comments were that many staff know a bit about everything, but no one is an expert in anything anymore. M. Stefanski Seymour said open forum comments reflected this is not true in the Vet College.

7.3  c) Resolution to thank VP Opperman

L. Croll Howell and T. Grove have put this resolution together. Please read and provide any feedback you have. G. Mezey said this is a good resolution, and asked if there is an award for Admin/Senior staff? Could be the “Opperman Award”? C. Ferguson said he feels maybe not award worthy at this time because she is very good at her job. Also, he does not want the EA to be seen as just a “thank you” committee. G. Mezey disagreed and said the EA should be responsible for helping to strengthen the ties with the administration.

T. Grove asked to extend the meeting for 10 minutes to finish the agenda. There were no objections, so the meeting was extended for 10 minutes.

T. Grove said they will add a bit about an award. She also commented the increase to our health care costs were far less than they could have been, because Cornell picked up the majority of the increase instead of passing it on. However, they will not be able to continue to do so.

B. Schaffner said her Infrastructure committee has heard that the Parking and Transportation rates are looking to rise approximately 2%.

8.  VIII) Adjournment

T. Grove made a motion to adjourn. B. Schaffner seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 1:39 p.m.

Future Events: May 29th 1200- 1:30pm, Kudos Luncheon

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet