MINUTES
Employee Assembly Meeting
Wednesday April 17, 2013
12:15 −1:30pm
401 Physical Science

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:26 pm.

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

Voting members absent: N. Bell, R. Blanco, M. Kitchen

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

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

There were Diversity Community Committee, Trustee report, and Budget updates requested.

III. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

The minutes from 4/3/13 were approved with no dissent.

IV. Business of the Day

a) Survey Recommendations

T. Grove said she is working with others on the Executive Board on an Executive summary for President Skorton. There are only two real policy changes asked for in the package and the rest are just recommendations for President Skorton to consider. T. Grove said many Deans and other supervisors are troubled by the request for a 2.5-hour release time each week.

G. Mezey said the important thing is to make employees feel like they are part of a bigger community and they are being taken care of by the administration.

T. Grove said she thinks there needs to be an annual report published to the community each year to make this process much more transparent. She asked for EA members to write up a little blurb from each of their areas to tell stories about what they are doing for their employees.

b) Trustee Update

A. Mittman said he attended the Trustee Meeting on March 28th. There was an update on what’s going on in the SUNY system. The Kyoto Now! group talked about divestment policies. There were a number of committee reports as well. The Building and Property Committee discussed the expansion of the vet school and other projects on campus. The university received a 5-year permit to continue running the Lake-Source Cooling project. There was a report on the bridges and to check up on whether they are still functioning well. The university received another Gold Rating on energy efficiency. A. Mittman noted they also heard about the effects of sequestration on the medical school’s budget.

c) Diversity Community Committee Update

C. Ferguson gave an update on diversity. He said there is a need for a central diversity office. The committee will be working with the EA and the SA to draft resolutions for a chief diversity officer or at the very least a more centralized diversity office, a position that used to exist.

T. Grove asked who would be drafting the resolution. C. Ferguson said the committee would be writing it and it would then move to the EA and he would be the sponsor. J. Ambrosetti suggested that this resolution should be as clear and specific as possible.

C. Ferguson said the committee will figure out ideas and suggestions but they are not the ones who will decide definitively how a new office will be structured or what a new diversity officer’s precise role will be.

d) Budget Update

J. Ambrosetti asked if the EA currently has sufficient funding. T. Grove said they shuffled around some money within the budget, and received a small increase.

V. Report from the Chair

a) Bereavement policy update

L. Croll Howell said she and others conducted a study to look at other university policies on bereavement leave. They used this information to remodel Cornell’s bereavement policy. Now they will focus more on mental health. This new policy has passed and will be implemented soon.

J. Boodley Buchanan said it would be a good idea to introduce the new policy alongside the story of the family who inspired the change because it is an example of a story of someone coming forward to the EA and actually making a difference.

VI. Old Business

a) Resolution #4

T. Grove discussed the status of Resolution 4 under the “survey recommendations” section.

b) Resolution #5

T. Grove said each employee who receives the new Opperman award will receive a $500 cash prize, which will be funded through the President’s Office in perpetuity. They will begin taking criteria and nominations for next year in the fall. Two awards will be handed out each year.

III. New Business

a) UA Report — Greg

G. Mezey said the UA passed two resolutions. One concerned design mandates for new buildings to establish a new standard for security in these buildings. Another resolution called for improved surveillance and lock-down features.

They also worked on clarifying the campus code and bringing it into alignment with protests and freedom of assembly rules.

b) Kudos Luncheon

T. Grove said the Kudos lunch is on May 29th at noon. It will be held at the Statler. Please mark your calendars.

IV. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1:17 p.m.

Future Events:

April 23rd, noon and 2pm, George Peters Awards

May 29th, 12:00- 1:30pm, Kudos Luncheon

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet