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

I. Call to Order

T. Grove called the meeting to order at 12:19 p.m.

Voting members present: J. Ambrosetti, N. Bell, D. Brooks, A. Capogrossi, B. Cristelli, B. Esty, T. Grove, E. Lee, G. Mezey, L. Morris, B. Schaffner, M. Stefanski Seymour

Voting members absent: R. Blanco, J. Boodley Buchanan, L. Croll Howell, C. Ferguson, M. Kitchen, G. Osborne, L. Sayam

Others present: A. Mittman, P. Thompson, M.B. Grant, L. Chappelle Williams, A. O’Donnell, A. Epstein

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

• CARE Fund Update- J. Ambrosetti
• TCAT Update- D. Brooks
• 2013–2014 Meeting Schedule

III. Approval of Minutes from last meeting

The minutes from April 17, 2013 were approved without dissent.

IV. Business of the Day

a) Proposed Revisions to Policy 6.4 Alan Mittman

A. Mittman described the new “Investigation, Review, Appeal” procedure for Policy 6.4.

During the investigation stage:

• faculty & staff respondents go through the Office of Workplace policy and labor relations.
• all student respondents go through the Office of the Judicial Administrator.

During the review stage:

• faculty reviews will go through the dean of college
• staff reviews will go through the Vice President of their respective unit
• student reviews will go through an appointed faculty member (generally former hearing or review board chairs)

In the appeal stage, for appeal by complainants:

• faculty respondents will go through the office of the provost
• staff respondents will go through the Vice President of Human Resources/Safety Services
• student respondents will go through the Vice President of Student & Academic services.

In the appeal stage, for appeal by respondents:

• faculty and staff respondents will go through the applicable grievance process
• student respondents will go through the Vice President of Student & Academic services.

Mittman noted a major component of this new policy change is that student employees will be charged as students rather than as staff members.

According to Mittman, the Cornell community has already decided to:

• Use Policy 6.4 process for sexual harassment and sexual assault/violence claims against students
• Use “Preponderance of Evidence” as standard of proof to determine violation
• Provide equivalent appeal opportunities for both complainants and respondents
• Integrate Policy 6.3 into Policy 6.4

Ideas, suggestions, thoughts, and strategies are welcome if you are interested in helping to make sure this new policy is smoothly implemented.

J. Ambrosetti asked for clarification as to why student employees are not going to be considered as employees.

D. Brooks asked for clarification as to why a complainant would want to settle with an accused party. M.B. Grant said many people don’t have the time or energy to go forward with the entire IRA process. They just want to report their problem and get some action on it.

G. Mezey asked if parties are aware if a charge is over in the end. A. Mittman said there is finality to a charge because final arrangements are documented.

M.B. Grant asked the EA to submit any feedback they have about how to get the word out about Policy 6.4.

b) Executive Committee Elections - 13–14 term

Elections were pushed to the end of the meeting and were not recorded.

V. Report from the Chair

a) Leadership Breakfast

T. Grove said the last breakfast was with the Vice Provost of Enrollment, Lee Melvin. They discussed need blind applications, geographical distribution of students, the applicant pool, the waitlist, etc.

A. Capogrossi mentioned there were 40,000 received applications this year and there was a huge increase in the endowment so there will be more money available for financial aid.

b) Meeting with Mary

T. Grove said they discussed time commitment to the EA and taking time away from their jobs. They wondered if others felt pressured because of their time with the EA. Several members noted they have (or do) feel pressure from their jobs to cut back on their time spent in EA activities.

The new policy for 2.5 hours of paid leave time would allow employees to include their participation in the EA as volunteerism. G. Mezey said the EA is an integral part of the university. EA members should be able to take off the time to volunteer without problems. E. Lee said the pay code system for EA members needs to be more clear cut and communicated to all supervisors.

T. Grove said there is a larger issue of changing the culture and the perception of what the EA is.

c) EST recommendations progress

T. Grove recently sent out the recommendations.

G. Mezey asked when the complete report would be available.

D. Brooks said it should be acknowledged that some units already provide supervisor feedback, although this is one of the recommendations.

VI. Old Business

L. Morris and L. Croll Howell were nominated as EA members for the 2013–2014 year. They accepted and were approved with no opposition.

VII. New Business

a) UA Report — G. Mezey

G. Mezey said the UA held busy meetings with the Ombudsman’s office, which submitted new guidelines. The UA also dissolved a committee from the UA to another area. There was a lengthy discussion on the Ho Plaza incident regarding permits, counter protests, etc, but this resolution was tabled indefinitely. However, one change was voted through regarding clarified and friendlier timelines. There were also discussions on the 2% parking permit increases, combining permits, why department vehicles pay Cornell to park, Hasbrouck parking charges, and getting better visitor parking signs.

b) CARE Fund Update — J. Ambrosetti

J. Ambrosetti followed up with President Skorton and VP Opperman regarding clarification on what was agreed on at the EA meeting they attended. They said they want to work out $25,000 at least for the CARE Fund’s budget.

c) Meeting Schedule for 2013–2014

G. Mezey moved to approve the schedule. The motion was seconded with no opposition.

d) TCAT Update

This update was moved to the next meeting.

e) EA Elections

There was a motion to extend the meeting by ten minutes. Seconded.

There was a motion to appoint D. Brooks as an EA member. Seconded with no opposition.

For Chair, B. Schaffner was nominated and she accepted. Seconded with no opposition. With no dissent, B. Schaffner was elected.

For Executive Vice Chair, G. Mezey was nominated and he accepted. Seconded with no opposition. With no dissent, G. Mezey was elected.

For Vice Chair for Internal Operations, P. Thompson was nominated and she accepted. Seconded with no opposition. With no dissent, P. Thompson was elected.

For Vice Chair for Finance, J. Ambrosetti was nominated and he accepted. Seconded with no opposition. With no dissent, J. Ambrosetti was elected.

For Vice Chair for Communications, E. Lee was nominated for a second term and he accepted. Seconded with no opposition. With no dissent, E. Lee was elected.

For Parliamentarian, with no nominations, the position was tabled for the time being.

The UA Reps for 2013–2014:

• J. Blair (interested in another term)
• N. La Celle (1 year left)
• B. Schaffner (serving as chair)
• And 1 vacant seat that will appear in the Pawprint in case anyone is interested in running for the seat. L. Morris will write the article.

VIII. Adjournment

T. Grove adjourned the meeting at 1:45 p.m.

Future Guests:

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

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet