Employee Assembly Draft Documents

Global changes

1. Changed sentences to active voice, present tense wherever possible
2. Uniformly refer to the “assembly” rather than Employee Assembly, EA, etc.

Article 1: Establishment

1. Moved definition of “employee” for document from 5.7 to 1.1
2. (substantive) Added definition of “session” of the assembly in 1.2

Article 2: Authority and Responsibility

1. Combined 2.1, “Personnel policies”, into 2.2, “Other university policies”, to create new 2.1, “University policies affecting staff”. Cleaned up language of merged section, and moved part of the detail to a footnote which is commentary rather than actual policy.
2. 2.3, “Information exchange”: modified bylaw 2.2.a and added 2.2.b to reflect current practices re: meetings between assembly leadership and senior administrators.
3. Bylaw 2.4.a: Committee felt final sentence was unnecessary and struck it.
4. 2.5, “Committee membership selection”: modified to reflect that the EA staffs employee positions on committees of any bodies that direct it to do so, removed reference to dormant UA Committee on Committees
5. 2.7, “Interface with University Assembly”: removed reference to diagram and explained verbally instead
6. 2.8, “Interface with SA, GPSA, and Faculty Senate”: removed details of how EA will interact with other assemblies and instead refactored them into bylaws to provide flexibility in the future
7. (substantive) struck 2.11, 2.12, and 2.13: Compromise process was deemed inappropriate for several reasons:
   1. actions affecting other assemblies or actions by other assemblies affecting this assembly are subject to review by the President who implicitly resolves conflicts
   2. a conflict resolution process is provided for in the University Assembly
   3. the Employee Assembly has no authority to supersede or dictate a process to other assemblies — the President of the university has the ability to decide between conflicting proposed actions

Article 3: Membership

1. Added new 3.1, “Eligibility” to cover what was stricken from other sections
2. 3.0.1, “Seat allocation”: changed reference to Geneva campus to reflect correct title, removed unused provision for designation of “underrepresented” group as committee felt it was inappropriate and unnecessary.
3. 3.1, “Ex-officio members”: clarified that Human Resources representative is designated by the VP of Human Resources, eliminated commentary that did not alter the effect of the section
4. 3.2, “University Assembly”: clarified that non-EA employee representatives of the UA should be appointed in same manner as for committees
5. 3.3, “Elections” renamed to “Vacancies”. Merged in elections procedures from Article 5, modified and clarified extensively with the following changes:
   1. Distinguish between regular vacancies filled by election and incidental vacancies filled by appointment
   2. Provide clearer processes for filling of vacancies by election and by appointment (they should be the same as what was already in the charter, just easier to understand and without ambiguity)
6. 3.4, “Term”: modified to link terms to explicitly defined “sessions” of the assembly

Article 4: Officers

1. Generally, the Vice Chair for Finance and Secretary is now the Vice Chair for Finance. Record-keeping role resides in the Office of the Assemblies.
2. 4.0.1, “Removal” moved to end of article as seemed inappropriate to have as first topic
3. Added 4.1, “Term” linking term of office explicitly to sessions of the assembly.
4. (substantive) Added 4.2, “Election” merging in procedure from Article 6. New procedure:
   1. Clarifies exact process and timing for conduct of elections
   2. Eliminates closed discussion of candidates where they are asked to leave the room, committee felt this caused unnecessary tension and was not necessary to adequately vet candidates.
   3. Spells out process for runoffs
5. Added 4.3, “Responsibilities” to contain the responsibilities of respective officers.
6. 4.1, “Chair”
   1. Eliminated 4.1.2: covered by other responsibilities
   2. Simplified 4.1.3: the chair appoints chairs for each committee in consultation with the Executive Committee. Note: SA, GPSA appoint committee chairs by same process as they elect officers.
   3. (substantive) Moved responsibilities from Executive Vice Chair: transmission of assembly’s actions and reporting of progress. The chair is the spokesperson for the assembly once it adopts and action.
7. 4.2, “Executive Vice Chair”:
   1. Added responsibility to distribute agenda and meeting materials.
   2. Added responsibility to review minutes of meetings.
   3. Moved responsibility to report and transmit actions to Chair.
   4. Moved responsibility to notify affected parties of pending business in front of assembly from Internal Operations.
8. 4.3, “Internal Operations”:
   1. Removed responsibility for the elections.
   2. Moved responsibility to notify affected parties of pending business to Executive Vice Chair.
9. 4.4, “Finance”:
   1. Moved responsibility for review of minutes to Executive Vice Chair and eliminated responsibility to keep and distribute minutes and other records as this is done by the Office of the Assemblies.
   2. Updated reference to VP University Relations to VP University Communications
10. 4.5, “Parliamentarian”: clarified authority to rule on questions and disputes regarding process.
11. Added 4.4 “Executive Board”
    1. Identified specific authority and responsibilities of the Executive Board

Article 5: Elections

Refactored into Article 3, “Membership”

Article 6: Procedures

1. Article 6 is now Article 5.
2. Moved original section 1, “Term of office” into Article 3.
3. Added new Section 1, “Protections” from language in Article 8.
4. Section 2: Eliminated absence-related provisions: felt unnecessary to have separate provision to remove members because of attendance. They can still be removed through regular removal process in Article 3.
5. Section 5: Removed Office of the Assemblies from proxy voting procedure. Clarified when, how proxy votes may be cast/counted.
6. Section 6, “Roberts Rules”: moved to end.
7. Sections 8 and 9: “Speaking privileges” and “Open discussion” were felt to be initiatives of the assembly and current leadership that could be set in standing rules or meeting procedures and do not need to be part of the charter.
8. Section 10, “Soliciting officers”: Moved to officer election process in Article 4.
9. Section 11, “Agenda”: Moved to Article 4 Executive Board responsibilities.
10. Section 12, “Minutes”: Clarify that Office of the Assemblies prepares and makes available minutes.
11. Eliminated Sections 13–14 “Establishment of additional procedural rules” and “Administrative responses”: Felt no special provision need for the establishment of additional procedures, and that a simple majority should be sufficient for the establishment of such procedures. Time frame for response from administrators can simply be included when an inquiry is sent.

Article 7: Committees

1. This is now Article 6.
2. Generally, eliminated duplicate statements about the assembly not being able to address specific grievances or engage in collective bargaining. This is already stated in Article 2.
3. (substantive) Clarified where staffing authority rests: chair may appoint or remove committee chairs, staffing authority is now explicitly vested in the Internal Operations Committee.
4. Section 1, “Internal Operations Committee”
   1. Membership now automatically consists of all chairs of the assembly’s committees. Felt this would assure the group is closely connected with the committees.
   2. Moved responsibilities for elections to separate Elections Committee.
5. Added new Section 2, “Elections Committee” to administer elections.
6. Eliminated Section 5, “Finance Committee”:
   1. Transferred responsibilities to either Vice Chair for Finance or the Executive Board
   2. Felt committee was unnecessary given small budget of assembly and fact it has been dormant for years.
7. Modified Section 6, “Emergency Grant Fund Committee”:
   1. Modified composition and responsibilities in consultation with current and past members
   2. Renamed committee and generalized the charge so that specific grants and parameters are entirely within bylaws: This allows flexibility to adapt the purpose, name, etc. of grant programs without amending the charter in the future.
   3. Clarified role of assembly: including authority to approve grant fund procedures and requirement of committee to report on periodic basis
   4. Bylaw includes proposal to rename grant fund to Cornellians Aiding and Responding to Emergencies
8. Section 7, “University Benefits Committee”: Eliminated language that duplicates committee’s charter, instead including reference to full charter at the end of the document.
9. Section 8, “Staff Recognition and Awards Committee”:Refactored parts specific to George Peter Award into a bylaw to enable greater flexibility and generalize the charge of the committee so it may be assigned to administer other awards and recognition programs in the future.

Article 8: Protections

Relocated to Article 5, “Procedures”

Article 9: Amendment

1. Eliminated referendum procedure for certain charter amendments. Felt this added an unneeded impediment to updating the charter. An out-of-control assembly is still checked by the President of the university.

Definitions

Eliminated section and definitions that do not differ from common dictionary definition. Other definitions were moved to Article 1.