Minutes
University Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, March 31, 2009
4: 30 � 6:00 p.m.
225 ILR Conference Ceter

I. Call to Order

E. Strong called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.

Roll was taken via sign-in sheet.
Voting Members Present: J. Cetta, K. Laden, J. Spiegel, E. Cusick, E. Strong, B. Webb-Binder, L. Lawrence, J. Blair, M. Hatch, E. Loew, E. Sanders, R. Wayne
Voting Members Absent: A. Brokman, A. Nicoletti, S. Zhang, K. Spieser, W. Ghiorse, C. Walcott
Non-voting Members Present: B. McKinney, M. Walsh
Non-voting Members Absent: A. Craig
Also In Attendance: Brenda Marston, Lynette Chappel-Williams, Linda Croll Howell, Bill Liddick, parents from the Parent Advisory Committee at Bright Horizon, A. Epstein, A. O’Donnell, Y. Zhang

II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

E. Strong added a resolution that increases the number of grad student seats on the UA sustainability committee. It was added to the agenda.

III. Approval of Minutes from 3/17/10

R. Wayne moved the minutes, seconded by K. Laden. The minutes from the March 17th meeting were voted on and approved unanimously.

IV. Childcare Subcommittee resolution — B. McKinney & B. Marston

B. McKinney introduced the resolution. B. Marston said some parents from Bright Horizon are in attendance. The parents introduced themselves.

M. Hatch said it seemed the UA had fallen behind on its responsibilities. He was really pleased to see this resolution addressing the issue of the childcare center.

L. Lawrence asked when the contract with Bright Horizons expires. B. Marston said it is a 5-year contract and this summer will be the end of the 2nd year. L. Lawrence also asked how often the survey is usually carried out. L. Chappel-Williams replied Bright Horizon usually does the survey annually. She explained the center got off to a rocky start because it opened at 100% capacity, which they were not ready for.

B. Marston said we have been struggling to bring the teacher/student ratio up from the bare minimum. B. McKinney said improving the teacher/student ratio would increase the cost of childcare for those who use the center. Perhaps a question could be included on the next survey to ask parents if they would be willing to pay for the extra cost to increase the ratio.

M. Hatch moved the resolution. L. Lawrence seconded.

E. Sanders asked how this resolution differs from the FS resolution and asked which one the parents preferred. She felt it was important to consider ending the contract and securing local childcare providers if the situation did not improve. B. Marston said the FS resolution directs an ad-hoc committee to look further into the issue. However, this resolution has specific suggestions how to solve the issue. J. Blair agreed this resolution had more concrete expectations than the FS resolution. He then noted E. Sanders’ concern about ending/breaking the contract was already included in the resolution. He emphasized the importance of not losing steam on this issue when other priorities arise in the future.

The co-chair of the Parent Advisory Committee said she was cautious about the changes at the center because parents have not been involved and do not yet have a voice in the process.

M. Hatch said this has been in process for approximately a month and said he felt we needed to move forward on it so he called the question. The call to question failed with a vote of 6–6−0 (it requires 2/3 majority).

Another parent from the center said he supports the resolution, but acknowledged the cost issue will be central. It currently costs 15–20% less at BH than at IC3. If Cornell wants to be a leader in this area without raising the costs for the parents, it may be necessary for the university to put in more money or for Bright Horizon to make less profit.

L. Chappel-Williams said there are items in the resolution that will likely compel Bright Horizons to keep improving. She corrected the statement that Bright Horizons does not have any experience in childcare because they run over 700 centers around the world. She agreed teacher turnover and the high number of violations were the main issues. She said she felt this resolution would get Bright Horizon’s attention to know that it is not just HR that is unhappy with their performance.

Another parent from the center said while there have been improvements, there have also been setbacks. They explained that just this week there were more teacher departures.

E. Sanders agreed the teachers are not paid enough. B. Marston said Bright Horizons has given the teachers raises, so salary is not a main issue. It is more about how the teachers are treated, being allowed to take breaks and needed planning time during the day, and having more control over their classroom budget.

E. Strong then asked if the resolution will help or hinder HR’s efforts. L. Chappel-Williams said most of the resolution is helpful. She said she wants to make sure the teachers do not feel they are to blame. The PAC co-chair concurred it is very important to the teachers to know HR supports them. They are scared of Bright Horizons and afraid that Cornell is also not happy with them. They don’t want to lose their jobs. Also, it may be beneficial to have the resolution impact the teachers minimally. The center is undergoing an aggressive accreditation process and the teachers have a lot of work on their plate. R. Wayne said he felt the resolution was very supportive of the teachers. M. Hatch suggested including a cover letter expressing support for the teachers. J. Blair wanted the minutes to reflect the UA is supportive of the teachers.

By a vote of 11–0−0, the resolution passed.

V. UA Sustainability Committee Graduate Student Seat Resolution — E. Strong

E. Strong presented the resolution and moved it. It was seconded by E. Sanders. K. Laden asked if there was a need to increase the undergraduate students on the committee. M. Hatch said he felt this resolution was not necessary because with UA consent, membership on the committee can increase any time. He said he feels with big committees it is hard to regularly reach quorum. E. Strong said creating the seats makes this official, since there is interest. If the seats are not filled in the future, it would not affect the quorum.

E. Sanders said she would hate to see enthusiasm thwarted due to a lack of seats. She suggested making a compromise of 1–3 seats, depending on the interest level of the year. J. Cetta suggested appointing the specific people interested to the committee. E. Cusick suggested the graduate students form a joint committee with the SA sustainability committee. The graduate students have similar interests and address similar issues as the undergraduate students, but these could be different from the university-wide issues. E. Strong said the next UA may go by the charter and only allow for one graduate rep while the GPSA wishes to send more than one. He felt the number of graduate seats on the committee needed to be officially increased.

E. Strong had to leave early, and passed the chair responsibilities to K. Laden.

A. Epstein said most committees have a set number of representatives from each constituency. Committees with appointments that vary from year to year would create confusion in the system. M. Walsh agreed with this and said he felt there were already too many sustainability groups and emphasized that sustainability needed a centralized avenue.

M. Hatch made a friendly amendment to reflect more representatives from all constituencies.

R. Wayne asked if M. Hatch would write a letter to offer more seats to the GPSA. M. Hatch said he would. The GPSA should hear from the sustainability committee every month. M. Walsh commented he attends GPSA meetings, and he has not seen a representative make a report so far this year. M. Hatch said the representative is E. Strong.

B. Webb-Binder moved to table the resolution. E. Cusick seconded. There was a vote of 4–4−0. K. Laden, acting as Chair, then voted yes to break the tie. The motion to table the resolution was passed.

M. Hatch made a suggestion the UA add 2 grad representatives to the sustainability committee. The suggestion was approved by a vote of 7–3−0.

VI. Athletics Resolution of Gratitude (E. Strong)

K. Laden introduced the resolution in E. Strong’s place and noted the EA had passed something similar.

B. Webb-Binder motioned to extend the meeting for 10 minutes. M. Hatch seconded. All members present were in favor.

L. Lawrence made a friendly amendment to add “alumni” after “faculty, students and staff�.” M. Hatch made a friendly amendment to remove the word “beloved.” R. Wayne agreed to both.

The members voted, and the resolution passed by a vote of 9–0−0.

VII. Discussion of President’s response to R. 11 (R. Wayne)

R. Wayne said the President has taken too long to respond on this issue. He also said he felt the response did not fully address the concern and the website provided was irrelevant.

J. Cetta said he felt it was not a good precedent to set for the UA to allow more than 30 days for the President to respond. E. Loew said any curriculum decisions belong with the Faculty Senate- the UA has no authority over curriculum issues. A. Epstein clarified the President is only obligated to respond within 30 days for legislative items. L. Lawrence asked if there was a deadline for responses for non-legislative resolutions. A. Epstein said no.

M. Match mentioned the UA sustainability committee meets on the second Monday of every month at 12:15 pm in 200 Rice Hall, and all are welcome. The next meeting is April 12.

K. Laden said he will e-mail C. Walcott with the points discussed and have him formulate a response to the President.

VIII. Adjournment

M. Hatch moved to adjourn. R. Wayne seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.