Minutes
University Assembly Meeting
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
4:30 � 6:30 p.m.
Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall

I. Call to Order

C. Walcott called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.

Roll was taken via sign-in sheet.
Voting Members Present: R. Ataya, A. Brokman, C. Cunha, J. Feldman, G. Yorgakaros, E. Cortens, M. Walsh, K. Baier, J. Blair, N. LaCelle, L. Lawrence, W. Ghiorse, M. Hatch, C. Walcott, R. Wayne, H. Howland
Voting Members Absent: W. Candell, E. Strong, E. Loew,
Non-voting Members Present: B. McKinney\\ Non-voting Members Absent: A. Craig, N. Evensen

Also In Attendance: P. Beach, A. Epstein, A. O’Donnell, Y. Zhang

II. Approval of the Minutes from September 29, 2010

R. Wayne mentioned some changes. J. Blair moved the minutes, M. Hatch seconded. The UA unanimously approved the minutes.

III. Opening Presentation of the Outline, “Ground Rules” and Introduction — C. Walcott

C. Walcott briefly explained how the meeting would run and how speakers would be organized.

IV. Business of the Day — Presentation from Group Representatives

a) UA Childcare Sub-committee

Brenda Marston said there has been follow-up on the March 2010 resolution on improvement at the center. The resolution asked for improvement by Fall 2010 and the Faculty Senate has passed a resolution asking for the President’s response by Nov. 1.

She explained although no one on the committee currently has a child at the center, 2 members have had children there in the past. The committee brings expertise on early child education and provides a broad perspective. She said there have been significant improvements, and others are in the works. She said she also felt HR was responsible for the positive changes, not Bright Horizons. She said the committee agrees with many points in the FS resolution and would encourage HR to support a new provider. In the August report, there was great satisfaction with the teachers but discontent with the administration and teacher turnover rate. It is time to look at how much Cornell money is being spent propping up BH and consider moving on from BH. A smooth transition is important, and retaining the teachers is critical.

b) HR — Mary George Opperman and Lynette Chappell-Williams

M. Opperman said she was asked by the President to submit a report on childcare by Nov. 1 so she is not ready to submit any report to the UA in writing yet. Opinions will differ, but said she felt the most important thing is to listen to parents who currently have children in the center. She admitted the center had difficulties that come with a new center starting up. Our obligation is to the center’s children and the ongoing disruption is not desirable. She said the center is beautiful and could be a recruiting gem. She believes things can get on track if all parties work together.

c) UA Family Services Committee

B. McKinney read a statement from the committee that supports a safe, inclusive, accessible, and affordable on-site daycare facility.

d) Director of Cornell Childcare Center

The Center’s Director, Patty Sinclair, could not be at the meeting. C. Walcott read a letter from her addressing the progress the center has made in the last 6 months, which included a self-study and accreditation process, a procedure for parents to get involved in the hiring process, improved teacher training and more development opportunities, developed more earth-friendly practices and teaching the children their importance, developed an emergency response plan and more programs for Cornell retirees to volunteer at the center, as well as field trips and other assistance programs. She feels the center has made great improvements and will continue to.

V. Open Mic

A Cornell faculty member came forward to speak who has 2 children at the center and has had good experiences. She said there have been problems in the past but she is very happy with the center and the teachers. She said she felt the administration has been responsive and offers many choices and is sensitive to parent input.

M. Hatch asked what she thought about the parent survey that returned lots of negative results. She said there were problems a year ago but things have greatly improved. M. Hatch asked B. Marston what she thought about the contrast between this testimonial and the survey. B. Marston said parents are happier in general, but a significant number are still not happy with the management and 50% would not recommend the center to a close friend.

A parent from the faculty senate ad-hoc committee said there have been 7 more violations at the center. Linda Croll Howell said those violations were issued during a 2-day license-renewing process. Other centers were issued a lot more violations during the same process, just to put things in perspective.

Another parent who has 2 kids at the center said that large centers would naturally accumulate more violations. We need to give the center more time to iron out the details. It is a beautiful building and has 50 teachers, which is a lot to find around the Ithaca area.

Yael Levitte from the childcare sub-committee asked that we need to consider the broader needs, not just the center itself. She agreed with M. Opperman that it could be a gem. Many people are working on this and the center is spending a lot of money. She said these resources could be spent more wisely and BH needs to provide measures for improvement to earn their fee.

J. Blair clarified that there is no recommendation on the floor to close the center altogether. We just don’t know if we are getting 1st class service from BH so we need to figure out whether or not to open up this to other management companies.

Another parent said the center is doing a fantastic job and her daughter is happy there and learning a lot. The disruption would be the most harmful to the children. Another parent added it is cavalier to terminate the contract with BH and hope the next contractor will be better and not have these same difficulties. Teachers fear for their jobs and this disruption is not good.

Another parent suggested paying more attention to the statistics of the turnover rates and violations. The center has done a poor job in this area, and should not be tolerated. Stability is needed, and until teacher turnover rate and violation records improve, the center needs a lot more attention. Another parent said that while the teachers are great, the turnover rate cannot be ignored. The recent improvements at the center are wonderful, but also felt they were due to an influx of resources and leadership and initiatives from Cornell, not from BH.

Another parent produced a petition of about 100 parents who are happy with the center and are against the FS resolution to severe the contract with BH.

M. Hatch asked about the HR resources that have been put into the center. M. Opperman said that was because the accreditation process was very time-consuming for the teachers and thus more teachers were needed. HR resources will continue to support the center until it can stand on its own.

VI. UA Board Discussion

C. Walcott read a draft of the UA executive committee resolution, which would open up the center to competitive bidding once BH’s contract is up. The UA and the President will form an ad-hoc committee to work with HR to select the next contractor.

H. Howland said after hearing the majority of the parents are happy with the center, he would not vote for a resolution that would severe the contract with BH. L. Lawrence agreed. C. Cunha added switching contractors would be disruptive to parents.

R. Ataya said we heard some conflicting data about the percentage of parents happy with the center. He wanted to make sure the correct data is heard. L. Croll Howell clarified some facts and figures.

K. Baier asked why is there an urgent need to make this decision now. She asked if the children were in jeopardy. The answer was no, but C. Walcott said the FS resolution has asked the President to make a decision by Nov. 1, and the President wants UA input on the matter.

E. Cortens said he was not sure we are in the position to vote since we haven’t gotten enough information.

A. Brokman asked for explanation on the open-bid process. M. Opperman said when BH was chosen, there was a committee with diverse representation that reviewed all the bids. It was a 6-month process.

M. Hatch suggested a resolution like the Family Services Committee’s, which supports the continuation of an on-site childcare facility.

H. Howland said the testimonials today are new evidence against what we heard in the FS. Our decision here needs to reflect this. J. Blair said the sub-committee seems to be for the FS resolution and many parents seem to oppose it. He did not see anything today that would make him recommend to the President to sever the contract, but he would not shy away from doing so if more compelling evidence surfaces.

L. Lawrence suggested that a group of UA members draft a resolution and send it out through e-mail for comments before Nov. 1. H. Howland agreed. C. Walcott asked for volunteers to help draft a resolution. L. Lawrence, H. Howland, M. Hatch and N. LaCelle volunteered.

J. Feldman asked B. Marston to comment on the continuity of the center if the contract is severed. B. Marston said she was confident the teachers wouldn’t lose their jobs. HR can smooth the transition, since they will eventually have to do that anyway if the BH contract runs out naturally. R. Wayne suggested a 4-year contract with BH to give more time to let the center stabilize but the contract would not last as long.

C. Walcott asked for a straw vote for or against terminating the contract immediately, which is what the FS resolution said. The majority of the UA members were against it.

M. Opperman said the negativity of the conversation needs to end. The childcare center needs to return to being a recruitment tool. The debate and critique have already had negative impacts on Cornell. The FS took a hard look at the data, and what the UA heard today were the experiences of the parents. There are different perspectives here and we may have to live with the contradiction. It is a challenge to put all this in a single report.

M. Hatch said the parents did contribute to the FS resolution too and there seems to be quite a bit of contradiction with what we heard today.

X. Adjournment

C. Walcott adjourned the meeting at 6:26 pm.