Dear Adam,   Thank you for passing EA R3: Employee Assembly Condemning Hate Crime and Any Other Form of Racism, Religious or Ethnic Bias, Discrimination, Incitement to Violence. I share your outrage over hate crimes and racist behavior and am sorry that the EA was victimized by a “zoom bombing” attack. I can only imagine how upsetting this was for the members who experienced it.

Dear Adam,   Thank you for sharing EA R2: Updating the Employee Assembly Charter to Expand Its Membership.  I am pleased to see the careful work the EA has done to amend its current membership to recognize the university’s structure and priorities.   Sincerely,   Martha Pollack     Martha E. Pollack President, Cornell University 300 Day Hall Ithaca, NY 14853 Tel: 607-255-5201 www.cornell.edu

Dear Adam,   Please forgive my delay in responding to EA Resolution 1: Protect Staff Jobs and Compensation. I appreciate the thought that assembly members put into this resolution.   I share your commitment to retaining as many positions as possible during this very difficult time. As you know, we did take the highly unusual step of increasing the endowment payout to attenuate the budget shortfall, and we have increased our fundraising efforts to support financial aid.

Good afternoon. Please see attached letter from President Pollack and Provost Kotlikoff in response to the memo conveyed with the message below.   Sincerely,   Liz Holmes   Office of the President Cornell University 300 Day Hall Ithaca, NY 14853 Tel: 607-255-5201 www.cornell.edu

Dear Adam,   Thank you for your submission of EA Resolution 7: Bereavement Policy. I have consulted with Vice President Opperman regarding our current policy and your recommended changes.   You have asked for two adjustments. 

1. to add a more inclusive definition of family to the policy by adding "surrogate" parents as immediate family members.

Dear Adam,   Thank you for sharing EA Resolution 9: Inclement Weather in response to the winter storm that occurred February 6-7, 2020.  Executive Vice President and CFO Joanne DeStefano and Vice President for Facilities and Campus Services Rick Burgess have done a careful review of that storm and our response to it. We agree that it is best to avoid late notice to our community when inclement weather occurs, and we strive to provide timely information and notice.

Dear Adam,   I am pleased to accept EA Resolution 10: Recognizing Senior Leadership, regarding the response to the COVID-19 public health crisis. This has been a very difficult and trying time for our entire campus community.

Dear Joe,   Thank you for conveying to me Resolution 25: Recommendation for the Student Activity Fee for 2020-2022.

Dear Andy,   Thank you for sending me GPSA Resolution 15: Requesting That First-Year Writing Seminar Instructors Be Allowed to Hold Virtual Discussions in Whatever Way They Deem Appropriate.  As you may know, the president’s office does not dictate academic program content or establish instructional methods. I’m sharing your resolution with the leadership of both the John S.

Dear Adam,   Thank you for submitting EA R3: Support of the development and implementation of a Cornell Campus Circulator System.    We support the concept of a circulator, which is very much in line with our vision for campus transportation needs. We expect, however, that a circulator would be part of the TCAT system, as Cornell has invested, and will continue to invest, in TCAT as our provider of campus transit.