Employee Assembly Meeting

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

• Term:
  2024-2025
• Assembly/Committee: Employee Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Wed, Sep 18, 2024 - 12:00pm
  to
  1:15pm
• Location:
  Zoom
• Agenda:
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
  EA-09182024.MP3 (60.67 MB)
• Minutes:

  Employee Assembly of Cornell University  
  Minutes of the September 18th, 2024, Meeting  
  12 PM – 1:17 PM  
  Via Zoom  

  I. Call to Order  

     a. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz called the meeting to order at 12:00 noon.  

         i. Members Present: B. Arnold, M. Bant, A. Blakeslee, R. Boche, M. Boggs, F. Cantone, S. Chang, C. Cornell, B. Dixon, J. Doss, T. Hambury,  
            D. Hinshaw, K. Karnuta, E. Krumm, J. Kruser, S. Lanchez, Y. Luckain, K. Mahoney, D. Mcdermitt, P. Mengers, A. Morse, K. Phipps,  
            S. Resue, I. Solís Cruz, K. Supron, D. Surine, W. Treat, J. VanHouten, D. Wierson  

         ii. Members Absent: E. Crawley  

         iii. Also Present: Interim President Kolikoff, Vice President Lovely, E. Kalweit, J. Withers and H. Depew, and C. Lovely  

  II. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz read the Land Acknowledgement of the Gayogo̱ ho꞉nǫ (Cayuga Nation)  

  III. Approval for the September 4th meeting minutes  

     a. Iván Solís Cruz asked for a motion for approval  

         i. Assembly Member Michael Boogs motioned for approval  

             1. Assembly Member Wendy Trent motioned to approve the minutes by unanimous consent.  

             2. Assembly Member Danyel Wierson seconded the motion  

  IV. Committee Reports  

     a. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz spoke on behalf of the Executive Committee  

         i. The Executive Committee met Friday September 13th, some highlights from the meeting are as follows:  

             1. The Executive Committee is working on events, that they will propose to the large assembly at a later date. They are working to  
                provide information about what the Employee Assembly does, and how it strengthens the Cornell community.  

     b. Assembly Member Don Hinshaw spoke on behalf of the Communications, Outreach, and Recognition Committee  

         i. Communications, Outreach, and Recognition Committee is working to set up their first meeting, and has a tentative October 1st  
            release date for their Newsletter  

     c. Assembly Member Deb Surine spoke on behalf of the Employee Education and Development Committee  

         i. Employee Education and Development Committee is working to set up their first meeting.  

     d. Assembly Member Kristie Mahoney spoke on behalf of the Employee Welfare Committee  

         i. The Employee Welfare Committee met before the first Employee Assembly Meeting, some highlights to the meeting are as follows:  

             1. The Committee discussed a proposed revision to the holiday leave policy, advancing the conversation on parking concerns for  
                employees, and at the next meeting working with Michelle Ardabee to update the childcare initiatives.  

     e. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz spoke on behalf of the Benefits and Policy Committee  

         i. The Benefits and Policy Committee met before the first Employee Assembly Meeting, some highlights to the meeting are as follows:  

             1. The Committee discussed some updates with HR that are coming in the future, policy 61.4 around nepotism, policy 6.9 around  
                time off, floating holidays, background checks and data breaches.  

     f. Assembly Member Stephanie Resue spoke on behalf of the Elections Committee  

         i. The Elections Committee is working to set up their first meeting.  

             1. Elections will be held in Spring, and Stephanie Resue is working with the Office of Assemblies between December and January  
                to finalize the election schedule and details.  

  V. Interim President Kotlikoff’s remarks  

     a. President Kotlikoff spoke on his vision for Cornell University.  

         i. Hei Hei Depew posed the following question to President Kotlikoff; As a child to a staff member at UPenn, how has that informed  
            your perspective on staff at institutions of higher education?  

             1. President Kotlikoff responded that he has tremendous appreciation for staff and discussed his interactions with staff at  
                Cornell University.  

         ii. Assembly member Jeramy Kruser posed the following question to President Kotlikoff; What are the protection in place for at-will  
             employees who may wish to take part in protests, both in-person and virtually?  

             1. President Kotlikoff expressed that there are currently protections for employees who take part in protests, and he completed  
                by saying that employees are protected until they infringe on another students, faculties or employees’ rights.  

         iii. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz posed the following question to President Kotlikoff; Due to the Student Assembly passing a  
              referendum around the divestment vote, what is happening to move forward with that?  

             1. President Kotlikoff stated that consensus was needed from the community, and that consensus was achieved by all the governing  
                bodies passing a resolution. He followed up by stating that a consensus has not been reached on campus, and still needs some  
                agreement from assemblies other than the student assembly on campus.  

         iv. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz went through pre-submitted questions.  

             1. The first pre-submitted question was: How will the UAW agreement of the increased wages affect all other non-union staff  
                compensation at the University?  

                 a. President Kotlikoff responded with the University will continue to have Union negotiations, and that the UAW strike was  
                    important for the University to find a minimum wage for all Cornell Employees.  

  VI. Employee Assembly R1 approval of the 2024-2025 operating budget  

     a. Assembly Member Jeramy Kruser motioned to approve the 2024-2025 operation budget.  

     b. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz seconded the motion.  

         i. The Assembly members voted 20 yes, 0 no, and 1 abstention.  

  VII. Liaison Reports and Open Discussion  

     a. Assembly Member Danyel Wierson attended the faculty senate meeting as a liaison.  

         i. The faculty senate is preparing for a grad student strike and discussed what the impact will be.  

         ii. The faculty senate also discussed new guidelines for academic integrity. Many faculty members are concerned about their exams and  
             problem sets being uploaded to homework helper websites and apps; this policy covers that. However, the policy also includes taking  
             pictures in class of professor’s slides, or any work written on a board.  

  VIII. Assembly Member Iván Solís Cruz asked for a motion to adjourn  

     a. Assembly Member Jeramy Kruser motioned to adjourn  

     b. Assembly Member Wendy Treat seconded that motion  

  The meeting was adjourned at 1:11pm.  

  Respectfully Submitted,  
  Erin Kenefick-Coppersmith  
  Clerk of the Assembly  

  EA Minutes September 18, 2024.pdf (183.2 KB)