University Assembly Meeting

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

• Term:
  2025-2026
• Assembly/Committee: University Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Tue, Feb 24, 2026 - 4:45pm
  to
  6:15pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:

  I. Call to Order
       a. Roll Call
       b. Land Acknowledgment of the Gayogo̱ho:nǫ (Cayuga Nation)
       c. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda
  
  II. Approval of the Minutes
       a. February 10th, 2026 meeting minutes
  
  III. Business of the Day
       a. Presidential Visit: University President Michael Kotlikoff, Provost Kavita Bala, and Vice President for University Relations Kyle Kimball
  
  IV. Assembly Reports
       a. Student Assembly
       b. Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
       c. Employee Assembly
       d. Faculty Senate
  
  V. Committee Reports
       a. Executive Committee
       b. Campus Codes Committee
       c. Campus Welfare Committee
       d. Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment
  
  VI. Liaison Reports
       a.  Campus Planning Committee
       b.  Coalition for Sexual Violence Prevention
       c.  Sustainable Cornell Council’s Carbon Neutral Campus Steering Committee
       d.  Sustainable Cornell Council’s Education & Engagement Steering Committee
       e.  Sustainable Cornell Council’s Campus Operations Steering Committee
  
  VII. Open Forum
  
  VIII. Adjournment

• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
       a. Chair I. Gatimi called the meeting to order at 4:45 PM.
       b. Members Present: A. Aftab, V. Bell, N. Brennan, J. Butcher, E. Chaudhuri, J. Chobirko, E. De Rosa, E. Gainor, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, A. Haenlin-Mott, S. Resue, C. Tarala, W. Treat
       c. Members Absent: D. Bateman, M. Benda, S. Bruyere, A. Cardenas, Z. deRham, K. Nguyen
       d. Also Present: M. Kotlikoff, K. Kimball, K. Bala
  
  II. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda
       a. None.
  
  III. Approval of the February 10th meeting minutes
       a. E. Chaudhuri motioned to move meeting minutes to a later portion of the meeting. The motion passed with unanimous consent.
       b. W. Treat motioned to amend item I under Employee Assembly reports to change “will visit” to “visited.” The motion passed with unanimous consent.
       c. J. Chobirko motioned to approve the meeting minutes. The meeting minutes were approved with unanimous consent.
  
  IV. Business of the Day
       a. Presidential Visit: University President Michael Kotlikoff, Provost Kavita Bala, and Vice President for University Relations Kyle Kimball
            i. M. Kotlikoff gave comments regarding campus climate and online harassment and misinformation targeting Cornell faculty.
            ii. M. Kotlikoff, K. Bala, and K. Kimball addressed pre-submitted questions from the UA regarding how the University Assembly can meaningfully contribute to Cornell’s initiatives, drivers behind current austerity measures, research missions amidst funding constraints, student privacy invasion investigations, international student support, timeliness of responses to Student Assembly resolutions, and more.
                 1. M. Kotlikoff, K. Bala, and K. Kimball took follow up questions and comments from the assembly about governance continuity, student positions on the FAU committee, takeaways from trips to Albany and Washington DC, actions taken to support international students, and more.
            iii. M. Kotlikoff, K. Bala, and K. Kimball discussed pre-submitted topics, such as DEI policies.
                 1. The speakers took consequent follow up questions from the assembly.
  
  V. Assembly Reports
       a. Student Assembly
            i. E. Chaudhuri updated that the Student Assembly is hoping to change its name to the Student Governance Assembly. The name is still to be determined and conveyed to President Kotlikoff.
            ii. There were a lot of internal changes about the format of resolutions, outreach requirements, and knowledge transfers from chairs of committees to its succeeding chairs. Resolutions were also discussed, such as regarding printing requirements on campus. The Student Assembly charter is also being amended to refill the position in the Office of Ethics.
            iii. The Special Project’s fund also changed to be more focused on student organizations that are public and open instead of organizations that have rigorous interview rounds.
       b. Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
            i. N. Brennan noted speakers that visited over the past few meetings, such as Julie Edwards from Cornell Health and President Kotlikoff with Ryan Lombardi and Todd Lewis. At the most recent meeting, the GPSA finished off a series of 5 resolutions that collectively approved $400,000 of investments into the graduate and professional student community, such as
  refurbishing graduate student lounge spaces.
       c. Employee Assembly
            i. W. Treat mentioned that Kristine Mahoney and Michelle Artibee presented on the CARE fund at the February 18th meeting.
            ii. Spring election information is already up online. Candidates were able to register from March 2nd to March 13th, and the voting period is from March 26th to April 6th . A new executive committee shall be established after an organizational meeting on April 15th.
            iii. During the March 4th meeting, the Employee Assembly aimed to fill two incidental vacancies, and President Kotlikoff and Interim Vice President and Chief Human Resources Sean Moeller also visited.
       d. Faculty Senate
            i. E. De Rosa updated that the University Libarian came and spoke about the unbundling of contracts. The Faculty Senate had been working on policies 6.4 and 6.6 regarding anti-discrimination policies and new attestations for when hiring new faculties. The CARE fund also came and presented to the senate.
  
  VI. Committee Reports
       a. Executive Committee
            i. A. Haenlin-Mott reported that there are 4 more meetings for the term. The meeting in March features J. Edwards, Michelle Artibee, and Greta Kenney as they speak about health promotion initiatives on campus. On April 7th, Jamila Michener from the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures will come to speak. On April 21st, the Cornell Sustainability Office will present. The last meeting is on May 5th to discuss elections for the next term.
       b. Campus Codes Committee
            i. J. Butcher updated that there is no feedback on the 4 proposals and reminded the assembly to submit comments and questions. The committee had also been addressing challenges, such as the lack of legal knowledge.
                 1. J. Butcher addressed and clarified questions from the assembly regarding grammatical errors on resolution drafts and inviting individuals from the University Council’s office.
       c. Campus Welfare Committee
            i. J. Chobirko reported that the committee met virtually on both February 25th from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM and February 26th from 11:00 PM to 12:00 PM to accommodate committee member schedules. Both meetings discussed the same content.
       d. Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment
            i. A. Aftab noted that there are weekly meetings on Thursday from 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM. The committee discussed bringing forth a resolution on painted bike lanes on campus. There is active communication with the SAIFC and Transportation aimed to understand past efforts and requests.
  
  VII. Liaison Reports
       a. Campus Planning Committee
            i. A. Garcia-Ortiz mentioned a student listening session that is held in March at the Botanic Gardens Welcome Center regarding the East Asian Gardens.
       b. Coalition for Sexual Violence Prevention
            i. No report.
       c. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Carbon Neutral Campus Steering Committee
            i. V. Bell said that the committee is discussing when and how they should plug into the New York State Grid Power for electricity and heat on campus.
       d. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Education & Engagement Steering Committee
            i. No report.
       e. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Campus Operations Steering Committee
            i. No report.
  
  VIII. Open Forum
       a. N. Brennan mentioned that the Committee on the Future of the American University hosted an event at the Big Red Barn on February 25th at 6:30 PM with food. The event talked about how higher education will shift in the next 50 years.
       b. W. Treat added that a coworker coffee occurred on Wednesday March 11th from 11:00 PM to 12:00 PM at the Baker Portico.
       c. I. Gatimi noted that the Brooks School of Public Policy and Black in Public Policy is hosting a fireside chat with Kareem Jean-Pierre on February 27th at 6:00 PM at Warren Hall B25 and encouraged assembly members to attend.
       d. Community member B. Platt gave comments regarding President Kotlikoff’s Q & A session.
  
  IX. Adjournment
       a. J. Chobirko motioned to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned with unanimous consent.

  Feb 24 UA Meeting Minutes.pdf (120.93 KB)