University Assembly Meeting

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

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Term:
2026-2027
Assembly/Committee: University Assembly
Date & Time:
Tue, Aug 25, 2026 - 4:45pm
to
6:15pm
Location:
701 Clark Hall/Zoom
Agenda:

I. Call to Order
a. Roll Call
b. Land Acknowledgement of the Gayogo̱ho:nǫ (Cayuga Nation)
c. Approval of the May 5, 2026 Meeting Minutes
d. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda

II. Business of the Day
a. Welcome from the 2026-2027 Chair
b. Summary of Last Year's Resolutions and Responses from the President
c. Discussion of Surveys and Reports
d. Discussion of Responsibilities of UA Committee Chairs
e. Appointment of UA Members to Committee Chairs and Committee Membership
1. Campus Codes Committee
2. Campus Welfare Committee
3. Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment
f. UA Liaison Nominations
1. Campus Planning Committee
2. Coalition for Sexual Violence Prevention
3. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Carbon Neutral Campus Steering Committee
4. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Education & Engagement Steering Committee
5. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Campus Operations Steering Committee
a. UA Committee Vacancies within Constituencies

III. Assembly Reports
a. Student Assembly
b. Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
c. Employee Assembly
d. Faculty Senate

VI. Committee Reports
a. Executive Board
b. Campus Codes Committee
c. Campus Welfare Committee
d. Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment

V. Open Forum

VI. Adjournment
Meeting Packet:
Audio Recording:

August 25, 2026 UA recording.m4a (21.07 MB)
Minutes:

I. Call to Order
a. Chair N. Maggard called the meeting to order at 4:49 PM.
b. Members Present: E. Akcan, M. Benda, N. Brennan, S. Bruyere, J. Butcher, E. Chaudhuri, C. Cornell, A. Garcia-Ortiz, A. Haenlin-Mott, A. Keshri, K. Kopko, N. Maggard, E. Porter, E. Snell II, C. Tarala, A. Vink
c. Members Absent: D. Freeman, S. Resue, C. Schaffer
d. Also Present: R. Platt

II. Land Acknowledgement of the Gayogo̱ho꞉no (Cayuga Nation).
a. N. Maggard stated the UA’s land acknowledgment of the Cayuga Nation.

III. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda
a. None.

IV. Approval of the May 5th meeting minutes
a. C. Cornell motioned to include his attendance in the Also Present section. The motion passed with unanimous consent.
b. E. Chaudhuri motioned to adopt the May 5th meeting minutes. The meeting minutes had been adopted with unanimous consent.

V. Business of the Day
a. Welcome from the 2026-2027 Chair
i. N. Maggard introduced himself, the UA, and the Office of Assemblies. The Chair noted that the executive board will be enforcing the assembly’s attendance policy this year.
b. Summary of Last Year's Resolutions and Responses from the President
i. N. Maggard gave an overview of the 6 resolutions that the UA proposed last year. The following are resolutions that were acknowledged by the President:
1. R1: Resolution Regarding Proposed Student Code of Conduct Reform.
2. R2: Campus Code Committee’s Involvement in the Student Code of Conduct Review and Revision Process
3. R3: Institution of Core Values as a Positive Governance Document
4. R4: University Assembly authority to appoint members to governance committees acknowledged by the President, and R6: Recommending Changes to the Student Code of Conduct to Address Excessive Littering
ii. For the status of Resolution 5: Single Use Plastic Phase Out, look for the version that was passed by other assemblies.
iii. N. Maggard noted that future university assembly responses will be sent out to the full membership as they are released.
c. Discussion of Surveys and Reports
i. N. Maggard invited the assembly to discuss the usage of resolutions and how the assembly can better address problems.
1. E. Chaudhuri spoke on the importance of understanding the flow of money in the university and financial decisions from an administrative perspective. The speaker then addressed questions.
2. A. Haenlin-Mott asserted that research should be done prior to drafting resolutions for more substantive results, feedback on speakers would be helpful, and that committees and the overall UA body should collaborate and come up with agenda-enhancing ideas.
3. N. Brennan noted the continual diffusion of graduate students out of the Ithaca region due to decreasingly affordable housing and the need to address this issue.
4. A. Keshri brought up the feasibility of a short, mandated survey on what could be improved or changed on campus for new students alongside their mandated checklist.
5. C. Cornell shared that the EA’s priority poll results will be shared soon with the assembly at large.
6. E. Chaudhuri noted that there could be more ways to incentivize people to take part in these polls and to promote university governance as public service that helps the Cornell community.
7. E. Akcan mentioned the discussions surrounding the endorsement and usage on AI and its consistency with some of the core values such as social justice and sustainability.
d. Discussion of Responsibilities of UA Committee Chairs
i. N. Maggard discussed the responsibility of committee chairs and shared the goal of seeing all committee being proactive and asked for expectations that everyone should have.
1. E. Chaudhuri noted that coordination and enthusiasm is a big component that comprises a successful committee.
a. A. Keshri mentioned that she is here to help with coordination if needed.
2. N. Maggard clarified A. Vink’s question on if the frequency of committee meetings were stated on the bylaws.
e. N. Maggard motioned to move into executive session. The university assebly
moved into executive session with unanimous consent.
f. Appointment of UA Members to Committee Chairs and Committee Membership
i. Campus Codes Committee:
1. Chair: A. Vink
2. Committee Members: E. Porter, J. Butcher
ii. Campus Welfare Committee:
1. Co-Chairs: M. Benda and A. Haenlin-Mott
2. Member: S. Bruyere
iii. Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment:
1. Chair: E. Akcan
2. Members: C. Tarala, E. Chaudhuri
g. UA Liaison Nominations
i. Campus Planning Committee: A. Garcia-Ortiz
ii. Coalition for Sexual Violence Prevention: E. Chaudhuri
iii. Sustainable Cornell Council's Carbon Neutral Campus Steering Committee:
1. None
iv. Sustainable Cornell Council's Education & Engagement Steering Committee: E. Akcan
v. Sustainable Cornell Council's Campus Operations Steering Committee:
1. None

VI. Assembly Reports
a. Student Assembly
i. The first Student Assembly meeting was on August 27th.
ii. New member education was on August 16th and August 30th.
iii. The Student Assembly participated in club fest for the first time in a few years and there will be more updates in a few weeks.
b. Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
i. The first GPSA meeting was on August 31st.
c. Employee Assembly
i. The executive committee for the EA met over the summer and thought about projects over the last few meetings.
d. Faculty Senate
i. None.

VII. Committee Reports
a. Executive Committee
i. The committee met on August 14th to discuss future plans.
b. Campus Codes Committee
i. The meetings for the Campus Codes Committee will be virtual on Zoom.

VIII. Open Forum
a. None

IX. Adjournment
a. A. Garcia-Ortiz motioned to adjourn the meeting. The meeting had been adjourned with unanimous consent.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 PM.

Aug 25 UA Meeting Minutes.pdf (128.55 KB)