University Assembly Meeting

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

• Term:
  2026-2027
• Assembly/Committee: University Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Tue, Sep 29, 2026 - 4:45pm
  to
  6:15pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:

  Call to Order Roll Call   Land Acknowledgment of the Gayogo̱ho:nǫ (Cayuga Nation) Approval of the September 15, 2026 Meeting Minutes Call for Late Additions to the Agenda Business of the Day Presentation: Michael I. Kotlikoff, President of Cornell University & ​​​​Kyle Kimball, Vice President for University Relations​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Assembly Reports Student Assembly Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Employee Assembly Faculty Senate Committee Reports Executive Board Campus Codes Committee Campus Welfare Committee Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment       V. 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                   f. Sustainable Computing Working Group    VI. Open Forum   VII. Adjournment

  
   

• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
       a. Chair N. Maggard called the meeting to order at 4:45 PM.
       b. Members Present: E. Akcan, A. Barnes, M. Benda, N. Brennan, S. Bruyere, J. Butcher, E. Chaudhuri, C. Cornell, D. Freeman, A. Garcia-Ortiz, A. HaenlinMott, A. Keshri, K. Kopko, N. Maggard, E. Porter, S. Resue C. Schaffer, E. Snell II, C. Tarala, A. Vink
       c. Members Absent:
       d. Also Present: M. Kotlikoff, K. Kimball
  
  II. Land Acknowledgement of the Gayogo̱ho꞉no (Cayuga Nation).
       a. N. Maggard stated the UA’s acknowledgment of the Cayuga Nation.
  
  III. Call for Late Additions to the Agenda
       a. E. Akcan motioned to add a discussion of recent events to the agenda. The motion was approved with unanimous consent.
  
  IV. Approval of the September 15th meeting minutes
       a. C. Cornell motioned to adopt the September 15th meeting minutes. The meeting minutes had been adopted with unanimous consent.
  
  V. Business of the Day
       a. UA Liaison Nominations:
            i. Sustainable Cornell Council's Carbon Neutral Campus Steering Committee:
                 1. None.
            ii. Sustainable Cornell Council's Campus Operations Steering Committee:
                 1. None.
       b. Presentation: Michael I. Kotlikoff, President of Cornell University & Kyle Kimball, Vice President for University Relations
            i. President Kotlikoff commented on the recent sexual assault incident involving the Chi Phi fraternity and answered the Assembly’s pre-submitted questions revolving the strength of the current shared governance model and what could be done differently, how is leadership planning to raise awareness of AI usage in education and its contradictions with Cornell’s core values such as climate change mitigation, and more.
            ii. The president took questions from the assembly regarding how the university handled the recent sexual assault incident and the possibility of hosting a townhall for the student population, misinformation and social media coverages regarding the recent incident, Title XI procedures and the responsibilities of the police and the Title XI office surrounding the incident, plans to communicate with the media, and plans on addressing Chi Phi and appropriate structure around Greek Life activities, and more.
  
  VI. Assembly Reports
       a. Student Assembly
            i. The Student Assembly discussed resolutions on topics such as faculty requesting medical notes. The Student Assembly is expanding seats to add a non-voting seat for the ROTC community as well as the Office of Ethics and Elections to ensure first-year representation. The Student Assembly held a public hearing on October 1st. In addition, the Student Assembly introduced Resolution 15, addressing policy reforms surrounding drug and consent education and investment into mental health and sexual assault resources on campus, and asked for the administration to host a town hall to talk to the general student body about recent events. 
       b. Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
            i. The GPSA focused on filling open positions and preparing for the Ivy+ Conference in Massachusetts. The GPSA’s next meeting was on October 5th.
       c. Employee Assembly
            i. The Employee Assembly’s next meeting was on October 7th and hosted a presentation regarding projected endowment benefit changes for staff.
       d. Faculty Senate
            i. The Faculty Senate drafted a resolution on recommended syllabus language and have started a working group to establish policies for proctoring exams. The Senate met again on October 14th.
  
  VII. Committee Reports
       a. Executive Committee
            i. The Executive Committee met and prepared for the President’s visit.
       b. Campus Codes Committee
            i. No updates.
       c. Campus Welfare Committee
            i. The Campus Welfare Committee’s first meeting is after Fall Break.
       d. Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment
            i. The Committee’s first meeting was on September 29th after the UA meeting.
  
  VIII. Liaison Reports
       a. Campus Planning Committee
            i. No updates.
       b. Coalition for Sexual Violence Prevention
            i. No updates.
       c. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Education & Engagement Steering Committee
            i. No updates.
       d. Sustainable Computing Working Group
            i. The Sustainable Computing Working Group shall meet next month.
  
  IX. Late Agenda Items
       a. Discussion of Recent Events
            i. The Assembly expressed concerns about Cornell being in the mass media cycle and the lack of engagement that Cornell has had with mass media, how the lack of action in 2024 exposes the number of reforms that needs to be made to the University conduct policies. The Assembly discussed the authority of the UA to investigate the incident without waiting for the administration, the disparity between how different people and types of involvement are punished, the major flaw in the University structure when immediate responses and feedbacks are needed, and the possibility of opening a UA Instagram account to share information to the public similar to the Student Assembly’s Instagram.
            ii. C. Cornell motioned to extend the meeting by 15 minutes. The meeting had been extended by 15 minutes with unanimous consent.
            iii. A. Garcia-Ortiz motioned to extend the meeting by 5 minutes. The motion
  passed with unanimous consent.
  
  X. Open Forum
       a. None.
  
  XI. Adjournment
       a. E. Chaudhuri motioned to adjourn the meeting. The meeting had been adjourned with unanimous consent.
  
  The meeting was adjourned at 6:32 PM.

  Sept 29 UA Meeting Minutes.pdf (129.36 KB)