University Assembly Meeting

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

• Term:
  2026-2027
• Assembly/Committee: University Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Tue, Oct 20, 2026 - 4:45pm
  to
  6:15pm
• Location:
  Zoom
• Agenda:

  Call to Order Roll Call   Land Acknowledgment of the Gayogo̱ho:nǫ (Cayuga Nation) Approval of the September 29, 2026 Meeting Minutes Call for Late Additions to the Agenda  Business of the Day Presentation on AI and Sustainability: Steve Jackson, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation  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 4:46 PM.
       b. Members Present: E. Akcan, A. Barnes, M. Benda, S. Bruyere, J. Butcher, E. Chaudhuri, C. Cornell, D. Freeman, A. Haenlin-Mott, A. Keshri, N. Maggard, E. Porter, S. Resue, C. Schaffer, E. Snell II, C. Tarala, A. Vink
       c. Members Absent: A. Garcia-Ortiz, N. Brennan, K. Kopko
       d. Also Present: S. Jackson
  
  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. None.
  
  IV. Approval of the Sept 29th meeting minutes
       a. C. Cornell motioned to adopt the September 29th meeting minutes. The meeting minutes had been adopted with unanimous consent.
  
  V. Business of the Day
       a. Presentation on AI and Sustainability: Steve Jackson, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation
            i. S. Jackson provided information regarding early steps on Sustainable Computing at Cornell, such as adding computing as campus sustainability focus area and developing methodologies for tracking computing-specific energy and water usage, the Sustainable Computing Working Group and their duties, and findings from the Cornell Unplug initiative.
            ii. S. Jackson took questions from the Assembly regarding the effectiveness of differentiating individual awareness and institutional changes and plans on implementing institutional changes in the future.
  
  VI. Assembly Reports
       a. Student Assembly
            i. The Student Assembly discussed resolutions surrounding recent events that ask for policy changes on the attitudes that the administration has towards sexual violence response. The Student Assembly had also recently presented a resolution asking for the termination of flock contracts immediately on campus. In addition, all 14 Student Assembly committees are now active.
  Elections have begun, and call for candidates for four first year seats, one transfer seat, two students in the College of Arts & Sciences, one student in the Dyson School, and one Veterans representative, have also been sent out.
       b. Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
            i. The GPSA is in the process of collecting information from Graduate and Professional Students about the impact that they may be experiencing from anything around the moratorium on event permits.
       c. Employee Assembly
            i. The Employee Assembly had a meeting on October 7th. The presentation regarding projected endowment benefit changes for staff had been postponed to October 21st upon the presenter’s request. The Employee Assembly passed a resolution on budget allocation and held discussions regarding committee work, the Executive Committee statement that went
  out to all staff, the Town Hall presented to the staff, the faculty resolution for a no confidence vote that moved into executive session, and current political issues. There was also a reminder of the open UA staff positions to all staff.
       d. Faculty Senate
            i. The Faculty Senate met on October 14th, and President Kotlikoff answered questions from Senators and faculty, with most topics concerning Jane Doe’s case and the university’s response to it. Two agenda items, Dean Dunifon speaking about faculty roles in implementing Task Force recommendation and Laura Weiss from the SHARE Office helping faculty understand those resources and how they can help students, were postponed to a future meeting. The Faculty Senate then debated the no confidence resolution. The Faculty Senate is meeting again on October 28th and will begin with additional debate on the no confidence resolution.
  
  VII. Committee Reports
       a. Executive Committee
            i. The Executive Committee met on September 20th after the UA meeting to discuss the Jane Doe case and the university’s response it.
       b. Campus Codes Committee
            i. No updates.
       c. Campus Welfare Committee
            i. The Campus Welfare Committee met on October 15th with a discussion on topics that the committee would like to address and to determine next steps for the committee. The committee’s next meeting was on October 27th.
       d. Campus Committee on Infrastructure, Technology, and the Environment
            i. The Committee met on September 29th and noted two priorities:
                 1. Sustainability: concerning the recently added challenges due to AI enthusiasm, single-use plastics, and bike lane safety issues.
                 2. Affordability: concerning mainly about the recent rises in housing costs for graduate students, faculty, and staff.
  
  VIII. Liaison Reports
       a. Campus Planning Committee
            i. The Campus Planning Committee discussed campus road reconstruction and the phases with which it is to be accomplished. It is currently in design. The City of Ithaca came to discuss other areas that they are considering. There will be more information after a scheduled December meeting.
       b. Coalition for Sexual Violence Prevention
            i. No updates.
       c. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Carbon Neutral Campus Steering Committee
            i. No updates.
       d. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Education & Engagement Steering Committee
            i. No updates.
       e. Sustainable Cornell Council’s Campus Operations Steering Committee
            i. No updates.
       f. Sustainable Working Group
            i. No updates.
  
  IX. Open Forum
       a. The Assembly discussed the Faculty Senate’s no confidence resolution and if the UA should respond.
  
  X. Adjournment
       a. C. Cornell motioned to adjourn the meeting. The meeting had been adjourned with unanimous consent.
  
  The meeting was adjourned at 5:41 PM

  Oct 20 UA Meeting Minutes.pdf (130.14 KB)