Senator-at-Large (RTE)

Kimberly Kopko
Senior Extension Associate, Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, College of Human Ecology
 
Biography:
Kimberly Kopko received her Ph.D. in Child Development from the Department of Human Development at Cornell University. She is a Senior Extension Associate in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) in the College of Human Ecology, Associate Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) and Associate Director of Outreach and Extension in the College.
 
Her research and Extension work examines child development and parenting and family processes. Current research and outreach projects include parenting and child learning, parenting education in School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs), teens being raised by custodial grandparents, and the use of research and evidence-based parent education programs to promote positive parenting behaviors and strengthen families.
 
Kopko is a designated representative to the United Nations for The World Organization for Early Childhood Education, known internationally as OMEP, a multinational nongovernmental organization (NGO) that works for all aspects of early childhood education and care, and advocates for the rights, well-being, health and education of young children, their parents, their teachers and the institutions that serve them.
 
Candidate Statement:
Advocating for the rights of Research, Teaching, and Extension (RTE) faculty is a result of my passion and deep knowledge of RTE issues across the University. My representation of RTE faculty includes serving on the RTE Committee on Academic Title-Holder Representation (2018) and the RTE Faculty Issues Committee (2019-2021). Under the direction of Dean of Faculty Charles Van Loan, these Committees considered unique issues relevant to RTE faculty. Our work on emeritus status for certain retiring RTE titleholders was approved by the Senate and is now implemented.
 
In 2021, Dean of Faculty Eve DeRosa established the RTE Task Force and asked that I serve as Co-Chair. Continuing the work of the previous Committee, the Task Force studies issues affecting RTE faculty and proposes policies to ensure that the contributions of RTE faculty are appropriately recognized and credited. To focus our work on the issues of greatest concern to RTE faculty, we conducted campus-wide surveys and interviews and reviewed previous surveys of RTE faculty. On March 6, 2023, the Task Force put forth a new draft Resolution advocating that 1) RTE faculty have comparable structural equity and inclusion to the tenure-track and tenured faculty and 2) the Vice Provost of Academic Affairs represent the RTE faculty in University Administration, with the responsibility of determining and implementing structural equity and inclusion of the RTE faculty in collaboration with the Deans of the schools and colleges. A Faculty Forum will be held on April 26th to discuss the RTE draft Resolution which will then be presented in the April Faculty Senate meeting and voted on in May.
 
In addition to granting emeritus/a status to certain RTE faculty, the work of the Task Force has also led to additional recognition including most recently, expanded eligibility for the Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Service through Diversity to include RTE faculty.
 
In 2020, I was elected as RTE Senator-at-Large for a 3-year term, a position which has allowed me to represent RTE faculty across the University. I ask for your support for another 3-year term as RTE Senator-at-Large as I am eager to maintain the momentum of this work and continue to advocate as your representative in this role.
Patricia Campos Medina
Senior Extension Associate and Executive Director of the Worker Institute, School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Biography:
 
Dr. Campos Medina is a researcher and labor educator focusing on the intersection of race, immigration status and worker’s rights. She currently serves as a Senior Extension Associate and the Executive Director of the Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University where she leads research, policy innovation and training to advance worker justice, collective bargaining rights and the interest of workers in today’s economy and society.
   
She is a political scientist and expert on workplace and labor issues, women rights, voting rights, immigrant worker justice and US trade relations. She holds a PhD from Rutgers University and a BS and MPA from Cornell University. She is a member of the Diverse Solidarity Economies (DISE), a collective of Black and Brown Feminist Scholars focused on research that decolonizes and diversifies the field of political economy. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
   
Prior to joining the Worker Institute at ILR Cornell, Dr. Campos Medina spent 20 years leading labor organizing and collective bargaining campaigns of behalf of American workers and unions such as UNITE, UNITEHERE, Workers United and SEIU. She served in the political team of NJ Governor Jon Corzine and in the Transition Team for the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) under President Barack Obama. She served in appointed office as a Commissioner for the NJ Casino Redevelopment Authority (CRDA) from 2004-2009.
   
She is a community leader serving a President of Latina Civic Action, and an Advisory Committee Member for ELLA Wins, a program of the Center for American Women in Politics, Rutgers University, that trains Latinas interested in running for public office. Dr. Campos-Medina is recognized as an influential political and labor leader. She is a former board member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington DC and a founding board member of PODER PAC, a national organization supporting Latinas to run for the US Congress.
   
She is the host of the podcast #ActivistaRiseUp. You can follow her work on social media @DrCamposMedina. 
 
Candidate Statement:
 
I am committed to advancing the interest of faculty who care about advancing academic innovation and academic freedom. I am also interested in issues of self-care and the welfare of all Cornell employees, from faculty to administrative team members, as well as the welfare of students. The student experience can only be served best by also addressing the welfare of faculty and the administrative team. I want to contribute to creating a culture of belonging at Cornell by all who work at this great institution of higher education.
 
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