Last week's open forum, sponsored by the Employee Assembly, afforded employees the opportunity to hear from top Cornell administrators and ask them questions about the state of the university.
Associate Vice President for Human Resources Mary George Opperman told the gathering about a number of issues being worked on behind the scenes, such as a new flex-time policy. Senior Vice President Fred Rogers offered a mixed assessment of the university situation. He noted that some degree programs were falling behind in applications, but also offered that a "stronger state budget" and a robust performance by the stock market has put the university in a financial position to be able to offer more significant pay increases.
Afterward, Media Services Editor Trudie Calvert, a member of the Employee Assembly, called the report from administrators "upbeat and very positive."
Several Employee Assembly members said they were appreciative of the turnout and the participation of top administrators and pointed out the forum provides an opportunity for employees to get answers to their questions.
"I think any forum that provides an employee with the opportunity to ask any question of top administrators is certainly an event that is worth attending," said Melissa Purvis, vice chair of the Employee Assembly.
Anne M. Herson, an administrative assistant with the Central Europe Human Resources Initiative in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said she believed the administrators were frank and honest about the issues they addressed, but that there remains a need for ongoing communication between administrators and staff members.
"There needs to be more of these opportunities," Herson said. "I'm sure there are many more issues that employees are concerned about that were not addressed at the forum."
Questions from the audience dealt with a variety of issues, such as the new pay scale, staff educational opportunities, dental benefits, as well as a host of technology questions related to Project 2000.
Project 2000 was the focus of last year's open forum sponsored by the Employee Assembly, which was attended by more than 1,000 employees.
"I think the attendance at last week's forum was good," Purvis said. "I think turnout at last year's forum was significant because of the many unanswered questions people had concerning Project 2000 and its impact on the workplace.
"Our role in the Employee Assembly," she said, "is to make sure that employee concerns are addressed as well as to provide opportunities for employees to be part of the decision-making at Cornell."
Click here for coverage of the open forum.
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