Provost Don Randel, second from right, answers a question during the Employee Assembly open forum in Bailey Hall Feb 3. He is flanked on the panel by, from left, Associate Vice President Mary George Opperman, President Hunter Rawlings and Senior Vice President Fred Rogers. Charles Harrington/University Photography
Several hundred Cornell employees spent their lunch break last week in what felt like a comfortable conversation with the university's top leaders, about the present and future of the university and its staff.
The title of the second open forum at Bailey Hall, held Feb. 3 and sponsored by the Employee Assembly, set the tone for the session: "How Employees Are Changing Cornell." Central administrators -- from President Hunter Rawlings to Provost Don Randel, Associate Vice President for Human Resources Mary George Opperman and Senior Vice President Frederick Rogers -- spoke of the value and positive force for change the university's employees are bringing to the institution.
In response, in the open question-and-answer session that followed, employees asked questions that related to issues impacting the future of their lives and careers at Cornell. For the most part, however, those questions appeared markedly free of the fears and tensions that were the subtext of questions at the same gathering a year ago.
A year ago, many of the questions expressed frustration over a planned restructuring of parking fees that included significant rate increases. As a result of employee concerns and subsequent discussions between members of the Employee Assembly and the administration, the restructuring was scaled back and so were the rate increases.
A year ago, many other questions centered around fears of job insecurity resulting from Project 2000. Now the threat of job loss seems to have been largely replaced in employees' minds with the promise of job change and career enhancement.
Last week, moderator C.J. Lance-Duboscq summed up the topic of the session as being, simply: "You."
Rawlings responded with, "I'm especially pleased that the topic today is you, because you are the individuals who make Cornell work." He noted that Cornell, like other institutions of higher education, is in a period of transition, but nonetheless had "an extraordinarily good year" on many fronts, including research grant awards, research accomplishments, and distinguished alumni and undergraduate scholastic honors.
"All of this, accomplished thanks to the work you do, highlights the very nature of the work you do." Moreover, Rawlings said, while the period of transition has caused uncertainties in the university workplace, "two years ago I called for civil discourse, and I am pleased that we have seen light, and not heat, in our discussions here. And I am pleased with the caliber of those discussions.
"In this time of transition for universities you are driving the change, you are causing the change and helping us to shape that change by your activities."
Opperman noted that, "The best way to make improvements is by the people who know the work best." She pledged that she and other administrators would continue "to listen and work to make Cornell a better place and a better place to work."
She pointed to some improvements already under way, including:
She added: "Cornell is not yet a perfect place to work. We must continue to change. We must continue to improve."
Randel told the audience he's often asked in a pointed way, "Isn't the university just a business like any other?" And he responds, he said, sometimes to the questioner's surprise: "Of course it's a business, but it's important to remember what kind of business it is. It's the business of ideas and the creation of new ideas....Ideas serve society, transform society. And I hope that every now and then I have a good idea that makes Cornell a better place to work and learn."
Rogers said he was happy to report that Cornell is in better financial condition today than it was a year ago, thanks both to a stronger state budget and the bullish stock market that has pushed the five-year average return on investment in the university's endowment fund to 15 percent.
That high rate of return, plus savings on utilities, are largely what's financed the impressive 1998 salary improvement program, Rogers added.
He also noted that while the federal Higher Education Cost Commission continues to urge universities to control costs and be more productive or risk government intervention, "At Cornell we've been at this for several years. ... We are doing what on many campuses they don't have the collective will to do: to collaborate, to work together to solve problems."
Questions from the audience covered a wide-ranging spectrum of employee concerns. Following is a condensed example of some those questions and answers:
Q:The cost to employees of athletic facilities such as Teagle, the squash courts and the university golf course are increasing. Doesn't the university want to encourage employees to be healthy?
A:Yes, but we have to maintain the right balance between the fees and the cost of maintaining facilities. And, the Wellness Program is a relatively low-cost, healthy option open to employees, with membership fees based on a sliding scale.
Q:The changes occurring in my job and what you've said today make me feel I'm part of a winning team, but my salary still is not a winning proposition. Is enough being done?
A:Employee compensation is one of Rawlings' top five priorities, and the two-step 1998 improvement plan is just the first stage of a multi-year compensation plan. Rawlings: "I hope in five years you can stand up here and say it has made a huge difference in your salary, not just a minor difference."
Q:Different supervisors across campus dispense their "pool" of merit compensation increase funds differently, based on different standards. Isn't that inherently unfair or inequitable?
A:There is the potential for inequity in such a system. However, all university departments, as well as the central human resources office, have structures for reviewing and addressing such complaints. Any employee who feels he or she has not been fairly compensated should use that structure to seek redress.
Q:Why doesn't Cornell offer dental coverage as a benefit?
A:Opperman: "I know this is difficult to believe, but at this point we simply do not have the system capability to support another benefit. We can't tamper with the deduction fields." That, she said, is why the Project 2000 team has been working first on revamping the human resources payroll system. Dental coverage is one of several new benefits being considered for employees.
Q:For many employees, particularly those who are overtime eligible, it is not possible to volunteer for community service during work hours without using vacation time or losing pay. Is it possible for all employees to have the opportunity to volunteer during work hours and still be paid for that time?
A:Opperman said she believes strongly that all employees should be encouraged to engage in community volunteer work, and she's exploring that issue right now.
Click here for reaction to the forum.
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