Wednesday, Sept 9, 3:30-5:00pm, Zoom Link.
Audio and chat are posted on this webpage shortly after the meeting.
Agenda
Announcements [slides, 5 min ]
Presentation and discussion of a resolution that would approve a unified Professor of the Practice Policy for the S.C. Johnson College of Business [slides , 10 min].
Discussion to provide feedback to the EPC as they will be considering three proposed changes to the Code of Academic Integrity, all prompted by S20 experiences [slides , 20 min]:
1. Using video in lieu of having a primary hearing independent witness
2. A method for handling cases that involve many students
3. Giving the instructor the right to change the student’s chosen grade option
Update on the Anti-Racism Initiatives [slides, 20 min]
Discussion of the Behavioral Compact Effort and Its Philosophy [slides, 35 min]
Social distancing/mask-wearing expectations add a new dimension to the three-way relationship that exists between students, staff, and faculty. The covid-19 dashboard and this recent column in the Sun are reminders that we need to think about where these relationships are going. The planned discussion will start with brief accounts from students who are contributing to various public health related initiatives on campus. Background material includes this Cornell Health Behavioral Compact Guide for Faculty, this Cornell Sun Opt-Ed (9/3), this article that appeared in the July issue of the Atlantic, and this Compact Monitor Training PPT for student Peer Ambassadors.
Meeting Recording (audio) (chat)
What is Cornell doing to serve the Ithaca community in this time of need? Should an Ivy League institution with a $7 billion endowment allow its employees to suffer if the campus were to shut down? Why did the administration decide to allocate 0.2% of the endowment to help fund the projected budget short fall? Why was austerity chosen instead? Will the administration refund it’s employee’s pay cuts if the actual shortfall is not as large as projected or if the endowment performs well during the pandemic (as it should have)?
On the S/U grade option: Say the student is doing B+ work, but a violation results in a zero for a given assignment, lowering the grade to, say, C+. In other words, “S.” There’s no grade penalty. Does *any* violation, even if minor, automatically trigger the “U,” such that the student then has to decide between losing the credit for the class or taking a possible hit to the GPA? Would that mean that the S/U grade option would in practice come to mean “S/U *unless* you are convicted of any AI violation whatsoever, and if so then your grade can never be higher than C-“?
On the behavioral compact issue: Should the Behavioral Compact apply to faculty and staff as well as students? Equity issues would suggest it should. But, if it does, what would the consequences be? How would they differ for different groups: tenured faculty, tenure-track, RTE, non-union staff, union staff, hourly employees, salaried employees, retired faculty, retired staff?
I wonder if we might have a report on the operations and financial condition of Cornell Tech. Since our retirement money is, at least in part, contributing to the support of Cornell Tech, it seems appropriate that we should know what exactly is going on down there.
Richard Bensel
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Has the Senate ever considered banning sports such as football and hockey that have been shown to cause head injuries resulting in severe negative outcomes? It just seems ironic that a university such as Cornell would tolerate such activities. In my time as a senator I cannot recall such a resolution.