Passed: September 10, 2021
Vote results with comments
President Pollack and Provost Kotlikoff Response
Posted: September 8, 2021
Sponsors: (see additional faculty sponsors listed below)
Senators:
Richard Bensel
Laurent Dubreuil
Oren Falk
Julia Finkelstein
Denise Green
Risa Lieberwitz
Trevor Pinch
Courtney Roby
Kora von Wittlesbach
Andrew Yen
Background:
This resolution concerns University policies to provide reasonable accommodations during the pandemic. University policies should be developed based on the principles of safety, transparency, and consultation to respond to faculty, instructor, staff, and student needs for a safe and healthy teaching, learning, and working environment. The resolution has been endorsed by more than 64 faculty member cosponsors, including 9 Faculty Senators, and by the Cornell Chapter of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors).
The Resolution:
Whereas, on August 11, 2021, Cornell University announced a new policy severely restricting health-related accommodations for faculty and instructional staff, stating, “[T]he university will not approve requests, including those premised on the need for a disability accommodation, to substitute remote teaching for normal in-person instruction”;
Whereas, on August 13, 2021, Provost Kotlikoff announced an additional policy stating that deans and unit leaders have discretion to “choose to offer additional options for faculty and staff with extraordinary circumstances that prevent them from teaching and working in person this fall…includ[ing] a reduction in work hours, a temporary reallocation of teaching duties, and/or short-term or partial remote instruction,” but otherwise left the August 11 policy statement unchanged;
Whereas, neither the August 11 nor the August 13 policy statements provide consistent definitions, standards, or evaluation processes to be used by deans across colleges and schools, which opens the door to ad hoc and potentially arbitrary decision-making;
Whereas, the August 11 and 13 University policies have caused a high level of stress and anxiety for faculty, instructors, staff, and students;
Whereas, Cornell’s August 11 policy statement violates its legal obligations under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act and the New York State Human Rights Law by stating an a priori policy of refusing to approve faculty or instructor requests to teach remotely, including requests based on an individual’s disability;
Whereas, Cornell’s August 13 policy statement violates its legal obligations under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act and the New York State Human Rights Law by limiting deans’ discretion to granting temporary, short-term, or partial accommodations in “extraordinary circumstances,” and by failing to adopt consistent standards and processes for such decision-making;
Whereas, Cornell’s August 11 and 13 policies fall far below its ethical obligation to provide a safe working environment for all faculty, instructors, staff, and students, and fail to meet even the minimum legal requirements to provide reasonable accommodations under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act and the New York State Human Rights Law;
Be it resolved, that the University should rescind the University’s August 11 policy of refusing to approve requests for remote teaching as a reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities;
Be it further resolved, that the University should adopt and announce policies that provide a broad and flexible approach for accommodating faculty, instructor, staff, and student health-related concerns;
Be it further resolved, that the University should adopt and announce fair and consistent standards and processes for evaluation and decision-making about reasonable accommodations for faculty, instructor, staff, and student needs for a safe and healthy teaching and learning environment;
Be it further resolved, that the University Administration should engage in good faith, full, and open consultation with the Faculty Senate and other governance bodies to develop policies that reasonably accommodate faculty, instructor, student, and staff needs for a safe and healthy teaching and learning environment.
Faculty Sponsors:
Chloe Ahmann
Catherine Appert
Sandra Babcock
David Bateman
Richard Bensel
C. Brainerd
Anthony Burrow
Eric Cheyfitz
Sherry Colb
Erin Cornwell
Ileen DeVault
Ella Maria Diaz
Molly Diesing
Deborah Dinner
Laurent Dubreuil
Shimon Edelman
Matthew Evanelista
Darlene Evans
Oren Falk
Julia Finkelstein
J. Ellen Gainer
Shannon Gleeson
William Goldsmith
Denise Green
James Grimmelmann
James Gross
George Hay
Allison Weiner Heinemann
TJ Hinrichs
Saida Hodzic
Barbara Holden-Smith
Paul Houston
Karolina Hubner
Sheri Lynn Johnson
Eunjung Kim
David Levitsky
Bruce Levitt
Risa Lieberwitz
Oskar Liivak
Alexander Livingston
Kathleen Long
Kate McCullogh
Estelle McKee
Joanie Mackowski
Kate Manne
Joseph Margulies
Natalie Melas
Jane Mendle
Juno Salazar Parrenas
Trevor Pinch
David Powers
Rachel Prentice
Aziz Rana
Riche Richardson
Russell Rickford
Courtney Roby
Itziar Rodriguez de Rivera
Nerissa Russell
Neil Saccamano
Landon Schnabel
Anette Schwartz
Suman Seth
Rebecca Slayton
Barbara Strupp
Noah Tamarkin
Sofia Villenas
Mildred Warner
Rachel Weil
Kora von Wittelsbach
Andrew Yen
Vote results:
Resolution 1 (Y=67 , N =21 , Abs = 8; DNV=32)
