The university is now in its third phase of recovery, said President David Skorton at an informal meeting with the Employee Assembly Dec. 3 -- a phase in which the university needs to turn its attention to the workloads and stresses felt by its staff members while also increasing faculty hiring and resuming construction in specific, funded areas.

Skorton said that the first phase -- freezing salaries, halting construction and selling bonds -- made immediate corrections in the fall of 2008 to the university's financial standing, while the second phase was more strategically focused on administrative streamlining and academic planning. As at other universities, the staff population absorbed the majority of cutbacks, as Cornell reduced its workforce by nine percent through early retirements, layoffs and attrition.

In the third phase, faculty hiring is resuming and construction supported through philanthropy and state funding is under way. Skorton pointed out that as the university begins to attract the start-up funding associated with new faculty and research programs, this phase will benefit staff members needed to support these growth areas.

At the same time, he said, the university is still trying to correct its work/staff ratio to fit the realities of a smaller workforce that likely will not expand to former levels and that still feels the effects of the extended recession. "We are living in uncertain times that will continue to be unsettled," Skorton said.

In responding to a comment that staff members are feeling stress and that workloads are unbalanced, Skorton said he encourages greater communication and hopes to offer more public meetings with employees next semester. "How do we get more information out to staff about what is happening on campus? Is it more public meetings? More communication from those of us on the steering group that focuses on the implementation of the Bain findings? What other methods of communication should we use?" he asked.

Vice President for Human Resources Mary Opperman, also at the meeting, noted that the message that staff members are integral to the university needs to be re-emphasized and demonstrated. "The students wouldn't be fed, the buildings wouldn't be cleaned, the support so important to faculty and students wouldn't happen -- the university couldn't operate for 24 hours without the staff that support this campus. It's important to appreciate the different purposes each of us has in the campus community."