Scope of Survey

• Survey was taken of 234 Cornell employees working in Seneca Place, Ithaca, New York  during November 2005.
• 152 surveys were returned (65%)
• Responses were on a scale of 5 (Very Satisfied) to 1 (Very Dissatisfied).
• Survey instrument used

Next Steps

Your input is very important to us.  Efforts to implement suggestions and fix problems will be listed here as plans are solidified.  Please check back frequently.  Changes to date based on survey input:

• Women's Room:  Full length mirrors installed in women's rest rooms (Nov 2005).

• Women's Room:  Shelves installed in women's rest rooms (Nov 205)

• Elevators:  Ciminelli Property Management and Otis Elevator have identified and made three adjustments to address the problems that have been experienced with the elevators. These adjustments included: (a) changing out the weights under the elevator cars (b) resetting the safety switches and (c) adjusting the elevator supports. (Dec 2006)

• Temperature issues:  System balancing continues.  Base delivery heat temperature set point turned up.  Room by room investigation and cure of temperature problems implemented.  Key issues identified.  There is a bank of offices on the second floor that overhang the sidewalk below resulting in floor temperatures (and subsequently room temperatures) in these offices that are too cold. We are presently scoping out a solution to this and a remedy is forthcoming. There are scattered offices experiencing window glazing issues (drafts). A log of these rooms is prepared and the window glazer is being scheduled to conduct repairs.
  (Dec 2006)

• Elevators:  Installed copper phone lines to improve reliability for the emergency phone system.  Property management has been testing the emergency system weekly. (Dec 2006)

• Elevators:  Repaired local alarms/sirens in the elevators. (Dec 2006)

• Women's Room: Disabled "courtesy flush" option on electronic toilets.  Adjusted flush sensors.  (Dec 2006)

• Women's Room:  Increased temperature of the hot water to the women’s restrooms.  Installed new mixing valves to increase hot water flow.  (Dec 2006)

• Women's Room:  Installed additional trash receptacles.  Mid-day janitorial clean-up of women's restroom has been implemented.  (Dec 2006)

• Shopping options:  Seneca Place food and beverage managers have been advised that the Cornell survey revealed a number of comments that the cost of lunch downtown is expensive and that they would like to see less expensive ($5.00 or less) alternatives. They have been asked to address this with one or more of the following options: (a) providing a menu selection of lunch items for under $5 (b) offering building occupants a discount on menu items. (Dec 2006)

• Downtown:  Survey results were shared with Mayor and other City officials in January.  Mayor has proposed ordinance to prohibit "aggressive panhandling" on the Commons, but there are legal challenges which could prevent adoption of the law.  City did report that a third policeman has been added to the Commons.  City will consider other input from building occupants. (Jan 2006)

• Decor:  Cornell Real Estate begins assisting Alumni Affairs in art selection and installation. (Jan 2006)

• Shopping options:  Cornell issued letter in support of Kinney Drug opening store on the Commons.  (Jan 2006)

• Noise:  Cornell Real Estate tests high-tech noise canceling system.  Results not satisfactory. (Jan 2006)

• Temperature issues:  The window caulking is almost complete.  This should have an enormous impact on the temperature.  Second, Ciminelli has engineered and is installing a heating system under the area of the 2d floor that overhangs the sidewalk.  They will put in heating coils and then insulate them from underneath.  Last, air volume and thermostat adjustments continue. (Jan 2006)

• Fumes:  It has been determined that the fumes came from 1) the air intake located near the loading dock and 2) sucked in through the front windows.  The caulking will solve the front problem.  For the loading dock, in addition to continue trying to manage the truck idling, Ciminelli is installing a CO2 monitor and Nitrous (sp?) monitor inside the air intake.  The monitors will detect diesel and other fumes and automatically shut down that air intake. (Jan 2006)

Survey Results

SATISFACTION WITH SENECA PLACE

• Overall satisfaction w/ Seneca Place as a place to work: 4.0 

• Satisfaction with important topics:

Topic		Average Response
Your personal work space	Dissatisfied    Satisfied	3.7
Your department/organization's space		3.5
Quality of the building		4.0
Elevators		3.0
Heating and cooling		2.8
Lighting		3.6
Restroom facilities		3.2
Exercise facilities		4.2
Private telephone rooms		4.2
Informal meeting rooms		4.1

If you could change one thing to improve Seneca Place as a place to work, what would it be?	Percent of Responses
Noise / poor acoustics	20%
Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (better temperature control / air quality)	18%
Bathrooms (auto-flushing, no hot water, no shelf, not enough garbage cans)	12%
Lighting	7%
Color scheme too dull and dark	6%
Improve the interaction between departments and floors	6%
Security system is a hassle - unlock some of the doors	5%

SATISFACTION WITH DOWNTOWN

• Overall satisfaction w/ Downtown as a place to work: 4.0 

• Satisfaction with important topics:

Topic		Average Response
The Downtown environment		3.7
Parking		3.6
Accessibility (easy/difficult to commute to)		3.8
Location (convenience to home, shopping, doctors, schools, etc.)		3.5
Safety		3.5
Cleanliness and attractiveness		3.5
Exciting and vibrant		3.6

OTHER RESULTS

Please rate your level of satisfaction working Downtown at Seneca Place compared to your previous office space		3.4
Assuming working on campus is not an option, would you recommend Downtown to the Cornell Administration as a location for other Cornell employees to work?		3.8

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

Winners of $50 Gift Certificates

• Chantal Champagne
• Ben Davis
• Andrea C. Gibbs
• Andri Goncarovs
• Sheila Reakes