By way of full disclosure, I did not conduct my interview with Aubrie Dunn from eCornell with journalistic neutrality. I have two degrees from Cornell (ILR ‘70, Law ‘73). I bleed BIG RED. But, to overcome my predisposition towards anything Cornell, I decided to pitch some tough questions at Aubrie to see if my Cornell bias was justified. I invite my readers to be the behind the plate umpire to see if I threw her any anything that was easy to hit out of the ballpark.
But, before I begin to bring on the heat, let me introduce you to Aubrie, eCornell's Director of Marketing Operations. In that role, Aubrie unites teams throughout eCornell to ensure swift and successful marketing and product launches geared towards delivering quality content with focus on student acquisition, engagement, and retention both for individual enrollments and corporate learning solutions. She also manages projects and resources covering all aspects of the customer journey. To accomplish that, Aubrie works with key stakeholders (within eCornell and across Cornell University campus) to set priorities and expectations for projects ranging from marketing, website, creative, events, partnerships, sponsorships, to new product launches in both the B2C and B2B realm. Aubrie was raised in the 1000 Islands in Northern New York State. She studied Integrated Marketing Communications and Economics at Ithaca College in Ithaca NY. Her career at eCornell started six and half years ago, the last four working remotely from Boston MA and Pittsburgh PA.
I started Aubrie’s telephone and email interview with a fast ball, high and inside. For the sake of my readers, I reminded Aubrie that when attendees at the 2019 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition (#SHRM19) see that eCornell is a vendor, they may surmise that they can learn about eCornell on its website and decide that there are so many other booths that they can visit instead. So my question was: How do you convince conference attendees that there is real value in spending time at the eCornell booth and meeting you and your team in the booth—beyond what they can see on the eCornell website? To my surprise, Aubrie didn’t flinch from the pitch aimed right at her head. Instead, Aubrie stared me down and responded that visiting eCornell’s booth (#1647) at SHRM is a great opportunity to speak directly with expert staff and learning consultants who can help understand and define your needs (for yourself, a team, or entire organization) and identify the best program for you -- whether an existing professional certificate program or a custom-tailored executive education experience that may include blended learning pulling from elements of online coursework and in-person faculty working sessions. With over 150 corporate partners, our team works with organizations large and small every day and excels at helping companies craft solutions to meet their most urgent learning and development initiatives. Without going to the eCornell booth, attendees would not be able to see that for themselves.
Next, I tried to see if I could get Aubrie to swing at a curve ball off the outside corner. I thought it would be tough to respond to this question: If you were an attendee at #SHRM19 who came to the eCornell booth and decided to take an eCornell certificate program, how would you explain to your employer the value of eCornell so that your employer will approve your taking the eCornell program at the employer’s expense? But, instead of swinging at a bad pitch, Aubrie was unphased by my attempt to throw her off her game. She explained that the majority of companies today offer some form of tuition assistance and many would be happy to subsidize some or all of the cost of a certificate as part of your professional development and employee engagement initiatives—especially if you can make the case that it will pay off in your work. She suggested that it never hurts to ask your manager or your HR department if they are interested in helping you gain new skills that will benefit the organization. As for help in needing to convince your boss, Aubrie offered this pitch for you: Cornell University certificate programs help you (further) develop your edge by quickly gaining in-demand skills with short (but rigorous) two-week online courses. Students have the opportunity to learn directly from Cornell University faculty and industry experts, network with students across the globe, and earn a professional credential. Programs are flexible with your work schedule, affordable, and can be aligned to your organization’s existing initiatives so that you’re meeting both the company’s and your personal goals.
After that response, I realized that I couldn’t strike out Aubrie by getting her to swing at bad pitches. So I threw a dirty slider, low and away on the outside corner of the plate: What follow-up communication does eCornell have with Certificate recipients to ensure that eCornell is delivering the value that they expected they would receive from an eCornell education? Aubrie’s response was a home run over the left field wall. I knew Aubrie crushed it when she started her response with: eCornell operates with a student-first, lifelong learning mindset. She continued that during your student experience, you’ll receive various communications from your Enrollment Counselor, your Course Instructor, and a whole team dedicated 24/7 to supporting you with your studies. Each program leverages Net Promoter Score and Outcomes and Career surveys to rigorously measure the student experience and collect data that can be used to inform course updates. Aubrie concluded by mentioning that students who complete a professional certificate program through eCornell also have the opportunity to join a LinkedIn networking group to stay engaged.
Aubrie will be joined by a full team at the eCornell booth (#1647), including Jim Morris, Senior Vice President, Corporate Programs; Mark Dembo, Director of Corporate Programs; Robert Merlo, Director of Corporate Programs;Tim Hastings, Director of Corporate Programs; and Tom Lanzarone, Director of Corporate Programs
I will get to meet Aubrie in person, along with the rest of the eCornell team, when I live tweet from the eCornell booth early Monday afternoon. I hope I’ll also have the opportunity to meet some of you there.
Allan H. Weitzman is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court Mediator and Florida Bar Board Certified Labor and Employment Attorney – a combination of specialized certifications that are held by very few others. He is the Founder of Weitzman Arbitration & Mediation Services LLC.
Allan retired from the practice of law on October 31, 2017. Prior to his retirement, all of those 44+ years were at the Proskauer law firm, where Allan was first a summer associate, then an associate and ultimately a partner in Proskauer’ s Labor & Employment Law Department, where he also served as head of the labor and employment team in Proskauer’ s Boca Raton office for 23 years after his 21 years in Proskauer’ s New York Office. He also was co-head of the Disability, Accommodations & Leave Management Group, co-head of the Policies, Handbooks & Training Group and co-head of the Non-Compete and Trade Secrets Practice Group.
During his career, Allan’s practice was multifaceted. Much of the time he was either litigating in state or federal court at the trial and appellate levels. He also appeared before administrative agencies responsible for the enforcement of the numerous antidiscrimination laws and before the National Labor Relations Board. His experience includes negotiating collective bargaining agreements and arbitrating contract disputes. In addition, Allan provided valuable day-to-day and crisis advice to clients in a wide range of businesses and industries, including retailers, banks, office supply companies, insurance, securities, health care, investigators, lodging and gaming, restaurants, television networks, high end fashion design, maritime, charitable organizations, public utilities, sports and entertainment, beer distributors, not-for-profits, importers, manufacturing facilities, staffing companies, construction, aerospace, transportation, higher education, museums, technology, country clubs and airlines. On any given day, the scope of his practice included personnel policy planning, sexual harassment and avoiding litigation when terminating employees.
Corporations also called upon Allan when their former employees engaged in conduct that violated their non-compete agreements. In that regard, Allan took a case all the way to the Supreme Court of Florida and successfully argued that a successor employer can enforce a non-compete agreement signed with a former employer, even when the agreement does not contain a successors and assigns clause and where the employees have not consented to its assignment (Corporate Express Office Products, Inc. v. Phillips, 2003 WL 1883697 (Fla. April 17, 2003)).
On behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”), Allan and his partner, Paul Salvatore, submitted the amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton. The employer's “affirmative defense” that was adopted by the Supreme Court in Faragher was based on the argument made by Allan and Paul that employees who bypass an employer's internal complaint procedure should not benefit from a strict liability standard. Allan also co-authored SHRM's amicus brief in Chapman v. AI Transport, in which he successfully argued that an employer's subjective impressions could be used as valid criteria in its employment decisions. In 2004, Allan co-authored another Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of SHRM. This time his arguments in the Suders case persuaded the Court to conclude that a constructive discharge was not necessarily a tangible employment action that would deprive an employer of the availability of the Faragher affirmative defense.
Allan was named three times by Best Lawyers as “Lawyer of the Year” in Labor Law - Management, Fort Lauderdale (2017), Employment Law - Management, Fort Lauderdale (2016) and Employment Law - Management, Miami (2013).
Allan has earned a first tier Chambers ranking for his outstanding employment law work every year since 2007, naming him “first-class” and a “notable practitioner” who is an “excellent advocate with strong ethics and an unrivalled understanding of business.” He was also described as “amazingly bright” and held out as “bringing the best of both worlds: legal acumen and superb business judgments.” “He gets to the point in the most efficient and effective manner – he has the highest professional standards.”
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