Those are a lot of questions, which I'm afraid I will not be able to answer. Only someone associated with Cornell will be able to guide you. But I can tell you this, that a grade 8 (Manager) in my company gets somewhere along 22K-25K to start with GROSS.

Salaries are always negotiable based on the years of experience and how impressed they are with you at the interview.

I'm sure you're gonna be here at least for a couple days, if not more. If you do happen to get a draft contract, you may wanna share it here on QL and then judge from the feedback.

GOOD LUCK! :-)