The Board of Governors welcomes and encourages the news media and other visitors to attend formal meetings of the Board of Governors. It also welcomes comments from students, faculty, employees, campus organizations and other members of the University community and the general public on matters properly before the Board. Such comments can enhance the understanding of the Board and make a valuable contribution to the decision-making process. In order to assure equity to those seeking to speak to the Board and to insure an environment of decorum and mutual respect, the Board of Governors adopts the following procedures on requests to address Board and Committee meetings, and participation by news media and other visitors:

The Board of Governors and its standing committees will hear comments from the University community and the general public at formal meetings of the Board. Statements will be heard either at the meetings of the standing committees or at the Board meetings. If the subject appears in the agendas for both meetings, public comments will be heard only at the standing committee meetings. Comments on subjects which do not appear on the formal agendas will be heard during the Public Comments section at the meetings of the Board of Governors.

All requests to appear before a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board or one of its committees shall be made in writing and received by the Secretary not less than 48 hours prior to the meeting (not including Saturday and Sunday). Requests shall state the reasons for appearing and shall include relevant materials on the subject matter of the request. The Secretary shall distribute copies of all such requests and supporting materials, if available, to each member of the Board in advance of the meeting.

The Board Chair may make exceptions to this requirement and permit an oral presentation without a prior written request if there are extenuating circumstances that prevented submission of a timely prior written statement.

In order to assure a full opportunity for all parties to express their views within the time frame available, oral presentations must be based upon the subject contained in the written request. If the request demonstrates that the speaker seeks only to repeat material which he/she has presented at a previous meeting, the Board may reject the request.

No more than one (1) hour shall be allocated for Public Comments at Board meetings. The length of time for presentations under Public Comments shall be determined by the Board. Individual speakers are limited to 3-5 minutes per presentation, with a total of 15 minutes for any one topic, unless extended by the Presiding Officer. If multiple requests are received for presentations on the same topic and viewpoint, the Board may recommend that one representative be designated to speak on that topic on behalf of the group. When the Board believes that adequate public input has been obtained on an issue, testimony may be closed by majority vote.

If an agenda item consists of a proposal submitted by the President (or one of his/her designees) or by some other person or group through the President, the President or his/her designee or the sponsoring person or groups shall make the initial presentation.

It is expected that all public meetings will be conducted in a manner conducive to the encouragement of frankness, openness, and fairness to all parties involved. Disruptions which attempt to prevent either side of a controversy from being presented will not be tolerated. Any person who continues speaking after having been notified that his/her time has elapsed, or who acts otherwise to disrupt a Board meeting after having been told that his/her conduct is disruptive, may be denied permission to address subsequent Board meetings for no more than two meetings following any incident or disruption.

After all presentations are completed, the Board/standing committee members may ask questions of all parties present for purposes of clarification.

A record will be kept of formal meetings.

The news media and all visitors shall conduct themselves in a manner which will not disturb the meeting or its participants.

The Board/standing committee or the President may impose reasonable restrictions on the use of cameras and recording devices as is necessary so that the progress of the meeting will not be interrupted.

These guidelines can be waived by majority consent of the Board.