The MSU Board of Trustees will meet today to decide policy concerns and more than $5 million worth of funding proposals — but it won't be the first time they discuss them.
Most months, the publicly elected board meets in closed work sessions the day before its formal Friday meetings. During the sessions, which are not open to the public or media, members gather by committee to discuss proposals they will vote on the next day. The two committees are the Finance and Audit Committee and the Policy Committee.
Then, to cap off the day, board members will join MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and members of the administration for a dinner at Cowles House, the traditional residence of MSU presidents, which is now used for university functions.
"The dinner is just a way, like if you're at a conference, to meet and talk," Simon said. "There is no real agenda."
Despite the informality of the event, Simon denied a request to have a State News reporter present.
Michigan's Open Meetings Act requires publicly elected bodies to conduct business with nearly complete public transparency to ensure their accountability to constituents.
But a 1999 Michigan Supreme Court ruling exempted the university's board from complying with the act in some instances.
Board Chairman David Porteous said although the board reviews the materials they will discuss during the work sessions, "no decisions are made."
The board's formal Friday meetings are open to the public, and time is set aside at each for public comment.
Robert Murphy, ASMSU Academic Assembly chairperson, said he has noticed a pattern of quick action, and little discussion, at board meetings.
"It seems many times things have been talked about beforehand," Murphy said.
Murphy serves as a student liaison to the board and has attended meetings since April.
In 1999, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled against The State News in a lawsuit concerning the issue of closed meetings. The suit was filed in 1993 during the university's presidential search, which ended in the appointment of former MSU President M. Peter McPherson as the university's 19th president.
Brian Kalt, MSU College of Law associate professor, said the decision states that the university has a right to keep informal meetings closed in some situations.
"The decision reads that the application of the (Open Meetings Act) to the internal operations of the university in selecting a president infringes on defendant's — and by defendant they mean the board's — constitutional power to supervise the institution," Kalt said.
Trustee Colleen McNamara, who is chairwoman of the Policy Committee, said the Thursday meetings are closed because it would hinder the work of the board to have reporters present.
"We're not trying to hide anything," McNamara said. "We find that this system brings out the best of the board."
Speaking as she arrived for the dinner Thursday evening, McNamara said the board could not be at its most creative if members had to worry that everything they said could be written down. The public is always welcome to call the trustees to find out what they are working on, she said.
"In fact, when most of the trustees come into these things, they are talking about what they hear from students," McNamara said.
Josh Jarman can be reached at jarmanjo@msu.edu.
