Closed-door work sessions held by the MSU Board of Trustees are legal and necessary to build trust between the members, said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon at a Residence Halls Association meeting Wednesday night.
"Nothing we're doing is violating the state law," Simon said.
The MSU Board of Trustees holds private work sessions and dinners on Thursdays before the full board meetings, but some trustees have said they do not discuss issues that will be presented the next day.
During the meeting between Simon and student government members, the president also fielded questions about banning smoking in dorms and the racial makeup of residence halls.
Simon said the administration has looked at the racial makeup of the dorms and said students need to feel comfortable in their living environments.
"Individuals have to feel they are a part of the community," she said.
Simon said the issue needs to be looked at more closely because there are other factors that play into where students choose to live, such as the availability of single rooms and the patterns of returning students who are able to select their specific rooms and halls.
Banning smoking in the residence halls is something that needs to be looked at carefully because it is difficult to choose between protecting the public good and preserving individual rights, said Simon, adding she smoked, herself, while an undergraduate student at Indiana State University.
Simon attends an RHA meeting at least once a year, and Wednesday's meeting was her second, RHA President Kevin Newman said.
"I hope that once a semester becomes the standard," Newman said. "It's not too much to ask of her schedule, and I believe she values the student input as much as we value hers."
