Policy Type: Governance Process
Policy Title: Meetings
The Board will conduct its meetings consistent with State law and at such time and place within the boundaries of the College district, and in such a manner as it may deem appropriate.
Regular meetings of the Board shall be held on the appointed time and day and place designated by resolution of the Board, and that notice shall be provided in accordance with PA 267 of 1976 as amended (The Open Meetings Act) and in accordance with Act 331 of 1966, as amended (The Community College Act).
2. Special meetings of the Board may be called by the Chairperson, or any four Board members, by serving on the other members a written/electronic notice of the day, time, and place of such special meetings and in compliance with PA 267 of 1976 (sections 4 and 5) and at least eighteen hours prior to said meeting time.
3. The order of business for regular Board meetings shall be as follows: I. GENERAL BUSINESS, A. Call to Order, B. Introduction of Guests, C. Review of Agenda and approval of additions, deletions, or rearrangements, D. Open Comments limited specifically to comments related to board agenda items, E. Special Order of Business – New Business. II. MONITORING REPORTS, F. Report(s) – student success, additional monitoring reports, and finance update. III. UPDATES, G. Student Report, H. Foundation Update (quarterly), I. Board Chair Report, J. President’s Update. IV. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS, K. Communications to the Board. V. CONSENT ITEMS, L. Minutes of previous meetings, grant awards/requests, personnel transactions & financial transactions. These items will be adopted as a group without specific discussion. When approving the meeting agenda, any board member may request that a consent agenda item be moved to the regular agenda for discussion or questions.VI. ACTION ITEMS, P. Purchases over $100,000. VI. OPEN COMMENT. VII. FINAL BOARD COMMENTS. VIII. Adjournment.
4. The Board shall solicit the advice and counsel of citizens in planning and operating the College. Meetings of the Board shall be open to the public. All citizen communications to the Board, both oral and written, shall be directed to the Board. Written communication shall come under Communication to the Board. Oral communication shall come under Public Comments. The Chairperson shall allot a visitor, at the appropriate time, not more than three minutes unless time is increased or decreased by the majority of the Board.
5. To place an item on the agenda, the Trustee shall relate the item to Board policy. Upon agreement from three other trustees, the item is to be placed as an issue on the agenda as Special Order of Business of a subsequent or future meeting as determined by the President in consultation with the Chairperson. Any concern raised between meetings shall be presented formally by the Trustee at the next Regular meeting. During the discussion of the issue, Trustees shall consider how the issue is related to Board policy and the College mission; whether the issue is for the good of the College’s learning community; whether the issue is future oriented; whether a policy is needed. The President of the College shall provide information to assist the Board with decisions. The issue leaves the Board table when the Board has determined by consensus that it has been appropriately informed or appropriate action has been taken.
- Information from Trustees for board study or perusal shall be emailed or delivered to the President-Trustee Executive Office one week before a regular board meeting or a board retreat.
6. Any legal meeting of the Board may be adjourned to a specific time and place in accordance with the Open Meetings Act, Paragraph 5, Section 5, of AP 267 of 1976. Only problems on the agenda of the meeting adjourned may be acted upon at the adjourned meeting.
7. The Board shall conduct business according to the procedure outlined in Robert’s Rules of Order, newly revised, which provides:
• Members are not required to obtain the floor before speaking which they can do while seated.
• Motions must be seconded.
• There is no limit to the number of times a member can speak to a question and motions to limit or close debate generally should not be entertained.
• The Chairperson will acknowledge members who are absent.
8. The Michigan Community College Act requires a majority of the members of the Board to open a meeting (a quorum of 4) but no act is valid unless adopted by vote at a meeting of the Board by a majority vote of the members elect of the Board and a proper record is made of the same.
- Board members are able to fully participate in meetings (including voting) via video-conference or tele-conference.
9. The Chairperson shall stop any discussion that does not apply to the motion last made. He/she may also stop the discussion of a matter if the Board has previously agreed to confine discussion to a definite period of time, and that period has been used up. Aside from such limitations, the chairperson shall not interfere with debate as long as a member wishes to speak. Discussions by Trustees shall be made to the entire Board in audible voice. The chairperson shall ask for discussion of motions before proceeding to call the vote.
10. When a motion has been made, the same may be withdrawn by the movant at any time before the vote has been taken. A new motion is out of order while another motion is being discussed unless it is an amendment to or a substitute for the motion under consideration. Exceptions are that the motion to adjourn, motion to table a previous motion, motion to refer the motion being discussed, and the motion to vote immediately (on the previous question) are always in order.
11. Minutes of all the proceedings of the Board at the previous meeting/s shall be prepared by the secretary and mailed or delivered to the members at least 48 hours before the time of the next regular meeting. At the next regular meeting the Board shall approve the minutes of the preceding meeting/s. A copy of all motions shall be carefully recorded. Minutes shall show both the original entry and the corrections. The minutes will include all resolutions, policies, and references to documents on file approved by the Board. The official minutes shall be bound and kept in the administrative offices of the College. Records of the Board shall be available to citizens for inspection at the offices of the Board in accordance with Act 442 of the Public Act of 1976 as amended (The Michigan Freedom of Information Act) and any other applicable statute.
Policies may be revised, added to, or amended at a regular meeting of the Board by a majority vote of the elected members provided that the revision, addition or amendment has been presented at least one previous Board meeting. The Board shall annually review and appraise existing policies. To protect the Board and to protect unusual procedures, the operation of any section or sections of these policies, not established by law, may be temporarily suspended by a majority vote of the Board at a regular or special meeting. The Board shall publish any revisions, additions, amendments, or deletions of these policies.