The usual environment at a routine Michigan State University Board of Trustees meeting is "not productive" for trustees to fully understand campus issues, Chair Brianna Scott told The State News on Tuesday — which is why the university has opted for an alternative forum to engage with campus stakeholders every September, despite grievances over the meeting's closed-door policy.
The meeting, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, will host around 50 university stakeholders ranging from students, faculty, administrators and outside people. Though the exact subtopics are unknown, they will be discussing artificial intelligence, organizational effectiveness and community, among other issues.
"As trustees, it's sometimes very difficult for us to sit in those Friday public meetings and hear things and not be able to respond directly at that time," Scott said over Zoom. "That's just not the place for that. And the thought around this was that we're really just sitting there listening. This gives us the opportunity to respond in real time and to discuss those things as opposed to being talked to."
The stakeholder meeting last year generated scrutiny over its closed-door policy, with critics saying it shrouds a core tenet of university governance in secrecy. As part of the policy, the university handpicks stakeholders to meet at a private location on campus and media is barred from the room.
The State News covered last year's meeting from outside the Multicultural Center for its nearly six-hour duration. It took place in a room on the first floor, with police officers guarding both entrances and makeshift black curtains obscuring the windows.
"It really wasn't to try to keep the press out or hide anything," Scott said.
Michigan’s Open Meetings Act requires that all gatherings of a public body be open to the public. However, a 1999 state Supreme Court decision excludes public universities from the law’s requirements, due to their unique constitutional status.
That means MSU has broad discretion in deciding whether to let the public into its meetings.
Scott said the "closed setting" allows for stakeholders to speak freely without public blowback.
"We want there to be candid discussions without that fear of any type of reprisals or retaliations or anything like that," Scott said.
