OPEN MEETINGS RULES SUMMARY

1. For consistency, all faculty, academic staff and administrative recruitment will follow the Open Meetings rules of the State of Wisconsin.

2. Any committee meetings, or gatherings of one-half or more of the committee membership to discuss the matters of this committee, constitute a meeting under the Open Meetings rules. Telephone conference calls that fit this description are also subject to the Open Meetings rules.

3. Advance notice of the meetings must be given to: 1) the public, 2) any members of the news media who have submitted a written request for notice, and 3) the official newspaper/medium in the area. The executive director for human resources assumes this responsibility for the first organizational meeting for administrative searches. Thereafter this responsibility is vested in the committee chair. For all other searches, the convener or chair has this responsibility.

4. The notice should contain the time, date, place, and subject matter of the meeting, including what will be discussed in a closed session (see Sample Notice below). If you plan to go into a closed session to consider personal history relevant to hiring, for example, then you must include notice that you will go into a closed session and cite the exemptions under which you are invoking the closed session. The intent is to inform interested parties and your notice should do so. The primary method of notice is generally an announcement in the Campus Connection.

5. Notice must be given at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, unless for good cause such notice was impossible or impractical. Under these conditions at least two hours notice must be given. When it is not possible to make the announcement in the Campus Connection, the chair of the committee is charged with delivering an announcement ready for posting to Human Resources. This emergency notice will be posted on the bulletin board directly outside of 144 Main Hall. Each meeting must be posted separately.

6. All meetings of this committee must begin in an open session. It must be held in a location reasonably accessible to the public and open to all citizens. Open sessions can be audio taped or videotaped by anyone as long as doing so does not disrupt the meeting.

7. Nonmembers can observe open meetings, but do not have the right to participate in the meetings.

8. Committee minutes should record motions, roll call votes, decisions at both open and closed sessions.

9. Open sessions go into closed sessions by invoking the exemption under law that allows the committee to go into a closed session. This can be made in the form of a motion by a committee member, seconded, a role call vote held, which if positive will result in the committee going into a closed session. The motion for a Search and Screen committee would read, "I move we convene in a closed session to consider personal history information about applicants for the position of [insert title] as provided in section 19.85 (1)(f) of Wisconsin Statutes." A majority vote is required to go into a closed session. The vote and nature of the discussion should be part of the official minutes.

10. The committee may not reconvene in an open session, after going into a closed session, for 12 hours unless public notice of the subsequent open session is given in the initial public notice.

11. Any committee member who knowingly attends a meeting held in violation of the Open Meetings rules is subject to a penalty of $25-$300 per violation.

12. Please consult with Jennifer Wilson, Executive Director for Human Resources on any questions related to Open Meetings Rules.

SAMPLE

OPEN MEETING

FACULTY & ACADEMIC STAFF RECRUITMENT

SUBJECT: First Meeting of the Search & Screen Committee for the

(Position)

PLACE: Provost/Vice Chancellor’s Conference Room, Main Hall

DATE: June XX, 20XX

TIME: 11:00 a.m.

AGENDA: Introduction of Committee Members

Committee Charge

Recruitment Process Information

Affirmative Action Information

Election of Chair and Recorder

Setting Meeting Date and Time

(If applicable, indicate meeting may go into closed session, such as “Meeting will go into closed session to consider possible employment and personal history of candidates.”)