Committees
Policy governing open meetings
Any committee that is subject to the Open Meeting Law must meet in an open meeting after giving proper notice to both the public and the committee members. This notice must be posted at least 24 hours in advance, in that place where the committee has previously advised the secretary of state it will post public notices and must contain an agenda of all items to be discussed at the meeting.*
No legal action involving a final vote or decision may be taken other than in an open meeting.
Except for subcommittees and advisory committees, minutes of open meetings must be kept and made available for public inspection, within three working days of the meeting. Members of the public must be permitted to record portions of the meeting. Executive sessions may be called only to discuss topics enumerated in the statute, which are:
- Discussion of matters in connection with the employment (hiring, salary, dismissal, etc.) of a public employee or officer. When an item of this nature is to be discussed, the employee involved is to be given 24 hours notice of the meeting individually, and has the right to require that such a discussion be held in an open meeting.
- Discussion of records exempt by other law from public inspection.
- Consultation with attorneys to obtain legal advice, or to discuss pending or contemplated litigation.
- Discussions involving salary negotiations with employee organizations.
- Discussions regarding negotiations regarding purchasing or leasing of real estate.
- Discussion of international or inter-state negotiations.
No final legal action or vote may be taken in any executive session. Such a vote may only be taken when the committee convenes in an open session.
When a committee intends to meet in an executive session, it is required to give 24 hours notice of such executive session to the public.* Such notice must include an agenda, but the agenda need only contain a general description of the matters to be considered, and need not contain information that would defeat the purpose of an executive session. Where an executive session is to be held, the notice must state the specific provision of law (A.R.S. 38-431.03) which authorizes the executive session.
The meetings of the committee, whether in open or executive session, may only deal with those items on the agenda contained in the advance public notice.
Either written minutes or recordings must be kept for all meetings of such committees, including executive sessions. Executive session deliberations may not be revealed either by minutes, by recordings, or by any present, except to other members of the committee who were not present, or to employees whose specific cases were discussed at the executive sessions.
* Committees subject to these procedures are the Intellectual Property Committee, Residency Classification Appeals Board and the Parking Citations Appeals Board.
The places that have been designated by the university for posting and publishing such notices are: ASU Insight and the directory at the Memorial Union.