Appearances Before the University Council, the Faculty Senate and Their Standing Committees

• Consistent with applicable law, the university Council (Council) shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the council or its standing committees at each regular or special meeting of the council or its standing committees. The opportunity for public comment shall be on the approved agenda of the meeting. In lieu of oral presentations, individuals may present brief written materials not to exceed five pages to the administrative assistant for the council for distribution and consideration by the council or its standing committees in advance of the meeting.
• Standing committees of the council review university proposals for action and make adjustments and endorsements as appropriate for further consideration by the full council. Public comments are generally most useful at meetings of council standing committees where proposals are first considered and the time for interaction most feasible.
• Those members of the public who wish to address the council or its standing committees must register on a council-provided request form which must be completed by the requester and provided to the council's administrative assistant or chair of the meeting before the scheduled start of the meeting. To be recognized, the appearance request must include the name of the individual wishing to speak. The requester can, but is not required to, provide the following information on the council-provided request form: address, contact information (such as phone number, e-mail address, or other), position, name of any organization or group represented, concise summary of the presentation, whether the requester has appeared earlier on the topic before any other meeting of the council or its standing committees, and any other pertinent information that the requester would like to provide on the form to inform the council or its standing committees as to the content or purpose of the public comment.
• The chair of the meeting will recognize duly registered individuals at the appropriate point during the meeting. The chair of the meeting has the discretion to set reasonable time, place and manner constraints on any appearance before the council or its standing committees in order to maintain decorum at the public meeting, assure that such meetings are efficiently conducted, or when it is otherwise necessary to further a significant university interest. All appearances before the council or its standing committees must be relevant to the business and operations of the university or matters within the council's or its standing committees' jurisdiction. Unduly repetitive comments may be restricted by the chair. Those appearances that are not relevant or unduly repetitive will be ceased and not allowed to continue, so as to not inappropriately disrupt the business and operations of the council or its standing committees.
• While requesters who properly register to appear before the council or its standing committees pursuant to this policy will be provided a reasonable opportunity to address the council or its standing committees, as required by law, they are not guaranteed any specifically allotted amount of time or any particular means of communication with the council or its standing committees beyond verbal communication. The time references mentioned in this policy are just for informational and planning purposes only. When feasible, the chair will attempt to at least provide five minutes for each requester to address the council or its standing committees. However, the scheduling of such appearances in relation to (a) the meeting agenda, (b) the number of requests for appearances, and (c) other relevant university interests is at the discretion of the chair, who may delay or defer appearances when appropriate, and defer or refer questions received from presenters for answers if available. The administrative assistant shall confer with registered speakers to cooperatively assist the chair of the meeting in assuring coordinated issue presentation and an efficient use of allocated time. The administrative assistant shall acquaint requesters with the generally accepted procedures and decorum for presentations before the council and its standing committees
• All participants in the council or its standing committee meetings should cooperate with the chair of the meeting and show due respect to other meeting participants. Meeting participants should adhere to Robert's Rules of Order and all applicable Council or standing committee protocols. A copy of this policy and any other council or its standing committee protocols, if applicable, will be reasonably available from the Council's administrative assistant upon request.
• This policy aligns with the NIU Board of Trustees Bylaws Article II, Section 4. If the NIU Board of Trustees Bylaws Article II, Section 4 is examined and subject to change in the future, equivalent changes will be made to this policy for University Council and its standing committees.

Approved by University Council – April 4, 2018.

Amendment approved by University Council – September 9, 2020.