32 C.F.R. PART 242a—PUBLIC MEETING PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS, UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF THE HEALTH SCIENCES
Title 32 - National Defense
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552b (g); Pub. L. 94–409.
Source: 42 FR 12853, Mar. 7, 1977, unless otherwise noted.
These procedures apply to meetings of the Board of Regents, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), including committees of the Board of Regents. (a) Board or Board of Regents means the collegial body that conducts the business of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences as specified in Title 10, U.S. Code 2113, consisting of: (1) Nine persons outstanding in the fields of health and health education appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; (2) The Secretary of Defense, or his designee, an ex officio member; (3) The surgeons general of the uniformed services, ex officio members; and (4) The Dean (President) of the University, an ex officio non-voting member. (b) Board Representative means the individual named as Executive Secretary by the Board, or any person officially designated by the Board. (c) Chairman means the presiding officer of the Board, designated by the President, as specified in Title 10, U.S. Code 2113. (d) Committee means any formally designated subdivision of the Board, consisting of as least two Board members, authorized to act on behalf of the Board, including, the Board's standing committees (the Executive, Administrative Affairs, Educational Affairs, Fine Arts and Gifts, and Nominating Committees) and any ad hoc committees appointed by the Board for special purposes. (e) Meeting means the deliberations of at least a majority of all Regents in being or for committees, the deliberations of at least the number of individual voting members of the Board required to take action on behalf of the Board, where such deliberations determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of official business of the Board, but does not include: (1) Deliberations to open or close a meeting, or to release or withhold information, required or permitted by §242a.5 or §242a.6; (2) Notation voting or similar consideration of matters whether by circulation of material to members individually in writing, or polling of members individually by telephone or telegram; and (3) Instances where individual members, authorized to conduct business on behalf of the Board or to take action on behalf of the Board, meet with members of the public or staff. Conference telephone calls that involve the requisite number of members, and otherwise come within the definition, are included. (f) Member means a member of the Board of Regents. (g) Public Announcement means posting notices on the Board's public notice bulletin board, and mailing announcements to persons on a mailing list maintained for those who desire to receive notices of Board meetings, and who pay such fee as may be determined by the Executive Secretary, not to exceed $10.00 per year, to cover the costs involved in such distribution. (h) Staff includes the employees of the USUHS, other than the members of the Board. [42 FR 12853, Mar. 7, 1977, as amended at 42 FR 63775, Dec. 20, 1977] (a) Members shall not jointly conduct or dispose of business of the Board of Regents other than in accordance with these procedures. Every portion of every meeting of the Board of Regents or any committee of the Board shall be open to public observation subject to the exceptions provided in §242a.4. (b) Open meetings will be attended by members of the Board, certain staff, and any other individual or group desiring to observe the meeting. The public will be invited to observe and listen to the meeting but not to record any of the discussions by means of electronic or other devices or cameras unless approval in advance is obtained from the Executive Secretary. The public will not participate in the meeting unless public participation is invited by the Board. (c) The Executive Secretary shall be responsible for making physical arrangements that provide ample space, sufficient visibility, and adequate acoustics for public observation of meetings. Except in a case where the Board or a committee finds that the public interest requires otherwise, the open meeting requirement set forth in the second sentence of §242a.3(a) shall not apply to any portion of a Board or committee meeting, and the informational disclosure requirements of §§242a.5 and 242a.6 shall not apply to any information pertaining to such meeting otherwise required by this part to be disclosed to the public, where the Board or committee as applicable, properly determines that such portion or portions of its meetings or the disclosure of such information is likely to: (a) Disclose matters that are: (1) Specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interests of national defense or foreign policy; and (2) Properly classified pursuant to such executive order; (b) Relate solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the USUHS; (c) Disclose matters specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than Title 5, U.S. Code 552), provided that such statute: (1) Requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or (2) Establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld; (d) Disclose trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person, privileged or confidential; (e) Involve accusing any person of a crime or formally censuring any person; (f) Disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (g) Disclose investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes, or information which if written would be contained in such records, but only to the extent that the production of such records or information would: (1) Interfere with enforcement proceedings; (2) Deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; (3) Constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (4) Disclose the identity of a confidential source and, in the case of a record compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, confidential information furnished only by the confidential source; (5) Disclose investigative techniques and procedures; or (6) Endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel; (h) Disclose information contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; (i) Disclose information the premature disclosure of which would be likely to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action, except that this subsection shall not apply in any instance where the agency has already disclosed to the public the content or nature of its proposed action, or where the agency is required by law to make such disclosure on its own initiative prior to taking final agency action on such proposal; or (j) Specifically concern the issuance of a subpoena, or USUHS participation in a civil action or proceeding, an action in a foreign court or international tribunal, or an arbitration, or the initiation, conduct, or disposition by the USUHS of a particular case of formal adjudication pursuant to the procedures in Title 5, United States Code, section 554 or otherwise involving a determination on the record after opportunity for a hearing. (a) Except to the extent such information is exempt from disclosure under the provisions of §242a.4, in the case of each Board or committee meeting, the Board representative, shall make public announcement, at least 7 days before the meeting, of the following: (1) Time of the meeting; (2) Place of the meeting; (3) Subject matter of the meeting; (4) Whether the meeting or parts thereof are to be open or closed to the public; and (5) The name and telephone number of the person designated by the Board or committee to respond to requests for information about the meeting. (b) The 7 day period for the public announcement required by paragraph (a) of this section may be reduced if a majority of the members of the Board or committee, as applicable, determine by a recorded vote that Board or committee business requires that such expedited meeting be called at an earlier date. The Board or committee shall make public announcement of the time, place, and subject matter of such meeting, and whether open or closed to the public, at the earliest practicable time. (c) The time or place of a meeting or deletion of subject matter may be changed following the public announcement required by paragraph (a) of this section only if the Board representative publicly announces such change at the earliest practicable time. Such change need not be voted on by the members. (d) The subject matter of a meeting or the determination of the Board or committee, as applicable, to open or close a meeting, or portion of a meeting, to the public, may be changed following the public announcement required by paragraph (a) of this section only if: (1) A majority of the entire voting membership of the Board of a majority of the entire voting membership of a committee, determines by a recorded vote that Board or committee business so requires and that no earlier announcement of the change was possible; and (2) The Board or committee publicly announces such change and the vote of each member upon such change at the earliest practicable time. (e) The earliest practicable time as used in this section, means as soon as possible, which should in few, if any, instances be no later than commencement of the meeting or portion in question. (f) Immediately following each public announcement required by this section, notice of the time, place and subject matter of a meeting, whether the meeting is open or closed, any change in one of the preceding, and the name and telephone number of the person designated by the Board or committee to respond to requests for information about the meeting, shall also be submitted for publication in the (a) Action to close a meeting or portion thereof, pursuant to the exemptions set forth in §242a.4 shall be taken only when a majority of the entire voting membership of the Board or a majority of the entire voting membership of a committee, as applicable, vote to take such action. (b) A separate vote of the Board or committee members shall be taken with respect to each Board or committee meeting a portion or portions of which are proposed to be closed to the public pursuant to §242a.4 or with respect to any information which is proposed to be withheld under §242a.4. (c) A single vote of the Board or committee may be taken with respect to a series of meetings, a portion or portions of which are proposed to be closed to the public, or with respect to any information concerning such series of meetings, so long as each meeting in such series involves the same particular matters and is scheduled to be held no more than 30 days after the initial meeting in such series. (d) The vote of each member shall be recorded, and may be by notation voting, telephone polling or similar consideration. (e) Whenever any person whose interests may be directly affected by a portion of a meeting requests that the Board or a committee close such portion to the public under any of the exemptions relating to personal privacy, criminal accusation, or law enforcement information referred to in §242a.4 (e), (f), and (g), the Board or committee, as applicable, upon request of any one of its members, shall vote by recorded vote whether to close such meeting. Where the Board receives such a request prior to a meeting, the Board's representative may ascertain by notation voting, or similar consideration, the vote of each member of the Board, or committee, as applicable, as to the following: (1) Whether the business of the Board or committee permits consideration of the request at the next meeting, and delay of the matter in issue until the meeting following, or (2) Whether the members wish to close such meeting. (f) Within 1 day following any vote taken pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b), (c), or (e), of this section, the Board or committee shall make publicly available a written copy of such vote reflecting the vote of each member on the question. If a portion of a meeting is to be closed to the public, the Board or committee shall, within 1 day of the vote taken pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b), (c), or (e) of this section, make publicly available a full written explanation of its action closing the portion together with a list of all persons expected to attend the meeting and their affiliation. The information required by this paragraph shall be disclosed except to the extent it is exempt from disclosure under the provisions of §242a.4. (g) For every meeting closed pursuant to paragraphs (a) through (j) of §242a.4, the General Counsel or chief legal officer of the USUHS shall publicly certify before the meeting that, in his or her opinion, the meeting may be closed to the public and shall state each relevant exemptive provision. A copy of such certification, together with a statement from the presiding officer of the meeting setting forth the time and place of the meeting, and the persons present, shall be retained by the Board as part of the transcript, recording or minutes required by §242a.7. (a) The Board of Regents shall maintain a complete transcript or electronic recording adequate to record fully the proceedings of each meeting, or portion of a meeting, closed to the public, except that in the case of a meeting, closed to the public pursuant to §242a.4(j), the Board shall maintain either such a transcript or recording, or a set of minutes. (b) Where minutes are maintained they shall fully and clearly describe all matters discussed and shall provide a full and accurate summary of any action taken, and the reasons for such actions, including a description of each of the views expressed on any item and the record of any roll call vote (reflecting the vote of each member on the question). All documents considered in connection with any action shall be identified in such minutes. (c) The Board shall maintain a complete, verbatim copy of the transcript, a complete copy of the minutes, or a complete electronic recording of each meeting or portion of a meeting, closed to the public, for a period of at least 2 years after such meeting, or until 1 year after the conclusion of any Board proceeding with respect to which the meeting or portion was held, whichever occurs later. (d) Public availability of records shall be as follows: (1) Within 10 days of receipt of a request for information (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays), the Board shall make available to the public, in the offices of the Board of Regents, USUHS, Bethesda, Maryland, the transcript, electronic recording, or minutes of the discussion of any item on the agenda, or of any item of the testimony of any witness received at the meeting, except for such item or items of such discussion or testimony as the Executive Secretary determines to contain information which may be withheld under §242a.4. (2) Copies of such transcript, or minutes, or a transcription of such recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, shall be available at the actual cost of duplication or transcription. (3) The determination of the Executive Secretary to withhold information pursuant to paragraph (d)(1) of this section may be appealed to the Board. The appeal shall be circulated to individual board members. The Board shall make a determination to withhold or release the requested information within 20 days from the date of receipt of a written request for review (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays). (4) A written request for review shall be deemed received by the Board when it has arrived at the offices of the Board in a form that describes in reasonable detail the material sought. This part shall become effective on March 12, 1977.
Title 32: National Defense
PART 242a—PUBLIC MEETING PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS, UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF THE HEALTH SCIENCES
Section Contents
§ 242a.1 Applicability.
§ 242a.2 Definitions.
§ 242a.3 Open meetings.
§ 242a.4 Grounds on which meetings may be closed, or information may be withheld.
§ 242a.5 Procedure for announcing meetings.
§ 242a.6 Procedure for closing meetings.
§ 242a.7 Transcripts, recordings, and minutes of closed meetings.
§ 242a.8 Effective date.
§ 242a.1 Applicability.
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§ 242a.2 Definitions.
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§ 242a.3 Open meetings.
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§ 242a.4 Grounds on which meetings may be closed, or information may be withheld.
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§ 242a.5 Procedure for announcing meetings.
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§ 242a.6 Procedure for closing meetings.
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§ 242a.7 Transcripts, recordings, and minutes of closed meetings.
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§ 242a.8 Effective date.
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