Title 45—Public Welfare--Volume 1
PART 1802—PUBLIC MEETING PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
§ 1802.1   Purpose and scope.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation will provide the public with the fullest practical information regarding its decision-making processes while protecting the rights of individuals and the Foundation's abilities to carry out its responsibilities. Accordingly, these procedures apply to meetings of the Board of Trustees, Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, including committees of the Board of Trustees.
§ 1802.2   Definitions.
As used in this part:
Board or Board of Trustees means the collegial body that conducts the business of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation as specified in section 5(b), Pub. L. 93-642 (20 U.S.C. 2004), consisting of:
(a) Eight persons appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate;
(b) Two members of the Senate, one from each political party, appointed by the President of the Senate;
(c) Two members of the House of Representatives, one from each political party, appointed by the Speaker; and
(d) The Commissioner of Education or his designee, who serves as an ex officio member of the Board.
Chairman means the presiding officer of the Board.
Committee means any formally designated subdivision of the Board, consisting of at least two Board members, authorized to act on behalf of the Board, including the Board's standing committees and any ad hoc committees appointed by the Board for special purposes.
Executive Secretary means the individual appointed by the Board to serve as the chief executive officer of the Foundation.
Meeting means 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, to establish the agenda for a meeting, or to release or withhold information, required or permitted by § 1802.5 or § 1802.6, (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.
Member means a member of the Board of Trustees.
Staff includes the employees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, other than the members of the Board.
§ 1802.3   Open meetings.
(a) Members shall not jointly conduct or dispose of business of the Board of Trustees other than in accordance with these procedures. Every portion of every meeting of the Board of Trustees or any committees of the Board shall be open to public observation subject to the exceptions provided in § 1802.4.
(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 participate. The use of cameras and disruptive recording devices will not be permitted.
§ 1802.4   Grounds on which meetings may be closed, or information may be withheld.
Except in a case where the Board or a committee finds that the public interest requires otherwise, the open meeting requirement as set forth in the second sentence of § 1802.3(a) shall not apply to any portion of a Board or committee meeting, and the informational disclosure requirements of §§ 1802.5 and 1802.6 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) in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive Order;
(b) Relate solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation;
(c) Disclose matters specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552, Title 5, United States Code), 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 and financial information obtained from a person and 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 paragraph 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 Foundation 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 Foundation of a particular case of formal adjudication pursuant to the procedures in section 554 of title 5, United States Code, or otherwise involving a determination on the record after opportunity for a hearing.
§ 1802.5   Procedure for announcing meetings.
(a) Except to the extent that such information is exempt from disclosure under the provisions of § 1802.4, in the case of each Board or committee meeting, the Executive Secretary, acting at the direction of the Board, shall publish in the Federal Register, at least seven days before the meeting, the following information:
(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 phone number of the person designated by the Board or committee to respond to requests for information about the meeting.
(b) The seven-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 may be changed following the public announcement required by paragraph (a) only if the Executive Secretary, acting at the direction of the Board, 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 or 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 phone number of the person designated by the Board or committee to respond to requests for information about the meeting, shall be submitted for publication in the Federal Register.
§ 1802.6   Procedure for closing meetings.
(a) Action to close a meeting or a portion thereof, pursuant to the exemptions set forth in § 1802.4, 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. Any such action shall include a specific finding by the Board that an open meeting is not required by the public interest.
(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 § 1802.4 or with respect to any information which is proposed to be withheld under § 1802.4.
(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 paragraph (e), (f), or (g) of § 1802.4, 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 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 the meeting.
(f) Within one day of any vote taken pursuant to paragraph (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 one day of the vote taken pursuant to paragraph (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 § 1802.4.
(g) For every meeting closed pursuant to § 1802.4, the General Counsel of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation shall certify before the meeting may be closed 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 § 1802.7.
§ 1802.7   Transcripts, recordings, minutes of meetings.
(a) The Board of Trustees 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 paragraph (j) of § 1802.4, 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 actions 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 two years after such meeting, or until one 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 ten days of receipt of a request for information (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays), the Foundation shall make available to the public, in the offices of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, 712 Jackson Place NW., Washington, DC, 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 General Counsel determines to contain information which may be withheld under § 1802.4.
(2) Copies of such transcript, or minutes, or a transcription of such recording disclosing the identify of each speaker, shall be available at the actual cost of duplication or transcription.
(3) The determination of the General Counsel 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 twenty 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.