LSU faculty governance has an open meetings law problem stretching back 50 years. One of the biggest obstacles to compliance is the structure of the Faculty Council itself. 

But what exactly is the Faculty Council and Faculty Senate, and why are the two groups raising legal concerns related to Louisiana’s open meetings law?

What is the Faculty Council?

The LSU Faculty Council is a public body made up of every LSU faculty member, or a little over 1,600 people. The Council derives its authority from the LSU Board of Supervisors. Board regulations lay out that the group has to meet once a year with at least 25% of the membership in attendance.

The Board of Supervisors Regulations define the Council’s duties as such: “The faculty or Faculty Council shall establish curricula, fix standards of instruction, determine requirements for degrees and generally determine educational policy, subject to the authority of the board.”

The Council delegates powers to the Faculty Senate, a much smaller body made up of representatives elected proportionally from each academic college at LSU.

The Faculty Senate Constitution states “Such power shall be exercised by the Senate at any and all times when the Council is not in session. The Senate shall represent the Council in all matters and shall be deemed to voice the policies, opinions, and sentiments of the Council on any matter within its jurisdiction.”

LSU spokesperson Ernie Ballard confirmed that university President William Tate IV is planning on calling a meeting of the Faculty Council in May, as required.

It’s unclear when the Council began these meetings. The LSU faculty, of course, have existed since the creation of the university in 1860. Faculty Council archives have meeting documents dating back to the 1960s.

Regardless, the Council has not met consistently in the 21st century. The Council last met in 2021, after a grassroots group of faculty petitioned then Interim President Thomas Galligan to hold a meeting. The meeting was held to urge the administration to implement a vaccine mandate. Prior to that, it is widely believed that the council had not met in 15 years.

What’s the problem?

At the 2021 meeting, the group did not vote on the latest Faculty Senate Constitution, which is required to be ratified by the Faculty Council.

Due to the infrequent meetings, alongside poor record keeping, the Faculty Senate does not know when a Constitution was last passed. After discussions with unnamed experts, Faculty Senate President Mandi Lopez decided that the 2005 constitution would be used for purposes of upcoming elections.

According to Faculty Senate Executive Committee members, the 2005 constitution was passed by mail vote, which is not permissible under open meetings law. Despite this, the 2005 constitution was decided on as the 60 day window for filing open meetings law complaints had long passed.

While a constitution is not legally required, any vote that the bodies conduct have to be in compliance with open meetings law. Otherwise, the action could be tossed out by a judge.

Open meetings law is the crux of the issue. With over 1,600 members, the LSU Faculty Council is one of the largest public bodies in the world. If the Council were a legislature, it would be larger than every other country’s legislature, except China’s.

A body so large will obviously have problems complying with open meetings law.

Here’s what needs to happen for compliance:

1. The body must meet in person. If all members are present, the body would likely have to meet in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center or some other large arena.

2. 25% of the faculty, or about 400 members, must be present. Rounding up so many people to be in one place at one time poses logistical concerns.

3. The body most vote viva voce, which translates to “with living voice,” but really just means that you need to be able to tell who voted and which way they voted. Votes must also be completely recorded. While the Legislature has special equipment that allows it to vote viva voce with the push of a button, the Faculty Council has no such ability. The Council would likely be required to use a roll-call vote, meaning that somebody would be required to call out each person’s name, wait for them to respond, and record the vote. This would be extremely time consuming, not to mention difficult to track.

4. The body must allow the public to comment on any agenda item. Some public bodies cap public comments to between 3-10 minutes, but it cannot prevent members of the public from speaking, no matter how many show up. At some Faculty Senate meetings, public comments take up to 45 minutes of the meeting time (meetings are typically capped at two and a half hours). At some Legislative hearings, public comments take up hours.

There is no evidence that the Faculty Council has ever fully complied with open meetings law. The Faculty Senate, which is significantly smaller with about 70 members, has had its own problems complying.

The Faculty Senate is aware of the potential problems. Lopez acknowledged the compliance problems posed by the Council, but said that she is doing “everything [she] can” to ensure the upcoming meeting complies with the law.

Both bodies predate the open meetings law, meaning that the creators of LSU’s faculty governance likely never envisioned these problems.

“They probably didn’t realize they’re leading a public body at the time,” attorney Scott Sternberg said. “LSU has been around longer than the open meetings law.”

Bob Mann, an LSU Professor who aided in the organization of last year’s Council meeting, added that the open meetings law was not tailored to an organization like the Council.

“I don’t think the open meetings law envisions a public body this large,” Mann said.

According to an email from LSU General Counsel Winston DeCuir Jr., violations by the university’s faculty bodies are a potential liability for the Board of Supervisors, not just for the bodies themselves.

Board of Supervisors Chair Remy Starns declined to comment on the legal nature of the issue, but said that the bodies “should decide for themselves how they should be conducting business.”

“It’s fraught with potential problems,” Mann said. “No question about it.”