Faculty Senate Closes Meetings

Belmont Vision Multi Media, Zach Watkins

Students and faculty will no longer have a window into the workings of Belmont’s faculty senate. 

The senate is Belmont faculty’s governing body and is responsible “for the advancement of knowledge through free, open, and scholar inquiry.”  

Despite having the word “open” in its responsibilities, earlier this month, the board removed the word “open” to describe its meetings in its bylaws. 

The board which makes decisions on graduation requirements, content of academic programs and course designs, changed its bylaws to restrict access to its meetings and the press’s ability to report on them by adding language forbidding recording or photography of meetings as well as requiring the media to get approval before attending. 

The media, including the Vision, also cannot attribute names to quotes made during meetings.  

“It’s hard to fathom what the faculty senate is thinking; private university or not,” said Ken Paulson, an expert on open meetings as the director of the Free Speech Center at the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University and former editor in chief of USA Today. 

“Surely the senators understand that as a representative body whose actions directly affect faculty and students, they have an ethical obligation to be as transparent as possible,” he said. 

The senate also reduced the percentage of senatorial approval necessary to enter an executive session from 75% to a two-thirds vote.  Executive session is allowed when a governing body wants to have a closed door meeting to discuss sensitive issues.  

The president of faculty senate defended the decision say that the restriction allows for more open conversation among senators. 

“Our recent bylaws revision clarifies that Faculty Senate meetings require an environment where faculty can engage in candid dialogue about sensitive matters, including policy development, faculty benefits, and governance issues,” said Virginia Lamothe, president.  

“Non-faculty attendees, including student reporters, are now considered guests who may attend upon receiving an approved invitation.” 

The decision raised concerns among students. 

“It feels a little hush-hush, which I don't love, because that doesn't feel like the community Belmont is a trying to build, and has historically been in the past,” said Ana Martinez Ortega, senior legal studies major and a member of Belmont’s Student Government Association, which conducts its meetings in the open.  

“Knowing what's going on just as a student is so important because it affects your everyday life. So, it’s really interesting to see that they're like, ‘No, we're closing it off to students,’” she said. 

Across the state, public governing bodies are legally required to operate in the open, however, because Belmont is a private institution it does not have to follow Tennessee Open Meeting Laws, though similar private institutions, like Vanderbilt University, voluntarily does.  

Paulson said the decision to close meetings sets a bad example. 

“What are they modeling for the young citizens on campus when they say, ‘These are difficult decisions, so you can’t watch or record us or even know how we voted?’” he said. “A secret senate is not a good look for Belmont.” 

This is not the first time the senate had to limit access by the media. 

In 2019, the Vision was asked to leave an open senate meeting, by acting president Dr. Amy Crook also citing the Vision’s presence an obstacle to open conversation. 

This article was written by Zach Watkins, Nick Rampe and Emily Garver