A. The Board of Trustees (“Board”) of Anne Arundel Community College (“College”) has adopted bylaws that permit trustees to attend meetings, including regular and special meetings, whether in open or closed session, through electronic or telephonic means (referred to herein as “remote attendance” or “attend remotely”) in accordance with these Procedures.
B. Trustees do not need to be present within the State of Maryland at the time of the meeting to be counted as present while attending a meeting remotely.
C. When one (1) or more trustees wish to attend a meeting remotely ( “Remote Meeting”), the College shall provide teleconferencing technology, including but not limited to Internet meeting or telephone conferencing services that support voting, visible displays identifying those participating (when possible), identifying those seeking recognition to speak, and permitting each trustee to hear the other trustees when speaking.
D. A Remote Meeting shall be subject to the Board bylaws and all other rules or procedures adopted by the Board to govern them, which may include any reasonable limitations on, and requirements for, trustees’ participation.
E. If the Board will hold a Remote Meeting for an open session, the public shall be invited to attend remotely in any manner that permits the public to hear the discussion of public business, and if visual displays are available, permits the public to view the visual displays.
F. In order to accommodate members of the public who may wish to attend an open session but do not have access to technology or Internet connectivity to support remote attendance, any Remote Meeting will be live streamed at a location on campus where members of the public may attend, unless the College is closed or partially closed at the time the meeting takes place.
A. Login Information.
1. Prior to a Remote Meeting, the Chair shall send or cause an e-mail to be sent to every trustee that contains the date and time of the meeting, the URL and codes necessary to connect to the Internet meeting teleconferencing service, and, as an alternative and backup to the audio connection included within the Internet service, the phone number and access code(s) trustees need to participate verbally by telephone.
2. The agenda for any Remote Meeting shall include the Login Information as well as the location on campus from which the meeting will be live streamed, if any.
B. Login Time. The Chair or designee shall cause the Internet meeting or teleconferencing service to be available for trustees to log on at least fifteen (15) minutes before the start of each meeting.
C. Signing In and Out. Trustees shall identify themselves as required to sign in to the Internet meeting or teleconferencing service, and shall maintain Internet and audio access throughout the meeting whenever present, but shall sign out upon any departure before adjournment.
D. Technical Requirements and Malfunctions. Each trustee is responsible for having and maintaining audio and Internet connections; no action shall be invalidated on the grounds that the loss of, or poor quality of, a trustee’s individual connection prevented participation in the meeting.
E. Quorum Calls.
1. A quorum will be determined in accordance with Board bylaws.
2. The presence of a quorum shall be established by audible roll call at the beginning of the meeting.
3. Thereafter, the continued presence of a quorum shall be determined by the list of participating trustees, unless any trustee demands a quorum count by audible roll call, which may be made following any vote for which the announced totals add to less than a quorum.
F. Muting. All trustees will place themselves on mute or may be muted at the direction of the Chair, unless the trustee is speaking.
G. Assignment of the Floor. To seek recognition by the Chair, a trustee shall unmute and request to speak or electronically raise a hand, if permitted by the Internet meeting service.
H. Interrupting a Trustee. A trustee who intends to make a motion may interrupt a speaker by unmuting and requesting to make a motion, and shall thereafter wait a reasonable time for the Chair’s instructions before making the motion.
I. Voting. Trustees shall vote on motions in accordance with the Board bylaws.
J. Forced Disconnections.
1. The Chair may cause or direct the disconnection or muting of a trustee’s connection if it is causing undue interference with the meeting.
2. The Chair’s decision to conduct a forced disconnection shall be announced during the meeting and recorded in the minutes.
3. The Chair’s decision to conduct a forced disconnection is not subject to appeal by any trustee.