Departmental faculty and committee meetings must be open and public, under the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act, with notices for both regular and special meetings filed with the Visitors Information Center.

The Attorney General's Office has determined that advisory appointment committees and ad hoc committees concerned with hiring of new faculty are exempt from these provisions. Although departmental faculty meetings do fall under the requirements, the Act permits executive sessions of such bodies to evaluate or review the performance of employees. Therefore, faculty meetings to evaluate colleagues for promotion, tenure, appointment, reappointment, or salary increase can be held in closed session (after proper notice and an agenda have been filed with the Visitors Information Center) when, after the meeting is opened, an announcement is made as to the purpose and length of the executive session.

See also

Open Public Meetings Act (RCW 42.30)