An updated public comments policy for the University of Michigan Board of Regents will increase the number of speakers who are able to address board members during each public meeting.
The new approach, approved by the board Thursday, will increase the number of speakers at each meeting from 10 to 15, while reducing the amount of time allotted to each speaker from five minutes to three minutes.
The policy caps the number of speakers on any one topic at five and also provides for two additional speakers, in addition to the 15, for those who sign up after the agenda is published and seek to address an item that is on that meeting’s agenda.
All requests to address the Board of Regents must be made in writing and be received by the deadline stated on the regents’ website. Requests will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis until all available time is used up.
Individuals who have addressed the board within the previous two regularly scheduled meetings will be allowed to speak only if there is an available speaker slot remaining after the signup deadline has passed. The public comments policy was last updated in 2012.
The Board of Regents typically meets in formal session nine times each year. Most meetings are in the Michigan Union on the Ann Arbor campus. One meeting each year is conducted on the UM-Dearborn campus and one on the UM-Flint campus.
