020-005 ITS Board Meetings: Overview

020-005 ITS Board Meetings: Overview Meeting Schedule and Location The ITS Board meets monthly, and at such other times and places called upon to convene by either the Board Chairman or the majority of its members. The Board’s meetings are open, public meetings. Notice of these meetings is published on the ITS website as well as posted outside the reception area at the ITS administrative office, 3771 Eastwood Drive, Jackson, Mississippi. Board meetings are the official venues in which ITS statutory policy-making, strategic planning, procurement and other project-related business are conducted. The Board must have a quorum of at least three (3) members present in order to conduct an official meeting. These meetings follow an agenda of business items that have been compiled and forwarded to the Board by ITS staff, one week prior to the time of the actual meeting. This lead-time assists the Board in reviewing and preparing for each project on the agenda. Board meetings are currently scheduled to occur on the third Thursday of each month. As a rule, meetings begin promptly at 11:00 a.m. There are exceptions to this schedule that occur randomly during peak periods of project activity. Meetings will be arranged in advance to convene earlier in the day and/or to extend to accommodate much fuller agendas. See 020-010 Board Meeting Schedule, Called Meetings, and Notice for the official policies and procedures regarding scheduling of meetings as adopted by the ITS Board. Boardroom Facilities The ITS Boardroom is located in the ITS Board Room on the first floor of the ITS administrative office. This room is the site for most meetings unless the Board accepts an invitation from another agency or institution to host a meeting offsite. Seating is available in the back of the room for attendees from the vendor community and from state agencies and institutions, as well as any other interested party. All meeting attendees other than ITS employees are required to sign in upon entering the meeting room. Their attendance is recorded as a part of the Board’s minutes. Copies of the Board’s agenda for the current meeting are available at the sign-in table. The agenda is also posted on the ITS website during the week of the meeting. Those presenters that desire to use the boardroom presentation facilities will find connections for both power and local/wide area networking, as well as provision of an overhead projector capable of hosting programmed presentations from portable computers. Presenters must give advance notice to the ITS staff if the presenters want to use these facilities. Further, they should arrive sufficiently early to set-up, test and ensure that their presentations and all facilities are working together. Prior arrangements must similarly be made for any attendee or media group desiring to set up and use audio or video equipment to record any Board meeting. Board Meeting Protocol and Decorum The ITS Board conducts its business in a formal, official setting. The Board Chairman moderates each meeting observing Robert’s Rules of Order. All participants are expected to observe appropriate dress and conduct in keeping with the official protocol and decorum of the Board meetings. All discourse with the Board should be done from the speaker’s podium or, upon being recognized by the Chairman, from the gallery. Participants should stand and state their names prior to speaking. For formal rules of conduct adopted by the Board in 1989, see 020-015 Rules and Regulations Governing the Conduct of Persons at ITS Board Meetings. To preserve the order of the meeting, all participants are required to disengage any cellular phones, pagers or other electronic devices and refrain from using them while the Board meeting is underway. The Chairman begins each meeting with a call to order, then an invitation for guests to introduce themselves. All attendees who are not ITS employees should state their name, title, and employer. The Chairman next requests that the Board review and vote on the minutes of the previous meeting. The Board’s subsequent order of business is to take up the current month’s agenda, generally in the order in which it was prepared by the ITS staff. The Chairman will invite the particular internal and/or guest staff to present a synopsis of each agenda item together with the official recommendation. The Chairman will entertain discussion of the agenda item among the Board and presenters. The Chairman next requests a motion from the Board members on the disposition of each agenda item. The Board then votes on the agenda item. The Board secretary records all proceedings into the minutes of each meeting. The minutes become official once approved by the Board and signed at a subsequent meeting. Upon conclusion of all scheduled and ad hoc agenda items, the Chairman calls for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Conclusion The ITS Board and staff have organized the Board meeting process in the manner described so that the business of State and its citizens, as it pertains to ITS statutory responsibilities, may be conducted in an open, efficient manner, allowing each agenda item and its interested parties to be given the fullest respect and consideration.