Open Meetings, Public Records, and Records Retention

Open Meetings

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) is a governmental body subject to the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law. Below is some helpful information to understanding the application of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law to UWM meetings.

Using Online Options

Fully Online

If your meeting is fully online, you must include a meeting link (and/or dial-in information) in your open meetings notice, but you can and should use Teams meeting settings to limit the participation of outside participants (i.e., those who are not committee members or invited guests/speakers). The meeting organizer can disable the chat as well as microphone and video camera for attendees (versus “organizers”) in “Meeting Options.” There is also a Q&A function that can be used instead of the chat, which allows the organizers to control what is published during the meeting.

Hybrid

If your meeting is hybrid, you can fulfill your open meetings obligations by including only the physical location for the meeting in your meeting notice. You are not required to publish the meeting link; this can be shared with organizers and participants privately. If you prefer to make your hybrid meeting widely accessible online, you can still do that, but you should enable the features noted above to restrict attendees’ access to microphones, video, and the chat.

This assumes that your meeting agenda does not include a public comment period or other opportunity for general participation (which are rare). If it does, you would need to enable access at an appropriate time and be prepared to address potential inappropriate behavior.

Public Records and Records Retention

As a state agency, UWM is subject to the Wisconsin Public Records Law and laws providing for the retention of state records. The links below provide helpful background information on both topics.