SGA conflicted on open meeting policy

SGA will no longer conduct business behind closed doors, according to President Elizabeth Palmer.

“We don’t have to go into closed session, so maybe we shouldn’t hold them.  We’re here to work for you,” Palmer said during an SGA Senate Meeting on Monday.

However, the SGA holds its executive board meetings behind closed doors and according to Palmer will still not be open to the public. The executive board consists of the SGA President, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Senate Chair, Recording Secretary, Community Standards Assistant, Public Relations Director, Special Events Director, four class presidents, Board of Trustees representative and alternate Board of Trustees representative.

Since early in the semester, the SGA has insisted that it is a private, tax-exempt organization that does not fall under the NJ Open Public Meetings Act.

Under the act, a public body is required to conduct its business openly  with very few exceptions, such as emergency meetings. Agendas must be released 48 hours prior to the meeting, and closed sessions must be announced on those agendas. Minutes from closed sessions must be kept and released within 24 hours or after the emergency has been resolved.

Executive board meetings are not exempt from the act.

It was not until late Wednesday that SGA members became aware of their current legal status.

In a letter to the SGA dated Aug. 8, 2008, the IRS said the  SGA is “currently exempt under section 501(c)4 of the internal revenue code,” and has been since 1985. This letter is on file in the university controller’s office.

This means that the SGA is a not -for-profit organization that may engage in political campaign activity.

It does not mean, however, that the SGA is exempt from the N.J.’s Open Public Meetings Act.

According to the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va., there is legal precedent.

In a 2005 case, Trenton Times vs. Lafayette Yard CDC, the state Supreme Court ruled that as a 501(c)4, Lafayette Yard was not exempt from the state Open Public Meetings Act.

SGA Advisor and Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Carol Gruber said she believed that the SGA had been a 501(c)3 “years before I got here.”

Gruber said SGA lawyer Daniel Khler told the SGA that they are separate from the university and therefore, “are not subject to [NJ Open Public Meetings Act], but we do want to be as transparent as possible.”

Palmer believes the miscommunication occurred somewhere between the SGA and the Rowan University Administration.

“What’s happening here is we’re saying we are a separate organization from the University, so where does that leave us?” Palmer said. “That’s where the grey area keeps coming into. So, are we really separate? I don’t know.”

Editor-in-Chief Emily Kostic contributed to this story.