The purpose of this Agenda Manual is to provide information and guidance on the preparation of agenda items and on the process by which agenda items are to be submitted and reviewed for Board of Regents’ meetings. The manual is outlined alphabetically by subject rather than in a chronological timeline and is easily searchable.
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The Agenda Book is a 3-ring binder that contains the agenda for a Board meeting and action items and reports for the Board’s consideration. Agenda materials are divided into two volumes. Volume 1 contains Agenda Items and Volume 2 contains supplemental materials such as reports, PowerPoint presentations, and the Docket.
Agenda materials are further divided into:
- Meeting of the Board,
- Committees
- Academic Affairs
- Audit, Compliance, and Management Review
- Facilities Planning and Construction
- Finance and Planning
- Health Affairs
- ad hoc Student, Faculty, and Staff Campus Life
Current and archived Agenda Books are available online at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings.htm.
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Agenda items are either action items or report items. Occasionally, there are discussion items that include the purpose of the discussion. Items are generally not much longer than one page; many are shorter. Items must be well written so it is clear what the Board is being asked to consider.
Action Items
The agenda for a Board of Regents' meeting is the primary mechanism for recommending items that require Regental approval. Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 10403 states that each matter to be considered at a meeting of the Board or a committee of the Board as an Agenda Item shall be accompanied by a summary of the pertinent facts, the need for action, and the recommendations of the Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, and/or president, as appropriate. Action items require formal approval by the Board and provide sufficient background to assist members of the Board in carrying out their decision-making responsibilities.
The Recommendation section of an action item cites who recommends the requested action and usually starts with the following phrase:
The Chancellor concurs in the recommendation of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic/Health/Business Affairs and President ___ that the Board approve ___
In addition, the recommendation clearly states what is being recommended for the Board’s consideration and includes the name of the U. T. System institution/U. T. System Administration.
The Background Information section contains the context and relevant history for the Board, noting previous Board actions or previous discussion of an issue.
The following items are typical, recurring action items requiring Board approval via the Agenda. A more complete list of items requiring action by the Board of Regents may be found by clicking here.
- Substantive amendments to the Regents’ Rules and Regulations including revisions to comply with changes to state and federal laws
- Appointments to the Board of Directors of The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 10402, Section 4)
- Annual operating budget
- Biennial Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and new, off-cycle construction projects (Regents' Rules and Regulations, Rule 80301)
- Joining/changing an athletic conference
- Namings (Regents' Rules and Regulations, Rule 80307)
- Naming of prominent facilities and prominent programs (Section 2)
- Street namings (Section 4)
- Honorific namings (Section 5)
- Corporate namings (Section 8)
- Establishment of doctoral programs or other program change requests (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 40307, Section 3.2)
- Acceptance of gifts of outdoor art/statuary (Regents' Rules and Regulations, Rule 60101, Section 3)
- Contracts of greater than $1 million unless exempted (Regents' Rules and Regulations, Rule 10501, Section 3)
- Acquisition, sale, disposition, or lease of real property (Regents' Rules and Regulations, Rule 70301, Section 3)
- Docket (Regents' Rules and Regulations, Rule 10403, Section 8.1)
Report Items
At each Board meeting, informational reports will be presented by U. T. System staff or institutional presidents on various matters of interest to the Board. The agenda item for these kinds of reports may be as brief as to include the presenter and a sentence describing the subject of the report, may include an executive summary, or may include the full text of the report in the agenda materials, making for a longer item.
The following examples are typical, recurring reports presented to the Board:
- Chancellor’s quarterly update
- UTIMCO Investment Reports
- Annual report of post-tenure review
- Energy Utility Task Force report
- Accountability report
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For inclusion on the Board’s agenda, items must have approval of the Chancellor and be reviewed by the General Counsel to the Board. In addition, some agenda items require administrative approval by other U. T. System Administration officials. Electronic routing of agenda items using the database is encouraged for ease of tracking who has approved an item.
- Construction - Executive Vice Chancellor Kelley and Associate Vice Chancellor O’Donnell
- Executive Session items - General Counsel to the Board Frederick and Vice Chancellor and General Counsel Burgdorf
- Legal issues - Vice Chancellor and General Counsel Burgdorf
- Naming and gift items - Vice Chancellor Safady
- Policy items - Executive Vice Chancellors and Vice Chancellor Burgdorf
- PowerPoints - Director of Public Affairs de Bruyn
- UTIMCO-related agenda items prepared by either UTIMCO or the U. T. System Office of Finance are routed to the other office to ensure appropriate U. T. System and UTIMCO review.
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The Rules and Regulations of the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System for the Government of The University of Texas System, Rule 10101, Section 1 state the following:
Sec 1. Authority of the Board. The Legislature, which is given the duty and authority to provide for the maintenance, support, and direction of The University of Texas by Article VII, Section 10 of the Texas Constitution, has delegated the power and authority to administer The University of Texas System to the Board of Regents. (See Texas Education Code Section 65.11 et seq.) Texas cases construing these statues have held that the Board of Regents has wide discretion in exercising its power and authority and that the rules adopted by the Board of Regents have the same force as statutes....
The Rules further provide, in Rule 10403, Section 8.2 that "each matter to be considered at a meeting of the Board or a committee of the Board as an Agenda Item shall be accompanied by a summary of the facts pertaining thereto, the need for action thereon, and the recommendations of the Chancellor, and Executive Vice Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, and/or president of an institution involved, where appropriate." The Rules also reference timeliness of distribution of the Agenda Book two weeks prior to a regularly scheduled meeting.
The Chairman of the Board approves the agenda and the Chancellor and the General Counsel to the Board of Regents are the final approval authorities for all agenda items.
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Specific checklists are available for these types of agenda items:
Liaison Assistants are responsible to ensure the appropriate checklist is used for each agenda item. A checklist can be saved as an attachment to the agenda item and updated until all points are checked off. (Answer “No” for questions related to "is it to appear in the Agenda Book" and "is it a presentation for display at the meeting.")
A general checklist follows for use to ensure that all items have been reviewed, are correct, and are submitted in a timely manner:
General Checklist
- Do the caption and Recommendation match almost word-for-word?
- Do the president and institution match?
- Have all appropriate approvals been obtained?
- Check the use of plural/singular language
- Check that abbreviations are spelled out the first time they appear
- Are explanations/justifications/reasons well defined?
- If there is an attachment, is it referenced appropriately in the item?
- Do all attachments have appropriate footers identifying office and date prepared?
- Have the item and any attachments been spell checked?
- If there is an outside, nonroutine name mentioned in the agenda item, alert the General Counsel to the Board (via the Assistant Secretary to the Board) to advise appropriate persons in advance the press might call (press etiquette).
- Use correct, full, formal names for people and buildings
- Spell out uncommon acronyms
Corrections or edits to checklists are welcome to keep the lists useful and up-to-date. Please send comments to Carol Felkel.
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For more information on any matter concerning the agenda process, contact
Carol Felkel
Assistant Secretary to the Board of Regents
U. T. System Board of Regents
201 W. 7th Street, Suite 820
Austin, TX 78701
Direct: (512) 499-4407
Fax: (512) 499-4425
Email: cfelkel@utsystem.edu
www.utsystem.edu/bor
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All agenda items are entered and stored in an electronic database. Templates are available in the database for:
- Action items requesting approval by the Board based on recommendations
- Reports (no action is required by the Board)
Currently, only U. T. System Administration staff members are permitted to log in to the password-protected database available at https://www.utsystem.edu/agenda/home.asp.
Instructions for submitting agenda items in the Agenda database will be helpful for authorized users of the database in timely preparation of agenda items.
An automatic email reminder system will soon be created in the database to enable authorized users to create their own email ticklers for preparation of agenda items.
Contact Carol Felkel, Assistant Secretary to the Board (499-4407; cfelkel@utsystem.edu) if you or someone in a U. T. System office needs access to the database.
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The due dates are set to allow sufficient time for review and preparation of materials and timely mailing to the Board. Missed deadlines are unfair to the Board. A delay may result in deferral of an item to the next Board meeting.
Agenda captions are due in the database 2 months prior to a regularly scheduled Board meeting. Fully drafted agenda items are due to the Office of the Board of Regents approximately six (6) weeks prior to each regularly scheduled Board of Regents' meeting. Annual agenda deadlines are set each fall by the Board Office in conjunction with the Office of the Chancellor. The Agenda calendar is kept up-to-date and is readily available at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings/calendar.htm. Contact Carol Felkel, Assistant Secretary to the Board of Regents, for questions or concerns regarding agenda deadlines.
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For regularly scheduled Board meetings, U. T. System Administration and institutional dockets are combined into one Docket by the U. T. System Controller’s Office. Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 10403, Section 8.1 defines the Docket as a compilation of matters that are required to be reported to or approved by the Board via a docket format. The Rules further direct that the docket shall be prepared as directed and approved by the Chancellor, Executive Vice Chancellors, and Vice Chancellors, as appropriate.
Dockets were first made an official part of the Board Minutes in 1929. These Dockets are full-text searchable online at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings/minutes.htm.
See the Docket Resource Guide at http://www.utsystem.edu/cont/Applications/Docket/docket.htm regarding items that should be docketed. Note that urgent items typically approved via the Docket may be added to the agenda of a special called Board meeting at the discretion of the General Counsel to the Board of Regents.
Questions concerning the docket should be directed to Office of the Controller Administrative Coordinator Sherill Boline.
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The General Counsel to the Board approves items proposed for the Executive Session agenda. Items must comply with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code as contained in the Open Meetings Act. Examples follow:
- certain legal issues (Section 551.071)
- certain pending real property matters (Section 551.072)
- certain negotiated gifts (Section 551.073)
- individual personnel matters (Section 551.074)
Executive Session materials are copied on yellow paper to spotlight their confidential nature.
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The Agenda Books and the Minutes of Board meetings are permanently bound in hard cover volumes and become the official record of actions of the Board of Regents. The Docket and Annual Operating Budgets are also a part of the official record.
Current and archived Agenda Books, Committee Minutes, and Board Minutes are available on the web at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings.htm. These documents are searchable with the exception of the early handwritten Minutes and some pdf documents that have not been fully captured for letter recognition. The Board Minutes are the preferred source of reference for actions taken by the Board.
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Requests for deadline extensions are discouraged and cannot generally be granted. Requests to add an item to the agenda after the deadline can only be granted by the Chairman of the Board. In rare instances where the deadline for submission of agenda materials will not be met, or if additional or revised agenda materials will be submitted, the same review process for regular, routine items (outlined under Approvals above) is required. The General Counsel to the Board (Francie Frederick) or the Assistant Secretary to the Board of Regents (Carol Felkel) should be notified of late items as should Chancellor Yudof, Deputy to the Chancellor (Jana Pankratz), and Office of the Chancellor Administrative Coordinator, Ms. Beverly Carter.
Late items are copied on yellow paper to spotlight them as revised or additional items since the Agenda Book was mailed. Page numbers for the yellow paper item should be the page number from the Agenda Book and numbered as a, b, c (161a, 161b, 161c).
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Liaison
Primary responsibility to identify the need for agenda items, discuss topics with the Chancellor, seek necessary approvals, ensure items are well written and submitted within deadlines, and attend related agenda and Board meetings.
Responsibilities
- Primary responsibility to identify the need for agenda items
- Discuss agenda topic including the proposed recommendation with the Chancellor in advance of agenda deadlines
- Route items for review by other U. T. System officials, presidents, or chairmen of the Faculty/Student/Employee Councils, as necessary
- Ensure items are well written and are submitted by published deadlines
- Attend Chancellor’s topics and agenda review meetings
- Be prepared to address the item at the Board meeting
Liaison Assistant
Primary responsibility to assist the Liaisons in their duties related to the agenda process, including drafting agenda items and incorporating edits, ensuring items are complete and accurate, routing for necessary approvals, and meeting agenda deadlines.
Responsibilities
- Assist Liaison in responsibilities (outlined above)
- Coordinate collection of agenda materials, such as from the institutions, for consideration by the Liaison prior to submitting an item for the Agenda Book
- Maintain liaison with the Office of the Board of Regents to facilitate preparation of agenda materials
- Organize the committee agendas so that the Board Committees can systematically and efficiently conduct the business of the Committee
- Input agenda items in the database
- Route draft agenda items in the database for necessary approvals
- Research and incorporate edits after comments from reviewers are received
- Keep Liaison updated and informed of all agenda deadlines
- Meet published agenda deadlines
- Identify presenters for Table of Contents
- Ensure PPTs conform to guidelines (click here for guidelines), are attached to Agenda Items in the database by the deadline, have been reviewed by the Office of Public Affairs, and are kept current as this is the source of PPTs displayed at Board meetings. Preview presentations on Ashbel Smith Hall, 9th Floor, for Board meetings to be held in the Board meeting room.
- Responsible to arrange with presenters to let them know they are encouraged to load and run their own PPTs/videos or to delegate to an assistant
- Attempt to resolve subject matter questions within your department first before consulting the Board of Regents' Office.
- Ensure items are complete and accurate. Print agenda items to assure they are complete and include presenters, etc. before submitting to Board Office.
- Review the preliminary Agenda Book reviewed at the Chancellor's meeting to ensure the committee document is complete and accurate.
- Order Agenda Items and assign realistic times within committees (this is done in the database after the Board Office has finalized and distributed the schedule of events)
- Designate a backup to ensure trained coverage at all times
Click here for contact information
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Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 10403 require the Agenda Book to be provided to each member of the Board approximately two weeks in advance of the meeting. The Board Office uses this date to set agenda deadlines (see calendar). The Board Office mails Agenda Books by UPS (Regents) and U. S. mail (presidents/others) and e-mails U. T. System Administration offices to pick up the books.
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To allow for 3-ring binding of the Agenda Book, it is imperative that left-hand and right-hand margins be at least one inch.
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Prior to each regularly scheduled Board meeting, two meetings are held the Chancellor and U. T. System Administration staff. The first meeting is to discuss agenda topics and the second meeting is to review items in more detail in the Preliminary Agenda Book. In conjunction with the Board Office, the Chancellor's Office e-mails the appropriate System officials annually to hold these meeting dates and approximately 3 months prior to each regularly scheduled Board meeting, e-mails System officials to confirm calendar dates for that meeting.
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Click here for current Mission Statements approved by the Board of Regents.
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While there is no restriction against a naming for a living person, namings are usually done after full retirement from U. T. or public service (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 80307, Section 5). Namings may be honorific or nonhonorific, for individuals, for corporations, or for consideration in Executive Session, and must be approved by the Vice Chancellor for External Relations prior to being placed on the Board's agenda. The Texas Public Information Act Section 552.1235 states a donor's name may not be released or published unless they give express permission.
Liaisons and Liaison Assistants should take note of any names mentioned in agenda items to ensure individuals have been contacted in advance in case members of the press call upon receiving their copy of the Agenda Book.
Click here for naming checklist.
Click here for a list of facility namings approved by the Board of Regents.
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Click here for Public Information Act Requests
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Click here for guidelines and templates
- Suggest not including date of Board of Regents' meeting on PowerPoint slide in case schedule changes. "November 2007" is sufficient
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1. U. T. System Liaison Assistants enter agenda captions in the Agenda database immediately upon receipt and approval by the Liaison. The database is your working environment.
2. Agenda items are prepared electronically in the Agenda database by the Liaison Assistants. Click here for the Agenda database.
3. Agenda items are one of 2 types:
- Action items requesting approval by the Board based on recommendations
- Reports
Instructions for completing Agenda Items in the database are available by clicking here.
4. Additional references for styles, grammar, and other resources specific to Agenda Items:
5. The Regents’ Rules and Regulations are regularly updated with substantive amendments approved at the previous meeting or with nonsubstantive editorial amendments so it is important to retrieve current Rules from the Web site to ensure you have the most recent version. You may access the most recent version of the Rules at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/rules.htm. Amendments to the Regents' Rules and Regulations include a recommendation from the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel i.e., The Chancellor concurs in the recommendation of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel, and the Vice Chancellor for External Relations that....
6. Recurring agenda items may be prepared on the basis of a previous, similar item. This can be done by retrieving the previous item in the Agenda database, select Comments/Edit, scroll to the bottom and click on the link “Create an item based on this item.” Update the general item information (meeting date, etc.) but keep in mind there might have been changes made to the item since it was drafted in the database. The final item, as mailed to the Board, will appear in the Agenda Book. It is important you check the final item in the appropriate Agenda Book. Archived Agenda Books are also available at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings/agenda.htm.
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Presidents' letters may be attached to agenda items in the database as supporting material. Remember to select "no" for "is this attachment to appear in the Agenda Book" and "is this for display at the meeting?"
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Draft agenda items in the agenda database are considered draft interagency memos on matters of policy and thus are not generally subject to public information act requests. Users of the database should nevertheless act with care in drafting items and in entering comments written in the database. Items are considered public when the Agenda Book is posted to the web.
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Resolutions may come before the Board for approval. Standard format and language are available in the agenda database. Click here for Resolution samples
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Agenda Book archives
Agenda Calendar
Agenda Database (for authorized users)
Docket Manual
Grammar
Meeting Calendar
Merriam-Websters online (preferred dictionary)
Minutes, Board (all Board meeting Minutes since 1881 are available on the Web. All Minutes are searchable except the early Minutes that are handwritten.)
Minutes, Committee
Regents’ Rules and Regulations
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Academic Affairs Committee
Audit, Compliance, and Management Review Committee
Executive Session
Facilities Planning and Construction Committee
Finance and Planning Committee
Health Affairs Committee
Meeting of the Board
Student, Faculty, and Staff Campus Life Committee
Click here for complete list.
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Electronic routing of agenda items via the Agenda Database is the preferred method of requesting approvals by various U. T. System offices. Electronic routing is set up by the "Routing" link in the database and can be tracked by clicking on "History."
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Special Called Meetings of the Board, either held in person or via telephone conference call, are scheduled when formal action on important matters is required between regular meetings. The Texas Open Meetings Act (see Chapter 551) allows telephone meetings only when there is need for immediate action or consideration and it is difficult or impossible to convene a quorum in one location in a timely manner.
The Board Office publishes agenda deadlines for special called meetings at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings/calendar.htm. If needed, agenda meetings with the Chancellor to review items for special called meetings are held.
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Use of consistent and standardized styles in the Agenda Book facilitates preparation and review of agenda materials and lends credence to the Agenda Book.
Check http://www.utsystem.edu/News style guidelines for styles used in agenda items. In general, the Chicago Manual of Style is followed. In addition to those guidelines, see the webpage on styles. If you would like to discuss these examples or provide additional examples that would be helpful, please contact Assistant Secretary Felkel.
Note that a series of about 26 design codes are programmed to work when the reports are downloaded from the Agenda database and automatically correct many styles including spacing of "U. T."
Abbreviations
Acronyms
Apostrophes
Capitalization
Formatting on the Web
Hyphens
Numbers
Punctuation
Spelling
Superscripts, or not
Symbols
Templates
Titles
Word Choice
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Click here for section on Late/Substitute/Additional Items
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Preference is for documents that need to show revisions in congressional style to be prepared in tracked changes so that a clean copy can be easily prepared for the Minutes.
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The schedule of annual Board of Regents' meetings and the complete Agenda Book (current and archived) are available online at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings.htm.
The schedule of events for each Board meeting is posted online about 4 weeks prior to the meeting date and the complete Agenda Book is posted online approximately 5 days prior to the meeting at the specific meeting web page.
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Other than Executive Sessions all Board and Committee meetings are audio recorded and regularly scheduled and most special called meetings are webcast live. Live webcasts are available at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/homepage.htm and archived webcasts are available at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings/webcasts.htm.
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Agenda items submitted or revised after the Agenda Book (see section on late/substitute/additional items) has been prepared are printed on yellow paper to alert Regents that the item is not included in the notebook. These yellow paper items are placed at Regents' places at the Board table.
Executive Session background information is also printed on yellow paper to easily distinguish confidential material.
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