The Casper College board will ask its attorney to determine whether the board complies with the Wyoming Open Meetings Act, after a faculty member said the board may be operating outside the law.

The Act says government boards must conduct public business in public.

Microbiology instructor John Chase, speaking on behalf of the faculty senate, told the board Tuesday night faculty have had difficulty getting meeting minutes, that meetings are not well publicized, and that executive sessions may have been used for discussion that should be aired openly.

He also said faculty members feel fear of reprisal if they ask the college president or his office staff for copies of meeting minutes, or notes. Staff alliance chairwoman Sarah Sulzen echoed those concerns on behalf of the staff organization.

Chase said the faculty senate voted unanimously to address the board, and chose him to do so, after the issue arose recently.

"We ask the board to explore these issues and acknowledge our concerns," he said.

Some board members said they weren't aware of a possible problem until Chase brought it up.

"We always stress that our meetings are open," board president Bill Hambrick told Chase. "This is a community college, and we hope we are fulfilling our obligations to the demands of our electorate."

Board member Charles Chapin said, "I'm a little disconcerted there may be a feeling there would be acts of retaliation. Retaliation is inappropriate. Retaliation hampers and dampens free speech. We will undertake the acts necessary to investigate the practices. We have nothing to hide."

College President Walter Nolte said all the board's meetings are open and publicized.

He said he holds a pre-board meeting the day before monthly board meetings, to let faculty and staff in on college business. Board members do not attend, and the meeting is publicized in the campus's weekly newsletter, Nolte said.

Then there is a "finance committee" meeting in the afternoon before regular board meetings, attended by the entire board, Nolte said. He said the meeting is open and notes are taken. Those can be made available to anyone who wants them, he said. He said the college would abide by its attorney's recommendation as to how those should be published.

As to the suggestion that the board discusses public business during executive sessions, Nolte said the board has gone into a closed session just three times in his tenure, to discuss personnel, to discuss appointing a trustee, and to evaluate his job performance, all allowed under the law.

"We will do what we're required to do by statute," he said.

He said the board will discuss its attorney's recommendations at its November meeting.

Reach Barbara Nordby at (37) 266-0633 or at barbara.nordby@casperstartribune.net.