The Board of Trustees, along with other governmental bodies, now will have to begin recording its closed meetings.

The amended Illinois Open Meetings Act now requires public bodies to record closed meetings in the form of either audio or video.

Previously, the act only required public bodies to keep written minutes of its open meetings.

The biggest reason for the addition was so there would be a way to keep track of what was discussed at the closed meetings, said Don Craven, general counsel for the Illinois Press Association.

“If someone were to challenge that a group violated the open meetings act, now the courts would listen to the tapes,” Craven said.

Previously, when ta challenge that a public body violated the act was presented, the courts would talk to the members who were present at the meeting.

“If there were seven different members on the board, there would be seven different versions,” he said.

Kenneth Davidson, associate vice president and general counsel, said the BOT never had recorded its closed meetings before because it wasn’t required, but it does plan to comply with the new law.

Topics usually discussed at closed meetings include the performance or termination of a specific employee, real estate sales or anything that deals with private issues of the employees.

Allison Thompson, director of public affairs for the Student Association, said the SA follows the spirit of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

She also said the SA doesn’t hold closed meetings that fall under the addition to the act. She said if they did, they would be taped.

“We will make every step necessary to follow the rules of [the act],” Thompson said.

The taped meetings will not be available to the public. Instead, they will be used if the board is challenged about following the act.

Davidson said he hasn’t heard any reaction about the new addition from any of the BOT members.

During the BOT meetings, Davidson will be the one in charge of recording the sessions.