The Board of Trustees will convene for its retreat and a private meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, later this month, in place of its typical winter, partially public, on-campus meeting, a University spokesperson confirmed Friday.
The spokesperson said Baltimore is a “cost-effective” location for the Board’s retreat, which web archives from August show was planned for March 18 to 21, noting that its off-site location reduces the body’s yearly meeting expenses. The retreat, coinciding with the Board’s private meeting, departs from its longstanding practice of keeping portions of its three annual mandated meetings open to the public.
University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said trustees and officials from the executive leadership team will attend the retreat, which provides an opportunity for the Board and officials to collaborate on planning for years ahead. Garbitt declined to comment on the projected total cost of the retreat and what expenses the cost of the retreat covers, including if it covers trustees’ travel and lodging expenses. She declined to comment on the exact venue of the retreat.
The Board, in recent years, has convened for regular meetings in the University Student Center, with virtual registration for the public portion open to community members. Typically, the Board offers an endowment update and insight into the perspectives of top leaders on University-wide developments during their triannual public sessions.
The Board’s bylaws, which the body last revised on March 24, 2025, require trustees to hold an annual meeting each May and at least two additional regular meetings during a calendar year, with retreats optional at the chair’s discretion. The bylaws do not mandate that the meetings be partially public or disclosed on the governing body’s calendar, but web archives over the last decade show the Board has routinely listed at least three meetings, including any retreats, online.
The trustees held three regular meetings last year — in February, May and October — each of which included a public session. The Board also met from June 26 to June 28, 2025, for a retreat, according to web archives.
The Board’s website in August initially listed the Board’s meeting and retreat from March 18 to 21, 2026, according to web archives. University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said in November that the Board’s March meeting no longer appears on the calendar because they eliminated the public portion.
The meeting marks the first time since at least 2014 that the Board has omitted one of its three regular meetings from online records, according to available web archives.
The website does not currently mention the Board’s private meeting or retreat but lists May 15 as the next scheduled session, with no date listed for its third meeting of the year as of Monday.
During the open portion of meetings, the chair typically reviews the consent agenda, followed by reports from the University president, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee chair, a representative from the Alumni Council, the Student Government Association president and the Staff Council president.
The public portion of the meeting then traditionally proceeds through a series of committee reports, including the Executive, Finance and Investments, Academic Affairs, Governance and Nominations, Audit and Compliance, External Relations and Engagement and Real Estate, Campus Planning and Facilities committees. The chair then typically adjourns the public session, after which the Board enters executive session, which is closed to the public.
