Penn State’s Board of Trustees is in town this weekend for its regular September meeting, but will switch things up for this session and the remainder of the year with its committee meeting structure.

In the past, the Board of Trustees has held committee meetings throughout the day on Thursday of its designated meeting weekend and its full Board voting meeting on Friday afternoon. Now, committee meetings will take place any time there’s business to conduct — either in person, over the phone, or otherwise virtually. Multiple committee meetings won’t occur simultaneously, so anyone will be able to attend. The meetings will be announced publicly, live-streamed, and archived on the Board of Trustees website for listening or viewing after the live session.

The university says the changes will maximize trustee time together, gain cost efficiencies, facilitate meaningful discussion and engagement, and ensure trustee interaction with students, faculty, and other key constituents.

The Board’s committee chairs were asked to “identify priorities” for the year ahead and plan possible meeting times in advance while conserving time for trustee interaction and discussion on “topics that have been identified as key areas of focus for the Board.”

This week’s meeting included only two committee meetings on Thursday — the Committee on Finance, Business, and Capital Planning as well as the Committee on Governance and Long-Range Planning. Penn State’s full Board of Trustees will meet at 1 p.m. Friday, September 14, at the Penn Stater.