DOWAGIAC — Southwestern Michigan College is working to make information more available to the public.

SMC recently created a publicly viewable “taxpayer information” section on its website, following a complaint. The page contains information about meeting times, student workers, current projects, student successes, the board of trustees and updates about collective bargaining.

“The taxpayer-owners of Southwestern Michigan College are rightfully proud of the institution and its mission of providing affordable local access to high-quality education,” Board Chairman Tom Jerdon said in a press release. “The Board of Trustees is happy to make available statistics on student success, updates on current projects, public meeting dates, formal meeting agendas, approved minutes and other information that the community will find valuable.”

Following SMC’s February board of trustees meeting, an unnamed individual filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General, claiming that the meeting was in violation of Michigan’s Open Meetings Act 267 of 1976 due to the fact that the meeting was not publicly posted online, according to the Facebook group Citizens Concerned about Southwestern Michigan College. An updated complaint was sent to the Attorney General earlier this week, outlining the lack of notice given about February’s meeting and past meetings, according to the page.

However, SMC officials say that the school was not in violation of the Open Meetings Act, as information about meetings was available, just not posted online.

Board of trustee meeting minutes from November and December show that the February meeting was scheduled months in advance, and according to SMC President David Mathews, the dates and times of meetings are posted physically in the window of the president’s office and his assistant’s office. Other information pertaining to meetings can be accessed at SMC’s library, which is open to all members of the public.

“At the [February] meeting, we heard some people with some misinformation,” Mathews said of people who claimed that meeting information was not publically viewable. “It has always been available to the public.”

Mathews said he learned of the complaint from the Citizens Concerned about Southwestern Michigan College Facebook page, and that the school has not been contacted by the Attorney General’s Office. Because of this, Mathews said that he does not know what, if anything, will happen as a result of the complaint.

Despite this, Mathews said that it is important to SMC that people feel the college is being transparent, which is why SMC responded quickly to create the “taxpayer information” page on its website.

He also said he felt that the suggestion by community members to digitize information and make it available online was a positive one.

“What we are going to do is ensure that we over communicate from here on out,” he said. “We are working to ensure that people can get meeting minutes and agendas not just in paper form, but on the internet.”

SMC’s new “taxpayer information” page can be accessed at swmich.edu/taxpayer-information.