Senate Bill No. 4
(By Senator Blatnik)
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[Introduced January 12, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article six, chapter
eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring
advisory boards of institutions of higher education to
develop and recommend rules governing on-campus and off-
campus student housing to be adopted by the governing boards
of the institutions to ensure that all student housing meets
minimal health and safety standards.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article six, chapter eighteen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. OTHER BOARDS AND ADVISORY COUNCILS.
§18B-6-1. Institutional boards of advisors.
(a) There shall be established at each state institution of
higher education, hereinafter referred to as the "institution",
excluding centers and branches thereof, an institutional board ofadvisors. The board of advisors shall consist of eleven members,
including an administrative officer of the institution appointed
by the president of the institution; a full-time member of the
faculty with the rank of instructor or above duly elected by the
faculty; a member of the student body in good academic standing,
enrolled for college credit work and duly elected by the student
body; a member of the institutional classified staff duly elected
by the classified staff; and, appointed by the appropriate
governing board, seven lay citizens of the state who have
demonstrated a sincere interest in and concern for the welfare of
that institution and who are representative of its population and
fields of study, including at least two alumni of the
institution. Of the seven lay citizen members, no more than four
may be of the same political party.
The administrative officer, faculty member, student member
and classified staff member shall serve for a term of one year,
and the seven lay citizen members shall serve terms of four years
each. All members, except the administrative officer, shall be
eligible to succeed themselves for no more than one additional
term. A vacancy in an unexpired term of a member shall be filled
within sixty days of the occurrence thereof in the same manner as
the original appointment or election. Except in the case of a
vacancy, all elections shall be held and all appointments shall
be made no later than the thirtieth day of April preceding the
commencement of the term.
Each board of advisors shall hold a regular meeting at leastquarterly, commencing in July of each year. Additional meetings
may be held upon the call of the chairman, president of the
institution or upon the written request of at least four members.
A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum for
conducting the business of the board of advisors.
(b) One of the seven lay citizen members shall be elected as
chairman by the board of advisors in July of each year:
Provided, That no member shall serve as chairman for more than
two consecutive years at a time.
The president of the institution shall make available
resources of the institution for conducting the business of the
board of advisors. The members of the board of advisors shall be
reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually
incurred in the performance of their official duties under this
section upon presentation of an itemized sworn statement thereof.
All expenses incurred by the board of advisors and the
institution under this section shall be paid from funds allocated
to the institution for such purpose.
(c) The board of advisors shall review, prior to the
submission by the president to its governing board, all proposals
of the institution in the areas of mission, academic programs,
budget, capital facilities and such other matters as requested by
the president of the institution or its governing board or
otherwise assigned to it by law. The board of advisors shall
comment on each such proposal in writing, with such
recommendations for concurrence therein or revision or rejectionthereof as it deems proper. Such written comments and
recommendations shall accompany the proposal to the governing
board and the governing board shall include such comments and
recommendations in its consideration of and action on the
proposal. The governing board shall promptly acknowledge receipt
of the comments and recommendations and shall notify the board of
advisors in writing of any action taken thereon.
(d) The board of advisors shall review, prior to their
implementation by the president, all proposals regarding
institution-wide personnel policies. The board of advisors may
comment on such proposals in writing.
(e) The board of advisors shall provide advice and
assistance to the president in establishing closer connections
between higher education and business, labor, government,
community and economic development organizations to give students
greater opportunities to experience the world of work, such as
business and community service internships, apprenticeships and
co-operative programs; to communicate better and serve the
current work force and work force development needs of their
service area, including the needs of nontraditional students for
college-level skills upgrading and retraining and the needs of
employers for specific programs of limited duration; and to
assess the performance of institution's graduates and assist in
job placement. The administrative officer of the institution
serving on the advisory council may be assigned the
responsibility for coordinating the institution's activitiesrelated to economic development.
(f) Upon the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of
president of the institution, the board of advisors shall serve
as a search and screening committee for candidates to fill the
vacancy under guidelines established by its governing board.
When serving as a search and screening committee, the board of
advisors and its governing board are each authorized to appoint
up to three additional persons to serve on the committee as long
as the search and screening process is in effect. The three
additional appointees of the board of advisors shall be faculty
members of the institution. Only for the purposes of the search
and screening process, such additional members shall possess the
same powers and rights as the regular members of the board of
advisors, including reimbursement for all reasonable and
necessary expenses actually incurred. Following the search and
screening process, the committee shall submit the names of at
least three candidates to the governing board for consideration
and appointment. If the governing board rejects all candidates
so submitted, the committee shall submit the names of at least
three additional candidates, and this process shall be repeated
until the governing board appoints one of the candidates so
submitted. The governing board shall provide all necessary staff
assistance to the board of advisors in its role as a search and
screening committee.
(g) Each board of advisors shall, in consultation with
community leaders, landlords, campus housing officials, studentsand parents of students, develop and propose rules governing on-
campus and off-campus housing to ensure that all student housing
meets minimal health and safety standards. The governing board
shall implement these proposed rules and require students to
comply with these housing rules as a condition of continued
enrollment in the institution.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require advisory
boards of institutions of higher education to develop and
recommend rules governing on-campus and off-campus student
housing to be adopted by the governing boards of the institutions
to ensure that all student housing meets minimal health and
safety standards.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.