Senate Bill No. 434
(By Senator Prezioso)
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[Introduced February 4, 1999;
referred to the Committee on Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article six, chapter
eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to removing the
term limits for the chairmen of the advisory councils of
classified employees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, 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. ADVISORY COUNCILS OF FACULTY.
§18B-6-4. Advisory councils of classified employees.
Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-nine, each governing board shall be assisted by an
advisory council of classified employees.
During the month of April of each even-numbered year, each
president or other administrative head of a state institution of
higher education, including Potomac state college of West
Virginia university, West Virginia university at Parkersburg,
West Virginia university institute of technology, the Robert C.
Byrd health sciences Charleston division of West Virginia
university and the Marshall university graduate college, at the
direction of the councils and in accordance with procedures
established by the councils, shall convene a meeting or otherwise
institute a balloting process to elect one classified employee to
serve on the appropriate governing board's advisory council of
classified employees, which shall consist of one classified
employee, so elected, from each institution under the appropriate
governing board. Terms of the members of the councils shall be
for two years and shall begin on the first day of July of each
even-numbered year, and members of the advisory councils shall be
eligible to succeed themselves. For the purpose of this section
the term "institution of higher education" includes the facilities and staff supervised by the senior administrator
employed by the governing boards, which is a part of the state
college system, and the West Virginia network for telecomputing,
which is a part of the state university system.
Each advisory council of classified employees shall meet at
least once each quarter. One of the quarterly meetings shall be
during the month of July, at which meeting each council shall
elect a chairman, who shall be by virtue of the office a voting
member of the appropriate governing board: Provided, That the
chair shall serve no more than two consecutive terms: Provided,
however, That the board of directors' advisory council for
classified employees' chairman shall may not be a member of the
staff supervised by the central administrative official. No
member may vote by proxy at the election. In the event of a tie
in the last vote taken for the election, a member authorized by
the council shall select the chairman by lot from the names of
those persons tied. Immediately following the election of a
chairman, each council shall elect, in the manner prescribed by
this section for the election of a chairman, a member of the
council to preside over meetings of the council in the chairman's absence. Should the chairman vacate the position, the council
shall meet and elect a new chairman to fill the unexpired term
within thirty days following the vacancy.
Each advisory council of classified employees, through its
chairman and in any other appropriate manner, shall consult and
advise its governing board in matters of higher education in
which the classified employees may have an interest.
Members of each advisory council shall serve without
compensation, but shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual
and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their
official duties from funds allocated to the state institution of
higher education served.
Each governing board shall furnish secretarial services to
its advisory council of classified employees, and each advisory
council shall cause to be prepared minutes of its meetings, which
minutes shall be available, upon request, to any classified
employee of a state institution of higher education represented
on the council. The minutes shall be forwarded to the advisory
council of classified employees serving the other governing
board.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the term limits
for the chairmen of the advisory councils of classified employees
which advise the governing boards at state institutions of higher
education.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.