Senate Bill No. 577
(By Senators Kessler and Minard)
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[Introduced February 15, 2006; referred to the Committee
Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18B-2A-1 and §18B-2A-2 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to institutional
boards of governors generally; providing that appointed
members to institutional boards of governors continue to serve
after the expiration of their terms and until their successors
are appointed and qualified; and providing that a quorum of an
institutional board of governors is equal to a majority of the
voting members.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18B-2A-1 and §18B-2A-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. INSTITUTIONAL BOARDS OF GOVERNORS.
§18B-2A-1. Composition of boards; terms and qualifications of
members; vacancies; eligibility for reappointment.
(a) A board of governors is continued at each of the following institutions: Bluefield State College, Concord College, Eastern
West Virginia Community and Technical College, Fairmont State
College, Glenville State College, Marshall University, Shepherd
College, Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College,
West Liberty State College, West Virginia Northern Community and
Technical College, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic
Medicine, West Virginia State College and West Virginia University.
(b) For the Community and Technical College of Shepherd and
New River Community and Technical College the institutional board
of advisors remains in place until the institution achieves
independent accreditation as provided in section eight, article
three-c of this chapter.
(1) As long as the institutional board of advisors remains in
place, the chairperson of the board of advisors serves as an ex
officio, voting member of the board of governors of the sponsoring
institution;
(2) When the community and technical college achieves
independent accreditation, the board of advisors is abolished and
a board of governors is established with members appointed pursuant
to this section;
(3) When a board of governors is established for the community
and technical college:
(A) The chairperson of the governing board of the sponsoring
institution serves as an ex officio, nonvoting member of the governing board of the community and technical college board of
governors; and
(B) The chairperson of the governing board of the community
and technical college serves as an ex officio, nonvoting member of
the governing board of the sponsoring institution.
(4) In making the initial appointments to these boards of
governors, the Governor shall appoint those persons who are lay
members of the institutional boards of advisors, except in the case
of death, resignation or failure to be confirmed by the Senate.
(c) The institutional board of governors for Marshall
University consists of sixteen persons and the institutional board
of governors for West Virginia University consists of seventeen
persons. Each other board of governors consists of twelve persons.
(d) Each board of governors includes the following members:
(1) A full-time member of the faculty with the rank of
instructor or above duly elected by the faculty of the respective
institution;
(2) A member of the student body in good academic standing,
enrolled for college credit work and duly elected by the student
body of the respective institution;
(3) A member from the institutional classified employees duly
elected by the classified employees of the respective institution;
and
(4) For the institutional board of governors at Marshall University, twelve lay members appointed by the Governor, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, pursuant to this section
and, additionally, the chairperson of the institutional board of
advisors of Marshall Community and Technical College serving as an
ex officio, voting member.
(5) For the institutional board of governors at West Virginia
University, twelve lay members appointed by the Governor by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate pursuant to this section
and, additionally, the chairperson of the institutional board of
advisors of the community and technical college at West Virginia
University Institute of Technology and West Virginia University at
Parkersburg.
(6) For each institutional board of governors of an
institution that does not have an administratively linked community
and technical college under its jurisdiction, nine lay members
appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, pursuant to this section.
(7) For each institutional board of governors which has an
administratively linked community and technical college under its
jurisdiction:
(A) Eight lay members appointed by the Governor, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, pursuant to this section and,
additionally, the chairperson of the institutional board of
advisors of the administratively linked community and technical college; and
(B) Of the eight lay members appointed by the Governor, one
shall be the superintendent of a county board of education from the
area served by the institution.
(e) Of the eight or nine members appointed by the Governor, no
more than five may be of the same political party. Of the twelve
members appointed by the Governor to the governing boards of
Marshall University and West Virginia University, no more than
seven may be of the same political party. Of the eight or nine
members appointed by the Governor, at least six shall be residents
of the state. Of the twelve members appointed by the Governor to
the governing boards of Marshall University and West Virginia
University, at least eight shall be residents of the state.
(f) The student member serves for a term of one year. Each
term begins on the first day of July.
(g) The faculty member serves for a term of two years. Each
term begins on the first day of July. Faculty members are eligible
to succeed themselves for three additional terms, not to exceed a
total of eight consecutive years.
(h) The member representing classified employees serves for a
term of two years. Each term begins on the first day of July.
Members representing classified employees are eligible to succeed
themselves for three additional terms, not to exceed a total of
eight consecutive years.
(i) The appointed lay citizen members serve terms of four
years each and are eligible to succeed themselves for no more than
one additional term.
(j) A vacancy in an unexpired term of a member shall be filled
for the unexpired term within thirty days of the occurrence of the
vacancy 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
June preceding the commencement of the term. Each board of
governors shall elect one of its appointed lay members to be
chairperson in June of each year. A member may not serve as
chairperson for more than two consecutive years.
(k) The appointed members of the institutional boards of
governors serve staggered terms of four years: Provided, That if
a successor has not been appointed or qualified, the appointed
member shall serve after the expiration of his or her term of
appointment until a successor is appointed and qualified.
(l) A person is ineligible for appointment to membership on a
board of governors of a state institution of higher education under
the following conditions:
(1) For a baccalaureate institution or university, a person is
ineligible for appointment who is an officer, employee or member of
any other board of governors, a member of an institutional board of
advisors of any public institution of higher education, an employee of any institution of higher education, an officer or member of any
political party executive committee, the holder of any other public
office or public employment under the government of this state or
any of its political subdivisions or a member of the council or
commission. This subsection does not prevent the representative
from the faculty, classified employees, students or chairpersons of
the boards of advisors or the superintendent of a county board of
education from being members of the governing boards.
(2) For a community and technical college, a person is
ineligible for appointment who is an officer, employee or member of
any other board of governors; a member of an institutional board of
advisors of any public institution of higher education; an employee
of any institution of higher education; an officer or member of any
political party executive committee; the holder of any other public
office, other than an elected county office, or public employment,
other than employment by the county board of education, under the
government of this state or any of its political subdivisions; or
a member of the council or commission. This subsection does not
prevent the representative from the faculty, classified employees,
students or chairpersons of the boards of advisors from being
members of the governing boards.
(m) Before exercising any authority or performing any duties
as a member of a governing board, each member shall qualify as such
by taking and subscribing to the oath of office prescribed by section five, article IV of the Constitution of West Virginia and
the certificate thereof shall be filed with the Secretary of State.
(n) A member of a governing board appointed by the Governor
may not be removed from office by the Governor except for official
misconduct, incompetence, neglect of duty or gross immorality and
then only in the manner prescribed by law for the removal of the
state elective officers by the Governor.
(o) The president of the institution shall make available
resources of the institution for conducting the business of its
board of governors. The members of the board of governors serve
without compensation, but are reimbursed for all reasonable and
necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of official
duties under this article upon presentation of an itemized sworn
statement of expenses. All expenses incurred by the board of
governors and the institution under this section are paid from funds
allocated to the institution for that purpose.
§18B-2A-2. Meetings.
(a) The boards of governors shall hold at least six meetings
in every fiscal year, including an annual meeting each June:
Provided, That an annual meeting for the purpose of selecting the
first chairperson and other officers shall be held during July, two
thousand one. The president of the appropriate institution shall
call the first meeting of the institutional board of governors in
July, two thousand one, or as soon thereafter as practicable and preside until officers are elected. Officers elected in July, two
thousand one, shall begin their terms upon election and shall serve
until the thirtieth day of June the following year. Of the twelve
voting members of the boards of governors, seven shall constitute
a quorum: Provided, however, That of the fifteen voting members of
each of the boards of governors for the state universities, eight
shall constitute a quorum. A majority vote of the voting members
of each institution board of governors shall constitute a quorum.
A majority vote of the quorum shall be necessary to pass upon
matters before the institutional board of governors.
(b) The boards of governors may set aside time as they consider
appropriate to afford administrators, faculty, students and
classified staff an opportunity to discuss issues affecting these
groups.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require members of
governing boards of institutions of higher education to serve after
their term of office, if their successor has not been appointed and
qualified. The bill also provides that a quorum is a majority of
the members of a governing board entitled to vote.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.