Bill Text: NY A00438 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the committee on university boards of trustees nominations to recommend candidates who must be considered for appointment to fill vacancies on the board of trustees of the state university of New York, the city university of New York and the college of environmental science and forestry of the state university of New York; establishes qualifications for such candidates; establishes orientation education program and continuing education program for members of such boards of trustees, and establishes conflict of interest provisions relating to such members.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to higher education [A00438 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A00438-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 438 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. LIFTON, DINOWITZ -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CAHILL, CYMBROWITZ, GLICK, PEOPLES-STOKES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating a committee on nominations to the boards of trustees of the state university of New York and the city university of New York The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 353 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 5 to read as follows: 3 5. Every member of the board of trustees of the state university 4 shall, upon initial appointment to such office, complete the orientation 5 program established pursuant to subdivision four of section thirteen 6 hundred four of this chapter. Furthermore, every member of the board of 7 trustees of the state university shall complete the comprehensive 8 continuing education program, established pursuant to subdivision five 9 of section thirteen hundred four of this chapter, in accordance with the 10 rules and regulations of the committee on university boards of trustees 11 nominations. 12 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new article 25 to read 13 as follows: 14 ARTICLE 25 15 COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY BOARDS OF 16 TRUSTEES NOMINATIONS 17 Section 1301. Legislative intent. 18 1302. Definitions. 19 1303. Committee on university boards of trustees nominations; 20 established. 21 1304. Powers and duties. 22 1305. Recommendations. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01823-01-9A. 438 2 1 1306. Candidate qualifications. 2 1307. Support services. 3 1308. Conflict of interest. 4 § 1301. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds that there 5 has been a nationwide trend of declining quality of the trustees of 6 public institutions of higher education. Several states have taken 7 legislative or executive action to assure highly qualified appointments 8 to the boards of trustees for their respective public universities and 9 colleges. Several states have initiated educational programs for their 10 trustees both for orientation and continuing education. In order to 11 assure the continued success and highest standards of public higher 12 education in the state of New York, the legislature hereby establishes 13 the committee on boards of trustees nominations, and establishes a 14 mandatory orientation and continuing education requirement for members 15 of the board of trustees of the state university of New York, city 16 university of New York and the college of environmental science and 17 forestry of the state university of New York. 18 § 1302. Definitions. As used in this article: 19 1. "City university" shall mean the city university of New York. 20 2. "College" shall mean the college of environmental science and 21 forestry of the state university of New York. 22 3. "Committee" shall mean the committee on university boards of trus- 23 tees nominations. 24 § 1303. Committee on university boards of trustees nominations; estab- 25 lished. 1. There is hereby established in the department the committee 26 on university boards of trustees nominations. The committee shall 27 consist of twelve members each appointed for a term of six years 28 commencing on the first day of December. The members shall be appointed 29 as follows: 30 a. four members shall be appointed by the governor; 31 b. three members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the 32 senate; 33 c. three members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly; 34 d. one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; 35 and 36 e. one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem- 37 bly. 38 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section, 39 the members of the committee whose terms commence on the effective date 40 of this article shall be appointed for the following terms: 41 a. two years: one member appointed by the temporary president of the 42 senate, one member appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one member 43 appointed by the minority leader of the senate and one member appointed 44 by the minority leader of the assembly; 45 b. four years: two members appointed by the governor, one member 46 appointed by the temporary president of the senate and one member 47 appointed by the speaker of the assembly; and 48 c. six years: two members appointed by the governor, one member 49 appointed by the temporary president of the senate and one member 50 appointed by the speaker of the assembly. 51 3. The terms of all members of the committee shall end on the thirti- 52 eth day of November in the year the member's term expires. All such 53 members shall continue to hold office until their successor is appointed 54 and qualified. Vacancies, occurring other than by expiration of the term 55 of a member of the committee, shall be filled for the remainder of theA. 438 3 1 unexpired term. The members of the committee may be removed from office 2 pursuant to article three of the public officers law. 3 4. The members of the committee shall receive no compensation for 4 their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses 5 incurred in the performance of their duties. 6 § 1304. Powers and duties. The committee shall have the following 7 powers and duties: 8 1. to establish additional qualification criteria for candidates for 9 the boards of trustees of the state university, city university and 10 college; 11 2. develop a statement of all criteria to be applied and a description 12 of the responsibilities and duties of members of the boards of trustees 13 of the state university, city university and college, and distribute 14 such statement and description to prospective candidates for such 15 membership; 16 3. for each vacant position on the boards of trustees of the state 17 university, city university and college, identify and recruit qualified 18 candidates for such position, based upon the background and experience 19 of the candidate, and their potential to fulfill the responsibilities of 20 a trustee; 21 4. develop, in cooperation with the state university, city university 22 and college, a comprehensive orientation program to be conducted by each 23 such institution for trustees who are initially being appointed to the 24 board of trustees. Such orientation program shall include, but not be 25 limited to, presentation of information relating to the appropriate 26 institution's mission, budget, plans, policies, strengths and weak- 27 nesses; and 28 5. develop, in cooperation with the state university, city university 29 and college, a comprehensive continuing education program to be 30 conducted by each such institution for all its trustees. 31 § 1305. Recommendations. The committee shall submit the names of three 32 candidates for each vacancy on the board of trustees of: 33 1. the state university or the college to the governor, and 34 2. the city university to the mayor of the city of New York. 35 The governor and the mayor of the city of New York shall only appoint 36 as members of a board of trustees from those candidates submitted by the 37 committee. 38 § 1306. Candidate qualifications. All candidates recommended pursuant 39 to section thirteen hundred five of this article shall have the follow- 40 ing qualifications: 41 1. General qualifications. All candidates recommended by the committee 42 shall possess unimpeachable personal integrity, independence, a strong 43 commitment to public higher education, a willingness to devote the 44 necessary time and energy to the appropriate board of trustees, and a 45 willingness to forego any partisan political activity that could be 46 disruptive or harmful to the institution of higher education. 47 2. Specific qualifications. All recommended candidates shall have: 48 a. earned a higher education degree, with a preference granted to 49 candidates whose degree was conferred by the state university or the 50 city university; 51 b. demonstrated experience, either voluntary or compensated, in public 52 higher education; 53 c. demonstrated experience as the member of a board, commission or 54 similar entity; 55 d. demonstrated experience or education related to the identification, 56 interviewing and selection of personnel;A. 438 4 1 e. experience or education sufficient to enable the candidate to 2 understand public higher education finance issues; 3 f. met the requirements established for the appropriate board of trus- 4 tees pursuant to section three hundred fifty-three, six thousand three 5 or sixty-two hundred four of this chapter; and 6 g. met such additional criteria as the committee shall establish by 7 rule or regulation. 8 § 1307. Support services. All expenses of the committee shall be paid 9 and all support needed by the committee shall be provided by the state 10 university and the city university in proportion to the appropriations 11 made to each such university. 12 § 1308. Conflict of interest. No member of the board of trustees of 13 the state university, city university or college nor any immediate fami- 14 ly member thereof shall be employed for compensation at any institution 15 governed by the board of trustees of which such member is a member. Work 16 study and other forms of work relating to a bona fide course of study or 17 financial assistance for such course of study shall not be deemed to be 18 employment for compensation for the purposes of this section. 19 § 3. Section 6003 of the education law is amended by adding a new 20 closing paragraph to read as follows: 21 Every member of the board of trustees shall, upon initial appointment 22 to such office, complete the orientation program established pursuant to 23 subdivision four of section thirteen hundred four of this chapter. 24 Furthermore, every member of the board of trustees shall complete the 25 comprehensive continuing education program established pursuant to 26 subdivision five of section thirteen hundred four of this chapter, in 27 accordance with the rules and regulations of the committee on university 28 boards of trustees nominations. 29 § 4. Section 6204 of the education law is amended by adding a new 30 subdivision 4 to read as follows: 31 4. Training of trustees. Every member of the board of trustees shall, 32 upon initial appointment to such office, complete the orientation 33 program established pursuant to subdivision four of section thirteen 34 hundred four of this chapter. Furthermore, every member of the board of 35 trustees shall complete the comprehensive continuing education program, 36 established pursuant to subdivision five of section thirteen hundred 37 four of this chapter, in accordance with the rules and regulations of 38 the committee. 39 § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of December next succeed- 40 ing the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however, all 41 members of the committee on university boards of trustees nominations 42 shall be appointed pursuant to section 1303 of the education law, as 43 added by section two of this act, on or before such effective date.
