BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2324
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Date of Hearing: April 1, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
AB 2324 (Williams) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Trustees of the California State University: faculty
member of the board.
SUMMARY : Provides that the two-year term of office of the
faculty member of the California State University (CSU) Board of
Trustees (BOT) may continue after the term expires for one
additional two-year term if the Governor has not appointed a
successor.
EXISTING LAW establishes the CSU to be administered by the BOT,
which consists of:
1)Five ex officio members: the Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Speaker of the Assembly, State Superintendent of Public
Instruction, and the Chancellor;
2)An Alumni Trustee appointed by the CSU Statewide Alumni
Council to serve for a two-year term, which expires at the end
of the two years;
3)A Faculty Trustee appointed by the Governor from a list of
nominees proposed by the Statewide Academic Senate to serve a
two-year term which commences on July 1 and expires on June 30
two years thereafter;
4)Two student trustees appointed by the Governor from a list of
nominees proposed by the California State Student Association.
These student trustees serve staggered two-year terms. One has
full voting powers; the second, non-voting student trustee
succeeds to the voting position upon the expiration of the
term of the first. The terms commence on July 1, every other
year, and expire on June 30 two years thereafter;
5)Sixteen remaining trustees are appointed by the Governor,
confirmed by 2/3 of the State Senate, and serve eight year
terms. Trustees confirmed by the senate remain on the board
until a replacement is named or 60 days after their term
expires whichever comes first.
AB 2324
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Purpose of this bill . According to the author, in
recent years there have been lengthy intervals during which no
Faculty Trustee has been appointed to the BOT. The longest
period was from 2009 to 2011, which resulted in the Faculty
Trustee position being vacant for an entire two-year term. This
occurred more recently in the summer and fall of 2013, a period
of several months during which time the BOT met twice without a
Faculty Trustee. The author believes that the absence of
faculty representation is detrimental to the major, long-term
decisions being made by the Board. This bill will ensure CSU
faculty are represented on the BOT by automatically allowing the
Faculty Trustee to serve an additional two-year term in the
absence of a timely appointment by the Governor.
Student members . As previously outlined, two students serve
staggered two-year terms on the CSU BOT. During a student's
first year, he or she may participate fully in BOT meetings but
may not vote. The student may vote during his or her second
year on the BOT. The intent of this staggered voting provision
was to allow the student a year to transition onto the board and
learn the issues before exercising their voting responsibilities
in the second year. Concerns were raised that the strict
staggering unintentionally limited student participation when
the voting student was unable to attend the meeting. The law
was amended in 2013 (AB 447, Williams) to authorize the
non-voting student Trustee to vote at a BOT meeting if the
voting student member is absent from the meeting due to illness,
a family emergency, or a medical emergency.
Arguments in support . CSU notes that "faculty plays an
important role in the success of the 23 CSU campuses and their
students. This value is supported by the Education Code, which
places a faculty member on the CSU's 26-member Board of Trustees
under the model of shared governance. This proposal makes
certain the perspective of the faculty is always heard and has a
vote on academic matters before the board."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State University (Sponsor)
Academic Senate of the California State University
AB 2324
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960