BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2324
AUTHOR: Williams
AMENDED: June 4, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 11, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez
SUBJECT : Trustees of the California State University:
faculty member
of the board.
SUMMARY
Provides that when the two-year term of office on
California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees (BOT)
ends for the appointed faculty member, and the Governor has
not appointed a successor member, as specified, the faculty
member may remain in office after the term expires for one
additional year, or until a successor is appointed by the
Governor, whichever occurs first.
BACKGROUND
Under current law (Education Code § 66602), the CSU Board
of Trustees is comprised of, at any time, 25 members, as
follows:
1) Five (5) ex-officio members: (a) the Governor, (b) the
Lieutenant Governor, (c) Speaker of the Assembly, (d)
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and (e) the
Chancellor of the CSU.
2) Sixteen (16) Governor appointees confirmed by
two-thirds of the Senate, each serving an eight-year
term.
3) One (1) alumni association representative, who cannot
be an employee of the CSU, appointed by the Governor
serving a two-year term.
4) One (1) tenured CSU faculty representative appointed
by the Governor, for a two-year term, from a list of
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names of at least two persons furnished by the CSU
Academic Senate to serve a two-year term which
commences on July 1 and expires on June 30 two years
thereafter. The faculty member cannot participate on
any subcommittees of the board responsible for
collective bargaining negotiations.
5) Two (2) CSU students appointed by the Governor for
staggered two-year terms from a list of nominees
furnished by the governing board of any statewide
student organization that represents CSU students and
the student body organizations of the CSU campuses.
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. Only one student is
eligible to vote at any time.
ANALYSIS
Provides that when the two-year term of office on
California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees (BOT)
ends for the appointed faculty member, and the Governor has
not appointed a successor member, as specified, the faculty
member may remain in office after the term expires for one
additional year, or until a successor is appointed by the
Governor, whichever occurs first.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office
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 is
represented on the BOT by automatically allowing the
Faculty Trustee to serve an additional two-year term
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in the absence of a timely appointment by the
Governor.
2) Replacing faculty members on BOT is dependent on
gubernatorial action. Under current law, the faculty
member's term as trustee ends immediately, generally
as of June 30, after a two-year term has concluded,
unlike the public members of the board who can remain
indefinitely until a replacement member is selected.
In contrast to the public appointments, statute
requires the selection of a faculty member from a list
of names of at least two persons furnished by the
Academic Senate of the CSU; sometimes the vetting of
these candidates by the Governor takes additional time
for a final selection to be made. In the past, these
delays have extended almost a year without a faculty
representative sitting on the board. This bill would
provide a buffer to insure appropriate and consistent
faculty representation on the BOT.
SUPPORT
California State Student Association
California State University
OPPOSITION
None on file.