BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1515
AUTHOR: Yee
AMENDED: April 9, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 25, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Daniel Alvarez
SUBJECT : California State University (CSU): Board of
Trustees membership.
SUMMARY
This bill modifies the membership of the CSU Board of
Trustees.
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
names of at least two persons furnished by the CSU
Academic Senate. The faculty member cannot
participate on any subcommittees of the board
responsible for collective bargaining negotiations.
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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.
Only one student is eligible to vote at any time.
Current law specifies the primary mission of the CSU is
undergraduate education and graduate education through the
master's degree, including teacher education. (EC �
66010.4)
ANALYSIS
This bill modifies membership of the CSU Board of Trustees
by reducing the number of gubernatorial appointees
requiring Senate confirmation, from 16 to 14. Furthermore,
of the 14 appointive members, two must be faculty members
and two must be represented permanent nonacademic employees
at the CSU. In addition, the bill:
1) Increases the required number of students, from two
(2) to four (4), to be appointed to the board.
Specifies that in the selection of students as members
of the board, the governor shall appoint from lists of
names of at least four (rather than two), but not more
than eight (rather than five), as specified.
2) Eliminates the requirement that the faculty member
appointed for a two-year term have tenure status.
3) Prohibits faculty and nonacademic employee members
from sitting on a collective bargaining subcommittee
of the board.
4) Requires faculty and nonacademic employee members be
employed by the CSU for at least two years and at the
time of appointment. However, these members are not
required to be employees of the CSU for the duration
of their term to remain on the board.
5) Specifies that if a faculty member appointment is
vacant for more than two meetings of the board, the
Academic Senate shall vote to select an interim
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faculty member until the governor appoints a new
faculty member.
6) Specifies that if a nonacademic employee member
appointment is vacant for more than two meetings of
the board, the California State University Labor
Council shall vote to select an interim nonacademic
employee member until the governor appoints a new
nonacademic employee member.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. The author states that the current
composition of the CSU Board of Trustees is not
representative of the population of the university
community for which it is tasked with overseeing.
There are currently only 2 voting members of the Board
of Trustees that are directly affected by the
decisions of the Board, one student and one faculty
member. Having the Board more accurately reflect the
population affected by its decisions, particularly
during these financial times, will make the decisions
of the Board more accurately reflect the needs and
priorities of the CSU community. The disconnection
between the decisions of the Board and needs of the
students, faculty, and workers at CSU shows a need for
a change in the composition of the Board.
2) Opponents argue that it is critical that the governing
board retain distance from political and personal
agendas that can skew decisions that are necessary and
in the best interest of the state and students. There
are many tough and maybe even unpopular decisions that
must be made by the board to make sure the institution
is doing all that it can to serve students. Trustees
must take into account many issues and decisions that
may not always be what one member of the CSU trustees
wants or prefers; these decisions are important to all
parties within the CSU and should not be biased in
favor of the faculty and staff.
3) Can't the Governor already make these types of
appointments? The governor can already make
appointments to the Trustees as envisioned in this
bill without changing the structure of the
appointments - mainly in the areas of faculty and
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permanent nonacademic employees. By inserting
additional appointee requirements this may limit the
overall flexibility provided to the executive of the
state of insuring the general mission and goals of the
CSU is maintained. Further, it is within the purview
of the Senate to either accept or reject the
appointments made.
This bill would maintain the same overall number of
CSU Trustees - however it would change the existing
mix - by reducing the number of "general" appointees
and requiring specific appointees. Is this "new" mix
of appointees too much of any one specific segment
within the CSU system? How many faculty / permanent
nonacademic employees are needed to insure an
appropriate level of representation and provide points
of view that is consistent with the primary mission of
the institution and in its best interest?
If it is the desire of the Committee to pass this
measure, staff recommends the following amendments:
a) Instead of two permanent nonacademic
employees and two additional faculty
appointments, staff recommends one additional
appointment from each category.
b) Maintain that the faculty member, nominated
from a list from the Academic Senate, must be
tenured. This bill deleted the requirement of
providing for tenured faculty, it is unclear why
this change is necessary? It would seem that
tenured faculty can provide a breadth and depth
of perspective free from any pressure - real or
perceived - in the best interest of the
institution.
c) Clarify that faculty and permanent
nonacademic employee members appointed by the
governor pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not
participate on any subcommittee of the board
responsible for collective bargaining
negotiations.
d) Delete the ability of alternative bodies to
make interim appointments in the absence of
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gubernatorial action. This provision would seem
unnecessary and the Legislature can always
revisit this issue if problems in maintaining an
appointment occur.
1) Additional student representation may be reasonable.
In 1999, the Legislature added one additional student
to the Board of Trustees. At that time, the
California State Student Association (CSSA) believed
additional representation was needed on behalf of
students in order to assure their needs were being
met. Furthermore, they had contended the student
population had grown by incredible amounts since the
initial inception of a student trustee. The CSSA
argued it was nearly impossible for one student to
represent the concerns of hundreds of thousands of
students and 23 campuses, especially when there are a
number of committees and subcommittees to attend as a
representative of the Board of Trustees.
The full-time student population at CSU has grown by
approximately 73,000, or approximately 26 percent,
since the last change in the statutes that govern CSU
Trustee appointments. It could reasonably be argued
that greater student representation on the Board of
Trustees is warranted.
2) Prior related legislation .
AB 2849 (Lowenthal, 2004) would have added one
nonfaculty member of CSU. This bill was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger.
AB 307 (Pavley, 2001) would have added one nonfaculty
member to the CSU Trustees. This bill was ultimately
amended in a different subject matter.
SB 1604 (O'Connell, 2000) would have added one
nonfaculty member to the CSU Trustees. This bill was
held at the Senate Desk.
SUPPORT
Academic Professionals of California
California Faculty Association
California Labor Federation
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California State University Employees Union
Service Employees International Union
OPPOSITION
California State University