BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2721
AUTHOR: Pan
AMENDED: April 8, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : California State University Trustees.
SUMMARY
This bill expands the membership of the California State
University Board of Trustees by requiring the Governor to
appoint, a nonfaculty represented employee, to be selected
from a list of qualifying individuals that includes at
least two nominees who received a majority vote of the
representatives of the nonfaculty employees of the CSU, to
serve a two-year term.
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
AB 2721
Page 2
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.
Only one student is eligible to vote at any time.
ANALYSIS
This bill expands the membership of the CSU Board of
Trustees to 26 members. Specifically it:
1) Requires the Governor to appoint a nonfaculty employee
of the CSU covered by the Higher Education
Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) to serve a
two-year term.
2) Requires the Governor to appoint the nonfaculty
employee from a list of at least two nominees provided
by a committee consisting of one representative from
each of the employee organizations of nonfaculty
employees of the CSU.
3) Requires that the nominees submitted to the Governor
have received a majority vote of the representatives
of the organizations represented on the committee.
4) Requires that the employee organizations fund the
committee established by the bill's provisions.
5) Prohibits the nonfaculty board member from
participating on any subcommittee of the board
responsible for collective bargaining negotiations.
6) Requires that the term of office for the nonfaculty
board member begin July 1 and expire June 30 two years
thereafter.
STAFF COMMENT
AB 2721
Page 3
1) Need for the bill . The author is concerned that every
segment of the University, faculty, administration,
students, and alumni, currently has a voice on the CSU
Board of Trustees, with the exception of classified
employees. This bill would ensure a voice on the
governing board for over 20,000 employees of the CSU
system. These employees include operations and
support services, student and administrative support,
healthcare staff, skilled crafts, public safety
personnel, technical and analytical staff, and
academic support staff.
2) Like the community colleges, but not . This bill
requires that the staff representative to the Board be
a represented employee, selected by a committee made
up of representatives of employee unions at the CSU.
The author notes that direct union representation on a
board exists for the Community College Board of
Governors. SB 644 (Burton, Statutes of 2003)
designated one of the 13 gubernatorial appointments to
the Board of Governors be a classified employee to be
appointed by a list of at least three persons
furnished by the exclusive representative of
classified employees at the community colleges.
However, unlike the CSU Trustees, the Board of
Governors does not engage in collective bargaining
with employee organizations, as these matters are
addressed by the local community college district
governing boards. Within the CSU, the Board of
Trustees is responsible for negotiating and approving
bargaining contracts. In addition, current law
prohibits an employee of a community college district
from being sworn into office as an elected or
appointed member of that district's governing board
unless and until he or she resigns as an employee, and
provides for automatic termination upon being sworn
into office (EC � 72103).
Consistent with current law, this bill would prohibit
the employee board member, like the faculty board
member, from serving on any collective bargaining
committee. But unlike the provisions off this bill,
the Governor's current appointment of a faculty member
AB 2721
Page 4
must be tenured and must be selected from a list
furnished by the Academic Senate of the CSU, and not
the union that represents faculty at the bargaining
table. The committee may wish to consider:
a) Would a represented nonfaculty member
selected from a list furnished by classified
employee unions create the potential for a
conflict of interest?
b) Is the prohibition of service on a
collective bargaining committee sufficient to
resolve any real or perceived conflict of
interest?
c) Can a represented employee trustee,
elected by union representatives, bring a
perspective focused upon the best interests of
the institution?
1) Staff Trustee . Notwithstanding the differences
between the Board of Governors and the Board of
Trustees, the incorporation of a staff representative
on the Board of Trustees would provide a perspective
that is not currently formally reflected in the CSU
governance body. But should the staff trustee be
limited to only represented employees? What population
of "non-represented" staff would be excluded from
participation on the Board?
Staff recommends the bill be amended to:
a) Replace the requirement that the
"nonfaculty employee covered by the HEERA" with a
"permanent nonacademic employee."
b) Require the formation of an independent
systemwide staff council which like the Academic
Senate will submit a list of at least two names
from which the Governor shall appoint the staff
trustee.
AB 2721
Page 5
1) Related and prior legislation .
SB 1515 (Yee, 2012) would have changed the CSU BOT
composition, increasing the number of faculty,
students and represented staff. This measure was held
in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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 to 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
California State University Employees Union (CSUEU)
OPPOSITION
California State University