BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2721 (Pan) - California State University Trustees: Nonfaculty
Member
Amended: July 2, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 14, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: This bill expands the membership of the California
State University (CSU) Board of Trustees by requiring the
Governor to appoint to the Board, a permanent nonfaculty
employee, as specified.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on August 14, 2014):
Selection: Potentially significant workload to the CSU
to create an independent systemwide staff council to
nominate employees for the Board of Trustees; potentially
significant costs to the employee organizations of
permanent nonfaculty employees of CSU to fund the council.
Background: Existing law establishes the CSU Board of Trustees,
comprised of 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
to serve a two-year term which commences on July 1 and
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expires on June 30 two years thereafter.
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.
Proposed Law: This bill expands the membership of the CSU Board
of Trustees to 26 members. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the Governor to appoint a permanent nonfaculty
employee, who is not in a management personnel plan, a
confidential classification, or an excluded classification
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
systemwide staff council.
3) Requires that the employee organizations fund the
council established by the
bill's provisions.
4) Prohibits the nonfaculty board member from
participating on any subcommittee of
the board responsible for collective bargaining
negotiations.
5) Requires that the term of office for the nonfaculty
member begin July 1 and expire
June 30 two years thereafter.
Related Legislation: SB 1515 (Yee, 2012) would have changed the
CSU Board of Trustees composition, increasing the number of
faculty, students and represented staff. That bill was held
under submission in this Committee.
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AB 2849 (Lowenthal, 2004) would have added one nonfaculty member
of CSU. That bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
Staff Comments: When a faculty member of a particular CSU campus
serves a two-year term on the CSU Board of Trustees, the CSU
"buys out" that faculty member's salary. The campus can then
staff appropriately to provide courses that would have otherwise
been taught by that faculty member. Presumably, the CSU would
likewise buy out the salary of a permanent nonfaculty employee
serving on the Board of Trustees, since the campus will need to
replace the employee for the duration of his or her term.
Because employees in a wide range of positions (e.g. financial
aid officer, librarian, custodial staff) with a wide range of
salaries could serve as the nonfaculty member, the estimated
annual cost is unknown. The cost would be driven by the
employment cost of the appointed member.
Author's Amendments limit compensation for the nonfaculty member
to travel expenses and per die reimbursement.