COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2961
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Marshall, Beach, Shook, Pethtel,
Shaver, Varner, Morgan, Perry, Reynolds and Craig)
(Originating in the Committee on Finance)
[March 27, 2009]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-1D-9; and to
amend and reenact §18B-2A-1 of said code, all relating to the
administration of institutions of higher education in West
Virginia generally; requiring training and development
opportunities for members of the Higher Education Policy
Commission, the Council for Community and Technical College
Education and the institutional governing boards; revising
criteria for membership of the institutional governing boards
and the manner in which the membership is determined; and
requiring the governor to consider certain factors and seek a
certain balance when appointing members.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-1D-9; and that
§18B-2A-1 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1D. HIGHER EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY.
§18B-1D-9. Commission, Council and institutional governing board
training and development.
(a) The Commission and Council, either jointly or separately,
shall coordinate periodic training and development opportunities
for members of the Commission, Council and institutional governing
boards.
(b) Within six months of beginning service on the Commission,
Council or a board, each new member shall complete at least three
hours of training and development. The training and development
shall address the following topics:
(1) State goals, objectives and priorities for higher
education;
(2) The accountability system for higher education set forth
in this article;
(3) The general powers and duties of members; and
(4) Ethical considerations arising from board membership.
(c) Within two years of beginning service on a board, and
within every two years of service thereafter, each board member
shall complete at least six hours of training and development
related to his or her duties.
(d) Annually by July 31, the chair of the Commission, Council
and each governing board shall certify to the Commission or
Council, as appropriate, the number of hours of training and
development that each board member received during the preceding fiscal year.
(e) If the certification indicates that a board member has not
completed the training and development required by this section,
the Commission or Council, as appropriate, shall send a notice to
the Governor and the Secretary of State that the board member is
disqualified from continued service, and request that the Governor
appoint a replacement for that board member.
(f) The Commission and Council shall report annually by
September 30, to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education
Accountability on the training and development that members of the
Commission and Council and governing boards under their respective
jurisdictions have received during the preceding fiscal year.
(g) As used in this section, "board member" includes a member
of the Commission, Council or a governing board.
ARTICLE 2A. INSTITUTIONAL BOARDS OF GOVERNORS.
§18B-2A-1. Composition of boards; terms and qualifications of
members; vacancies; eligibility for reappointment.
establishment of boards for independent community
and technical colleges
(a) A board of governors is continued at each of the following
institutions: Bluefield State College, Blue Ridge Community and
Technical College,
The Community and Technical College at West
Virginia University Institute of Technology, Concord University,
Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College, Fairmont
State University, Glenville State College,
Marshall Community and Technical College, Marshall University, New River Community and
Technical College,
Pierpont Community and Technical College,
Shepherd University, Southern West Virginia Community and Technical
College, West Liberty State College, West Virginia Northern
Community and Technical College, the West Virginia School of
Osteopathic Medicine,
West Virginia State Community and Technical
College, West Virginia State University
and West Virginia
University,
and West Virginia University at Parkersburg.
(b)
Independent community and technical colleges established.
--
Effective July 1, 2008, the board of advisors is abolished and
A board of governors is established for Marshall Community and
Technical College; Pierpont Community and Technical College,
formerly a division of Fairmont State University; The Community and
Technical College at West Virginia University Institute of
Technology; West Virginia State Community and Technical College;
and West Virginia University at Parkersburg. The State of West
Virginia will be served best if the membership of each governing
board is arranged to include: The academic expertise and
institutional experience of faculty members and a student of the
institution governed by the board; the technical or professional
expertise and institutional experience of a classified employee of
the institution governed by the board; awareness and understanding
of the issues facing the institution governed by the board; and the
diverse perspectives that arise from a governing board that is
balanced in terms of gender and varied in terms of race and ethnic heritage.
(c)(A)
In making the initial appointments to these boards of
governors, the Governor may appoint those persons who are lay
members of the boards of advisors by June 30, 2008.
(B) At the end of the initial term, and thereafter An
appointment to fill a vacancy on the board or reappointment of a
member who is eligible to serve an additional term is made in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
(c)(B) The
institutional boards of governors for Marshall
University and West Virginia University consist of sixteen persons.
The boards of governors of the other state institutions of higher
education consist of twelve persons.
(d) Each board of governors includes the following members:
(1) A full-time member of the faculty with the rank of
instructor or above duly elected by the faculty of the respective
institution;
(2)
For the governing boards of institutions under the
jurisdiction of the Commission, an additional full-time member of
the faculty with the rank of instructor or above duly elected by
the faculty of the respective institution and representing a center
of excellence designated in the institutional compact;
(3) For the governing boards of institutions under the
jurisdiction of the Council, an additional full-time member of the
faculty in a high-demand technical program consistent with
subdivision six, subsection (b), section three, article one-d of
this chapter, with the rank of instructor or above duly elected by the faculty of the respective institution;
(4) A member of the student body in good academic standing,
enrolled for college credit work and duly elected by the student
body of the respective institution;
(3) (5) A member from the institutional classified employees
duly elected by the classified employees of the respective
institution;
and
(4) (6) For the
institutional board of governors at Marshall
University,
thirteen eleven lay members appointed by the Governor,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, pursuant to this
section,
and additionally, the dean of the school of medicine or
his or her designee;
(5) (7) For the
institutional board of governors at West
Virginia University,
twelve nine lay members appointed by the
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
pursuant to this section, and additionally:
(A) The chairperson of the board of Visitors of West Virginia
University Institute of Technology;
(B) A full-time employee representing the extension service at
the institution, selected by the extension service employees; and
(C) The dean of the school of medicine or his or her designee;
(6) (8) For each
institutional board of governors of the other
state institutions of higher education,
nine eight lay members
appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, pursuant to this section.
(e) Of the
nine eight members appointed by the Governor, no more than five may be of the same political party. Of the
thirteen
eleven members appointed by the Governor to the governing board of
Marshall University, no more than
eight six may be of the same
political party. Of the
twelve nine members appointed by the
Governor to the governing board of West Virginia University, no
more than
seven five may be of the same political party.
(f) Of the
nine eight members appointed by the Governor, at
least
six four shall be residents of the state. Of the
thirteen
eleven members appointed by the Governor to the governing board of
Marshall University, at least
eight six shall be residents of the
state. Of the
twelve nine members appointed by the Governor to the
governing board of West Virginia University, at least
eight five
shall be residents of the state.
(g) In making lay appointments, the Governor shall:
(1) Consider the need for individual skills, knowledge and
experience relevant to governing the institution; the need for
awareness and understanding of institutional problems and
priorities, including those related to research, teaching and
outreach; and the value of gender, racial and ethnic diversity;
(2) Seek balance in gender and diversity in the racial and
ethnic characteristics of the lay membership of each board; and
(3) Appoint to each governing board the superintendent of a
county board of education from the area served by the institution.
(f)(h) The student member serves for a term of one year. Each
term begins on the first day of July.
(g) The (i) Each employee and faculty member serves for a term of two years. Each term begins on the first day of July.
Employee
and faculty members are eligible to succeed themselves for three
additional terms, not to exceed a total of eight consecutive years.
(h)(j) The member representing classified employees serves for
a term of two years. Each term begins on the first day of July.
Members representing classified employees are eligible to succeed
themselves for three additional terms, not to exceed a total of
eight consecutive years.
(i)(k) The appointed lay citizen members serve terms of up to
four years each and are eligible to succeed themselves for no more
than one additional term.
(j)(l) A vacancy in an unexpired term of a member shall be
filled for the unexpired term within thirty days of the occurrence
of the vacancy in the same manner as the original appointment or
election. Except in the case of a vacancy, all elections shall be
held and all appointments shall be made no later than
the thirtieth
day of June
30 preceding the commencement of the term. Each board
of governors shall elect one of its appointed lay members to be
chairperson in June of each year.
except for the fiscal year
beginning July 1, 2008, only, when the board shall elect the
chairperson in July A member may not serve as chairperson for more
than four consecutive years.
(k)(m) The appointed members of the
institutional boards of
governors serve staggered terms of up to four years except that
four of the initial appointments to the governing boards of
community and technical colleges
which become that became independent July 1, 2008, are for terms of two years and five of
the initial appointments are for terms of four years.
(l)(n) A person is ineligible for appointment to membership on
a board of governors of a state institution of higher education
under the following conditions:
(1) For a baccalaureate institution or university, a person is
ineligible for appointment who is an officer, employee or member of
any other board of governors; an employee of any institution of
higher education
in West Virginia; an officer or member of any
political party executive committee; the holder of any other public
office or public employment under the government of this state or
any of its political subdivisions; an employee of any affiliated
research corporation created pursuant to article twelve of this
chapter; an employee of any affiliated foundation organized and
operated in support of one or more state institutions of higher
education; or a member of the Council or Commission. This
subsection does not prevent
the representative representatives from
the
employees, faculty, classified employees, students
, or the
superintendent of a county board of education
serving pursuant to
subsection (d) of this section from being members of the governing
boards.
(2) For a community and technical college, a person is
ineligible for appointment who is an officer, employee or member of
any other board of governors; a member of a board of visitors of
any public institution of higher education
in West Virginia; an
employee of any institution of higher education; an officer or member of any political party executive committee; the holder of
any other public office, other than an elected county office, or
public employment, other than employment by the county board of
education, under the government of this state or any of its
political subdivisions; an employee of any affiliated research
corporation created pursuant to article twelve of this chapter; an
employee of any affiliated foundation organized and operated in
support of one or more state institutions of higher education; or
a member of the Council or Commission. This subsection does not
prevent the representative from the faculty, classified employees,
students, or chairpersons of the boards of advisors from being
members of the governing boards.
(m)(o) Before exercising any authority or performing any
duties as a member of a governing board, each member shall qualify
as such by taking and subscribing to the oath of office prescribed
by Section five, Article IV of the Constitution of West Virginia
and the certificate thereof shall be filed with the Secretary of
State.
(n)(p) A member of a governing board appointed by the Governor
may not be removed from office by the Governor except for official
misconduct, incompetence, neglect of duty or gross immorality and
then only in the manner prescribed by law for the removal of the
state elective officers by the Governor.
(o)(q) The president of the institution shall make available
resources of the institution for conducting the business of its
board of governors. The members of the board of governors serve without compensation, but are reimbursed for all reasonable and
necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of official
duties under this article upon presentation of an itemized sworn
statement of expenses. All expenses incurred by the board of
governors and the institution under this section are paid from
funds allocated to the institution for that purpose.