NY State Senate Bill 2021-S7636

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to higher education

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §353, Ed L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2023-2024: S1255
2025-2026: S1234

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the membership of the board of trustees of the state university of New York; reduces the number of trustees appointed by the governor from fifteen to ten; adds one trustee appointment by the speaker of the assembly, one by the temporary president of the senate, one by a majority vote of SUNY and CUNY staff, and two by a majority vote of SUNY alumni.

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7636

SPONSOR: MAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the membership of the
board of trustees of the state university of New York

 
PURPOSE:

To ensure greater independence for the SUNY Board of Trustees.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: amends subdivision 1 of section 353 of the education law to
reduce the number of trustees appointed by the governor from 15 to 10,
redistributing those Two trustees will be appointed by legislative lead-
ers, one each respectively appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and
the Senate Majority Leader. One trustee will be selected by a vote of
staff members of the SUNY and CUNY systems and two will be elected by
alumni of the SUNY system. The two currently non-voting trustees,
representing the University Faculty Senate and the Faculty Council of

Community Colleges, are also designated as voting members of the board.

Section 2: provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

SUNY is the largest system of public colleges and universities in the
country and one of the crown jewels of the Empire State. Serving
hundreds of thousands of students every year, it is an economic driver
for the state and a key source of cultural and academic enrichment for
its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and neighbors.  Ensuring shared
governance and a well-functioning system is critical to guarantee that
SUNY will continue to serve New Yorkers long into the future. The
governing body of SUNY, the Board of Trustees, is made up of 18 members,
15 of whom are currently appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the
State Senate. This bill proposes a modest reform to the appointment of
trustees to ensure greater representation on the board by the communi-
ties that SUNY serves and that invest so much of themselves. Modelled
off other university boards of trustees, this bill would reduce the
number of gubernatorial appointees to 10 and ensure that representatives
of the legislative leaders, staff, and alumni are included on the board.
It also gives voting rights to the two faculty representatives. These
simple reforms will help ensure shared governance and increase the inde-
pendence of the trustees.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7636
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 5, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the membership of  the
   board of trustees of the state university of New York
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1.  Subdivision 1 of section 353  of  the  education  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  268  of  the  laws  of 2011, is amended to read as
 follows:
   1. The state university shall be governed, and all  of  its  corporate
 powers  exercised,  by  a board of trustees. Such board shall consist of
 eighteen members, [fifteen] TEN of whom shall be appointed by the gover-
 nor with the advice and consent of the senate,  ONE  OF  WHOM  SHALL  BE
 APPOINTED BY THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY, ONE OF WHOM SHALL BE APPOINTED
 BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, one of whom shall be the pres-
 ident  of  the  student assembly of the state university, ex-officio and
 voting, one of whom shall be the president  of  the  university  faculty
 senate,  ex-officio  and [non-voting] VOTING, [and] one of whom shall be
 the president of the faculty council of community  colleges,  ex-officio
 and  [non-voting]  VOTING,  ONE  OF  WHOM SHALL BE A STAFF MEMBER OF THE
 STATE UNIVERSITY OR THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK  AND  WHO  SHALL  BE
 ELECTED  TO  SERVE AS TRUSTEE BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF STAFF MEMBERS OF THE
 STATE UNIVERSITY AND CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, AND TWO OF WHOM  SHALL
 BE  ALUMNI  OF  THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK WHO SHALL BE ELECTED TO
 SERVE AS TRUSTEE BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF  STATE  UNIVERSITY  OF  NEW  YORK
 ALUMNI.  Such  ex-officio members shall be subject to every provision of
 any general, special, or local law, ordinance, charter, code,  rule,  or
 regulation  applying to the voting members of such board with respect to
 the discharge of their duties, including,  but  not  limited  to,  those
 provisions  setting  forth codes of ethics, disclosure requirements, and
 prohibiting business and professional  activities.  One  member  of  the
 board  shall  be  designated  by  the governor as chairperson and one as
 vice-chairperson. Of the members first appointed, two shall be appointed
 for a term which  shall  expire  on  June  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14038-01-1
 S. 7636                             2
 
 fifty-two; one for a term which shall expire on June thirtieth, nineteen
 hundred  fifty-three;  two for a term which shall expire on June thirti-
 eth, nineteen hundred fifty-four; one for a term which shall  expire  on
 June  thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-five; two for a term which shall
 expire on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-six;  one  for  a  term
 which  shall expire on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-seven; two
 for a term which  shall  expire  on  June  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred
 fifty-eight;  one for a term which shall expire on June thirtieth, nine-
 teen hundred fifty-nine; two for a term which shall expire on June thir-
 tieth, nineteen hundred sixty; and one for a term which shall expire  on
 June  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred sixty-one. Vacancies shall be filled
 for the unexpired term in the same manner as original appointments.  The
 term  of office of each trustee appointed on or after April first, nine-
 teen hundred eighty-six shall  be  seven  years,  except  those  of  the
 student  member  and  the  faculty  members.  Trustees  shall receive no
 compensation for their  services  but  shall  be  reimbursed  for  their
 expenses actually and necessarily incurred by them in the performance of
 their duties under this article.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S7636

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

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2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Rachel May

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

Actions

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S7636 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments