Adds members to the board of trustees of the state university of New York who represent the interests of community colleges as full voting members of the board of trustees; provides that the local legislative body or board of the county in which a community college is located may appoint a trustee in the event that the governor fails to appoint such trustee within 180 days of a vacancy on a board of trustees of a community college.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
10204
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 12, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EACHUS, MAHER -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to appointing represen-
tatives of community colleges to the board of trustees of the state
university of New York and authorizing counties to appoint members to
boards of trustees of community colleges when certain members have not
been appointed in a timely manner
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "community college representation act".
§ 2. Legislative findings and justification. The State University of
New York (SUNY) system includes 30 community colleges serving more than
44% of its total student population. These institutions are not only
foundational to SUNY's academic mission, but they are also key drivers
of regional workforce development, upstate economic revitalization, and
closing persistent equity gaps in higher education.
Despite their critical role, community colleges currently have no
voting representation on the SUNY Board of Trustees. Their faculty,
presidents, and trustees contribute directly to the success of hundreds
of thousands of New Yorkers, yet they have no formal vote in system-lev-
el policy or budget decisions. By contrast, SUNY's four-year campuses
are well represented in both formal and informal governance channels.
This bill is not about expanding representation for every SUNY affil-
iated stakeholder group. It is about recognizing the singular role of
community colleges, which serve the largest segment of SUNY students and
operate under a distinct funding and governance structure. Their inclu-
sion is essential to balanced and informed system-wide governance.
Further, these positions shall be uncompensated, in alignment with
existing trustee practice, and shall impose no fiscal burden on the
State or SUNY.
§ 3. 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:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14092-02-6
Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.
Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.
Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.