Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1726 By Senator Calatayud 38-01047A-25 20251726__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to higher education; amending s. 3 112.3144, F.S.; requiring certain members of the Board 4 of Governors to comply with specified financial 5 disclosure requirements beginning on a date certain; 6 amending s. 1001.01, F.S.; revising term limits for 7 members and the chair of the State Board of Education; 8 amending s. 1001.61, F.S.; providing term limits for 9 members and the chairs of the Florida College System 10 institution boards of trustees; amending s. 1001.64, 11 F.S.; providing that certain actions related to the 12 president of a Florida College System institution are 13 not subject to approval by the State Board of 14 Education; requiring presidential search committees 15 for the appointment such president; providing 16 requirements for the committees; requiring that such 17 president be recommended by the committee; amending s. 18 1001.70, F.S.; requiring appointed members of the 19 Board of Governors to be residents of this state; 20 providing term limits for appointed members; amending 21 s. 1001.706, F.S.; providing that the president of a 22 state university is appointed by the university board 23 of trustees; requiring presidential search committees 24 for the appointment such president; providing 25 requirements for the committees; requiring that such 26 president be recommended by the committee; deleting a 27 requirement that the Board of Governors confirm the 28 selection and reappointment of such president; 29 amending s. 1001.71, F.S.; providing term limits for 30 appointed members of university boards of trustees; 31 deleting obsolete language and a certain consideration 32 for appointed members; amending s. 1004.085, F.S.; 33 providing definitions; requiring specified 34 supplemental textbooks and instructional materials for 35 courses at Florida College System institutions and 36 state universities to be included in a specified list; 37 revising requirements for such lists; requiring 38 certain course syllabi to be posted with textbook and 39 instructional materials and include specified 40 information; repealing s. 1004.098, F.S., relating to 41 applicants for president of a state university or 42 Florida College System institution; providing an 43 effective date. 44 45 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 46 47 Section 1.Paragraph (f) is added to subsection (1) of 48 section 112.3144, Florida Statutes, to read: 49 112.3144Full and public disclosure of financial 50 interests. 51 (1) 52 (f)Beginning January 1, 2026, each citizen member of the 53 Board of Governors of the State University System must comply 54 with the financial disclosure requirements of s. 8, Art. II of 55 the State Constitution and this section. 56 Section 2.Subsections (1) and (2) of section 1001.01, 57 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 58 1001.01State Board of Education; generally. 59 (1)The State Board of Education is established as a body 60 corporate. The state board shall be a citizen board consisting 61 of seven members who are residents of the state appointed by the 62 Governor to staggered 4-year terms, subject to confirmation by 63 the Senate. Members of the state board shall serve without 64 compensation but shall be entitled to reimbursement of travel 65 and per diem expenses in accordance with s. 112.061. Members may 66 only serve two be reappointed by the Governor for additional 67 terms not to exceed 8 years of consecutive service. 68 (2)The State Board of Education shall select a chair and a 69 vice chair from its appointed members. The chair shall serve a 70 single 2-year term and may be reselected for one additional 71 consecutive term. 72 Section 3.Subsections (2) and (4) of section 1001.61, 73 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 74 1001.61Florida College System institution boards of 75 trustees; membership. 76 (2)Trustees shall be appointed by the Governor to 77 staggered 4-year terms, subject to confirmation by the Senate in 78 regular session. Members may be reappointed by the Governor for 79 one additional term, not to exceed 8 consecutive years of 80 service. 81 (4)At its first regular meeting after July 1 of each year, 82 each Florida College System institution board of trustees shall 83 organize by electing a chair, whose duty as such is to preside 84 at all meetings of the board, to call special meetings thereof, 85 and to attest to actions of the board, and a vice chair, whose 86 duty as such is to act as chair during the absence or disability 87 of the elected chair. It is the further duty of the chair of 88 each board of trustees to notify the Governor, in writing, 89 whenever a board member fails to attend three consecutive 90 regular board meetings in any one fiscal year, which absences 91 may be grounds for removal. The chair shall serve a single 2 92 year term. 93 Section 4.Subsection (19) of section 1001.64, Florida 94 Statutes, is amended to read: 95 1001.64Florida College System institution boards of 96 trustees; powers and duties. 97 (19)Each board of trustees shall appoint, suspend, or 98 remove the president of the Florida College System institution. 99 Such appointments, reappointments, suspensions, and extensions 100 of a president, including associated contracts, are not subject 101 to approval or confirmation by the State Board of Education. In 102 appointing an interim or a permanent president, the chair of the 103 institution board of trustees shall appoint a presidential 104 search committee. The presidential search committee shall 105 consist of at least two members of the board of trustees and may 106 include persons from the institutions faculty, the student 107 body, the institutions foundation board, the institutions 108 financing corporation board, if applicable, alumni, donors, and 109 members from the community the institution serves. However, none 110 of the persons appointed to serve on the presidential search 111 committee may hold positions that report directly to the 112 president. The Commissioner of Education or a member of the 113 State Board of Education may not serve on a presidential search 114 committee. The interim or permanent president appointed by the 115 institution board of trustees must be recommended by the 116 presidential search committee The board of trustees may appoint 117 a search committee. The board of trustees shall conduct annual 118 evaluations of the president in accordance with rules of the 119 State Board of Education and submit such evaluations to the 120 State Board of Education for review. The evaluation must address 121 the achievement of the performance goals established by the 122 accountability process implemented pursuant to s. 1008.45. 123 Section 5.Subsection (1) of section 1001.70, Florida 124 Statutes, is amended to read: 125 1001.70Board of Governors of the State University System. 126 (1)Pursuant to s. 7(d), Art. IX of the State Constitution, 127 the Board of Governors is established as a body corporate 128 comprised of 17 members as follows: 14 citizen members appointed 129 by the Governor subject to confirmation by the Senate; the 130 Commissioner of Education; the chair of the advisory council of 131 faculty senates or the equivalent; and the president of the 132 Florida student association or the equivalent. The appointed 133 members may only shall serve a single staggered 7-year term. 134 Each member appointed by the Governor must be a resident of this 135 state terms. In order to achieve staggered terms, beginning July 136 1, 2003, of the initial appointments, 4 members shall serve 2 137 year terms, 5 members shall serve 3-year terms, and 5 members 138 shall serve 7-year terms. 139 Section 6.Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section 140 1001.706, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 141 1001.706Powers and duties of the Board of Governors. 142 (6)POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO PERSONNEL. 143 (a)The Board of Governors, or the boards designee, shall 144 establish the personnel program for all employees of a state 145 university, except the president. The board of trustees of a 146 state university shall select and reappoint the university 147 president. In appointing an interim or permanent president, the 148 chair of the university board of trustees shall appoint a 149 presidential search committee. The presidential search committee 150 shall consist of 15 members consisting of at least three members 151 of the board of trustees and may include persons from the 152 universitys faculty, the student body, the universitys 153 foundation board, the universitys financing corporation board, 154 if applicable, alumni, donors, and members from the community in 155 which the university serves. However, none of the persons 156 appointed to serve on the presidential search committee may hold 157 positions that report directly to the president. The Chancellor 158 of the State University System or a member of the Board of 159 Governors may not serve on the presidential search committee. 160 The interim or permanent president selected by the board of 161 trustees must have been recommended by the presidential search 162 committee. Selections, reappointments, and extensions of a 163 president, including associated contracts, are not subject to 164 approval or confirmation by the Board of Governors. The Board of 165 Governors shall confirm the presidential selection and 166 reappointment by a university board of trustees as a means of 167 acknowledging that system cooperation is expected. 168 Section 7.Subsection (1) of section 1001.71, Florida 169 Statutes, is amended to read: 170 1001.71University boards of trustees; membership. 171 (1)Pursuant to s. 7(c), Art. IX of the State Constitution, 172 each local constituent university shall be administered by a 173 university board of trustees comprised of 13 members as follows: 174 6 citizen members appointed by the Governor subject to 175 confirmation by the Senate; 5 citizen members appointed by the 176 Board of Governors subject to confirmation by the Senate; the 177 chair of the faculty senate or the equivalent; and the president 178 of the student body of the university. The appointed members 179 shall serve staggered 5-year terms. Appointed members may be 180 reappointed for one additional term, not to exceed 10 years of 181 consecutive service. In order to achieve staggered terms, 182 beginning July 1, 2003, of the initial appointments by the 183 Governor, 2 members shall serve 2-year terms, 3 members shall 184 serve 3-year terms, and 1 member shall serve a 5-year term and 185 of the initial appointments by the Board of Governors, 2 members 186 shall serve 2-year terms, 2 members shall serve 3-year terms, 187 and 1 member shall serve a 5-year term. There shall be no state 188 residency requirement for university board members, but the 189 Governor and the Board of Governors shall consider diversity and 190 regional representation when appointing members. Beginning July 191 2, 2020, For purposes of this subsection, regional 192 representation shall include the chair of a campus board 193 established pursuant to s. 1004.341. 194 Section 8.Subsections (1) and (5) and paragraphs (a) and 195 (d) of subsection (6) of section 1004.085, Florida Statutes, are 196 amended to read: 197 1004.085Textbook and instructional materials affordability 198 and transparency. 199 (1)As used in this section, the term:, 200 (a)The term Instructional materials means educational 201 materials for use within a course which may be available in 202 printed or digital format. 203 (b)Syllabus or syllabi means the course syllabus or 204 syllabi developed by the instructor assigned to the course. 205 (c)Term includes the fall, spring, and summer terms. 206 (5)(a)Each Florida College System institution and state 207 university shall post prominently in the course registration 208 system and on its website a hyperlink to lists of required, and 209 recommended, and supplemental textbooks and instructional 210 materials, including those that are open access or an open 211 educational resource or for which there is no cost, for at least 212 95 percent of all courses and course sections offered at the 213 institution during the upcoming term. The lists must include the 214 International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or a unique identifier 215 for each required, and recommended, and supplemental textbook 216 and instructional material and or other identifying information, 217 which must include, at a minimum, all of the following: the 218 title, all authors listed, publishers, edition number, copyright 219 date, published date, and other relevant information necessary 220 to identify the specific textbooks or instructional materials 221 required, and recommended, and supplemental for each course. The 222 State Board of Education and the Board of Governors shall 223 include in the policies, procedures, and guidelines adopted 224 under subsection (6) certain limited exceptions to this 225 notification requirement for classes added after the 226 notification deadline. 227 (b)The lists of required, and recommended, and 228 supplemental textbooks and instructional materials required in 229 paragraph (a) must be based on a list submitted by the 230 instructor and: 231 1.Be posted as early as is feasible but at least 45 days 232 before the first day of class for each term. 233 2.Remain posted for at least 5 academic years. 234 3.Be searchable by the general education status, the 235 course subject, the course section, the course number, the 236 course title, the name of the instructor of the course, the 237 title of each assigned textbook or instructional material, and 238 each author of an assigned textbook or instructional material. 239 4.Include the duration of any license allowing access to 240 the textbook or instructional material. 241 5.Provide cost comparisons between bulk pricing, if such 242 textbooks and materials are offered in bulk or as part of a 243 package, and purchasing such textbooks and materials separately. 244 6.Identify the lowest cost option for each textbook and 245 instructional material. 246 7.4.Be easily downloadable by current and prospective 247 students. 248 (c)To maximize informed student choice, courses If a 249 course subject to paragraphs (a) and (b) must include the 250 current is a general education core course option identified 251 pursuant to s. 1007.25, course syllabi posted in the same 252 location as the postings of required, recommended, and 253 supplemental textbooks and instructional materials. Each 254 syllabus must contain syllabi information containing sufficient 255 detail to inform students of all of the following must be 256 included: 257 1.The course curriculum, including the required, 258 recommended, and supplemental textbooks and instructional 259 materials regardless of cost or whether the materials are open 260 access or open educational resource. 261 2.Specific The goals, objectives, and student expectations 262 of the course. 263 3.How student performance will be evaluated, including the 264 grading scale and methodology measured. 265 (6)After receiving input from students, faculty, 266 bookstores, and publishers, the State Board of Education and the 267 Board of Governors each shall adopt textbook and instructional 268 materials affordability policies, procedures, and guidelines for 269 implementation by Florida College System institutions and state 270 universities, respectively, that further efforts to minimize the 271 cost of textbooks and instructional materials for students 272 attending such institutions while maintaining the quality of 273 education and academic freedom. The policies, procedures, and 274 guidelines shall address: 275 (a)The establishment of deadlines for an instructor or 276 department to notify the bookstore of required, and recommended, 277 and supplemental textbooks and instructional materials so that 278 the bookstore may verify availability, source lower cost options 279 when practicable, explore alternatives with faculty when 280 academically appropriate, and maximize the availability of used 281 textbooks and instructional materials. 282 (d)The availability of required, and recommended, and 283 supplemental textbooks and instructional materials to students 284 otherwise unable to afford the cost, including consideration of 285 the extent to which an open-access textbook or instructional 286 material may be used. 287 Section 9.Section 1004.098, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 288 Section 10.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.