Office of Legislative Services
State House Annex
P.O. Box 068
Trenton, New Jersey 08625
Legislative Budget and Finance Office
Phone (609) 847-3105
Fax (609) 777-2442
www.njleg.state.nj.us
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 4967
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: JULY 21, 2023
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Revises training requirements for governing board members of public
institutions of higher education.
Type of Impact: Annual State cost increase; annual cost decrease for four-year public
institutions of higher education.
Agencies Affected: Office of the Secretary of Higher Education; four-year public
institutions of higher education.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Annual
State Cost Increase Up to $350,000
Four-Year Public Institutions of Higher
Education Cost Decrease Indeterminate
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that there would be an increase in annual State
expenditures of up to $350,000 for the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education associated
with arranging training for governing board members and maintaining records of training
fulfillment, which is provided for by an appropriation included in the bill.
The bill’s training requirements affect a maximum of 363 governing board members at any
given time, although members are not required to complete the training on the same schedule.
The bill removes a number of training and administrative requirements currently placed on
four-year public institutions of higher education, thereby eliminating some costs to the
institutions associated with meeting those requirements.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill requires that a newly appointed member of a governing board of a public institution
of higher education complete certain training within six months of the member’s appointment and FE to A4967 [1R]
2
that previously appointed members who were exempt from the current training requirement
complete the training within six months of this bill’s effective date. All members will be required
to complete training within six months of the start of each successive term thereafter. Under
current law, a newly appointed member of a governing board of a public institution of higher
education is required to complete training on the roles and duties of a governing board member
within one year of appointment to the board.
Current law generally provides that the subject matter of the board member training is
prescribed by the institutions of higher education, in consultation with the Secretary of Higher
Education. This bill provides that the secretary is to determine the subject matter of the training
and that the training include the role of the governing board in the financial management of an
institution of higher education. The bill provides that, in the case of four-year public institutions
of higher education, the secretary will arrange for the training; current law, by contrast, requires
the institution to arrange for the training. Public institutions of higher education also would no
longer be required to conduct a periodic review of the training.
The bill directs the secretary to provide notification to a governing board member who has
failed to comply with the training requirement and provide the member with a 30-day grace period
to fulfill the outstanding training requirement. The bill permits the secretary to provide additional
extensions to the grace period. The bill provides that failure to fulfill the outstanding training
requirement within the grace period may constitute a resignation from the governing board at the
discretion of the secretary and a vacancy will be deemed to exist. Under the bill, the board member
will be disqualified from being reappointed to the board, or appointed to any other governing board
of a public institution of higher education, for the succeeding two-year period. Additionally, the
bill permits training for governing board members to be made available online.
The bill further repeals a section of law that requires four-year public institutions of higher
education to provide certain information, orientation, and training to each of its governing board
members. Under the bill, all required training for governing board members at public institutions
of higher education is to be arranged for by the secretary.
Finally, the bill provides that $350,000 will be annually appropriated from the General Fund
to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to effectuate the bill’s purposes.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS finds that there would be an increase in annual State expenditures of up to $350,000
associated with arranging training for governing board members and maintaining records of
training fulfillment. The bill appropriates $350,000 to the Office of the Secretary of Higher
Education for the purposes of the bill. The bill also removes a number of training and
administrative requirements currently placed on four-year public institutions of higher education,
which would result in an indeterminate decrease in expenditures for the institutions.
Under current law, a newly appointed member of a governing board of a public institution of
higher education is required to complete training that is designed to clarify the roles and duties of
a governing board member. For four-year public institutions of higher education, this bill requires
the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to arrange for the training, whereas current law FE to A4967 [1R]
3
requires the institutions to arrange for the training. For county colleges, training will continue to
be provided under the bill by the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, although the bill
provides that the training will now be done in consultation with the Office of the Secretary of
Higher Education.
There are 11 four-year public institutions of higher education in the State and 18 county
colleges. Membership on the governing board of a four-year public institution of higher education
is capped at 15 members while membership on the governing board of a county college is capped
at 11 members. The bill’s training requirement affects a maximum of 363 governing board
members at any given time, although members are not required to complete the training on the
same schedule.
The bill removes a number of training and administrative requirements currently placed on
four-year public institutions of higher education, thereby eliminating some costs to the institutions
associated with meeting those requirements. Specifically, the bill provides that all required training
for governing board members at four-year public institutions of higher education is to be arranged for
by the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, and the bill removes the requirement that public
institutions conduct a periodic review of the training. The bill also requires the office to provide
notification to a governing board member who has failed to comply with the training requirements
and provide a grace period to fulfill the outstanding training requirement.
Section: Education
Analyst: Sarah Haimowitz
Lead Research Analyst
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).