STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5979--A 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 25, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, LUNSFORD, CLARK, SLATER, JENSEN, EPSTEIN, SAYEGH, SHIMSKY, OTIS, MORINELLO, STIRPE, MEEKS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to including a faculty or staff member on the board of trustees of community colleges The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 1 of section 6306 of 2 the education law, as amended by chapter 268 of the laws of 2003, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 Each community college, except in the city of New York, shall be 5 administered by a board of trustees of [ten] eleven members, nine of 6 whom shall be appointed for terms of seven years in annual rotation, and 7 [one member] two members elected as herein provided, except that initial 8 appointments shall be made for terms of one to nine years respectively. 9 Five members shall be appointed by the local legislative body or board, 10 or other appropriate governing agency, one of whom may be a member of 11 such local legislative body or board, or other appropriate governing 12 agency, four, from among persons residing in the sponsoring community, 13 by the governor and one member elected by and from among the students of 14 the college who shall serve as a member of the board for a one-year 15 term, provided, however, that the term of the student member first 16 elected shall be nine months commencing October first, nineteen hundred 17 seventy-five, and one of whom shall be elected by and from among the 18 faculty and staff of the college, ex-officio and non-voting, who shall 19 serve a two-year term, provided, however, that the term of the faculty 20 or staff member first elected shall commence July first, two thousand 21 twenty-six. The faculty or staff member and student member shall be 22 afforded the same parliamentary privileges as are conferred upon voting EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00418-03-5
A. 5979--A 2 1 members, including but not limited to the right to make and second 2 motions and to place items on the agenda. Such community college board 3 members, including the faculty or staff and student [member] members 4 shall be subject to section eight hundred five-a of the general munici- 5 pal law, section one hundred five of the public officers law and every 6 provision of any general, special or local law, ordinance, charter, 7 code, rule or regulation applying to the members of such board with 8 respect to the discharge of their duties including, but not limited to, 9 those provisions setting forth codes of ethics, disclosure requirements 10 and prohibiting business and professional activities. The election of 11 the student member shall be conducted in accordance with rules and regu- 12 lations promulgated by the respective representative campus student 13 association in accordance with guidelines established by the state 14 university trustees. The election of the faculty or staff member shall 15 be conducted in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the 16 largest faculty organization on each campus. In the event that the 17 student member ceases to be a student at the institution, [he] they 18 shall be required to resign. In the event that the faculty or staff 19 member ceases to be an employee at the institution, they shall be 20 required to resign. The governor's initial appointments shall be for 21 terms of two, four, six and eight years respectively and those by local 22 authorities for terms of one, three, five, seven and nine years respec- 23 tively. Vacancies shall be filled for unexpired terms in the same manner 24 as original selections by the authority responsible for the original 25 selection. The board shall select its own [chairman] chair from among 26 its voting membership. Where two or more local sponsors join in the 27 establishment of a community college, the apportionment of the appoint- 28 ments among them shall be made by the state university trustees. Trus- 29 tees shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be reim- 30 bursed for their expenses actually and necessarily incurred by them in 31 the performance of their duties under this article. Members initially 32 appointed or elected under this subdivision to the board of trustees of 33 any community college hereafter established shall take office immediate- 34 ly upon their selection and qualification, but for purposes of determin- 35 ing the expiration of their respective terms and the commencement of the 36 terms of their successors, the term of office of each such initial 37 member shall be deemed to have commenced on the first day of July of the 38 year in which such college was established. The terms of office of all 39 members of the boards of trustees of community colleges heretofore 40 established, appointed or elected as provided in this subdivision, shall 41 terminate on the thirtieth day of June of the calendar year within which 42 such terms expire under the provisions of this subdivision as hereby 43 amended. For the purpose of determining such year all initial terms of 44 office of appointed members of the boards of trustees of community 45 colleges heretofore established shall be deemed to have commenced on the 46 first day of July of the year in which such colleges were established 47 and the terms of their successors for full terms, if any, shall be 48 deemed to have commenced upon the expiration of the number of years from 49 such date for which such initial appointments were made. 50 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.