Florida Senate - 2012                                   SJR 1508
       
       
       
       By Senator Montford
       
       
       
       
       6-01131-12                                            20121508__
    1                       Senate Joint Resolution                     
    2         A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 7
    3         of Article IX of the State Constitution to replace the
    4         president of the Florida Student Association or the
    5         equivalent as a member of the Statewide Board of
    6         Governors with the student body president of a state
    7         university.
    8  
    9  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   10  
   11         That the following amendment to Section 7 of Article IX of
   12  the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
   13  the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
   14  general election or at an earlier special election specifically
   15  authorized by law for that purpose:
   16                             ARTICLE IX                            
   17                              EDUCATION                            
   18         SECTION 7. State University System.—
   19         (a) PURPOSES. In order to achieve excellence through
   20  teaching students, advancing research and providing public
   21  service for the benefit of Florida’s citizens, their communities
   22  and economies, the people hereby establish a system of
   23  governance for the state university system of Florida.
   24         (b) STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. There shall be a single state
   25  university system comprised of all public universities. A board
   26  of trustees shall administer each public university and a board
   27  of governors shall govern the state university system.
   28         (c) LOCAL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES. Each local constituent
   29  university shall be administered by a board of trustees
   30  consisting of thirteen members dedicated to the purposes of the
   31  state university system. The board of governors shall establish
   32  the powers and duties of the boards of trustees. Each board of
   33  trustees shall consist of six citizen members appointed by the
   34  governor and five citizen members appointed by the board of
   35  governors. The appointed members shall be confirmed by the
   36  senate and serve staggered terms of five years as provided by
   37  law. The chair of the faculty senate, or the equivalent, and the
   38  president of the student body of the university shall also be
   39  members.
   40         (d) STATEWIDE BOARD OF GOVERNORS. The board of governors
   41  shall be a body corporate consisting of seventeen members. The
   42  board shall operate, regulate, control, and be fully responsible
   43  for the management of the whole university system. These
   44  responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to, defining
   45  the distinctive mission of each constituent university and its
   46  articulation with free public schools and community colleges,
   47  ensuring the well-planned coordination and operation of the
   48  system, and avoiding wasteful duplication of facilities or
   49  programs. The board’s management shall be subject to the powers
   50  of the legislature to appropriate for the expenditure of funds,
   51  and the board shall account for such expenditures as provided by
   52  law. The governor shall appoint to the board fifteen fourteen
   53  citizens dedicated to the purposes of the state university
   54  system, one of whom must be the student body president of a
   55  state university. The appointed members shall be confirmed by
   56  the senate and serve staggered terms of seven years as provided
   57  by law, except that the state university student body president
   58  appointed to the board shall serve a term of one year and is not
   59  subject to senate confirmation. A student body president is not
   60  eligible for appointment if the student body president appointed
   61  to the board in the previous year was from the same state
   62  university. The commissioner of education and, the chair of the
   63  advisory council of faculty senates, or the equivalent, and the
   64  president of the Florida student association, or the equivalent,
   65  shall also be members of the board.
   66         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
   67  placed on the ballot:
   68                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT                     
   69                        ARTICLE IX, SECTION 7                      
   70         APPOINTMENT OF STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS
   71  OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.—Proposing an amendment to the
   72  State Constitution to remove the president of the Florida
   73  Student Association, or the equivalent, as a member of the Board
   74  of Governors of the State University System and to require that
   75  the Governor appoint a state university student body president
   76  to the Board of Governors. Specifically, the amendment requires
   77  that a state university student body president must be one of 15
   78  citizen members appointed to the Board of Governors by the
   79  Governor, except the state university student body president is
   80  not subject to confirmation by the Senate and the term of
   81  appointment is 1 year. The amendment also provides that a
   82  student body president of a state university is not eligible for
   83  appointment if the student body president appointed to the Board
   84  of Governors in the previous year was from the same state
   85  university.