Florida Senate - 2012                            CS for SJR 1508
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senators Montford and Ring
       
       
       
       
       590-03623-12                                          20121508c1
    1                       Senate Joint Resolution                     
    2         A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 7
    3         of Article IX of the State Constitution to revise the
    4         selection process for the student member of the Board
    5         of Governors of the State University System.
    6  
    7  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    8  
    9         That the following amendment to Section 7 of Article IX of
   10  the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
   11  the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
   12  general election or at an earlier special election specifically
   13  authorized by law for that purpose:
   14                             ARTICLE IX                            
   15                              EDUCATION                            
   16         SECTION 7. State University System.—
   17         (a) PURPOSES. In order to achieve excellence through
   18  teaching students, advancing research and providing public
   19  service for the benefit of Florida’s citizens, their communities
   20  and economies, the people hereby establish a system of
   21  governance for the state university system of Florida.
   22         (b) STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. There shall be a single state
   23  university system comprised of all public universities. A board
   24  of trustees shall administer each public university and a board
   25  of governors shall govern the state university system.
   26         (c) LOCAL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES. Each local constituent
   27  university shall be administered by a board of trustees
   28  consisting of thirteen members dedicated to the purposes of the
   29  state university system. The board of governors shall establish
   30  the powers and duties of the boards of trustees. Each board of
   31  trustees shall consist of six citizen members appointed by the
   32  governor and five citizen members appointed by the board of
   33  governors. The appointed members shall be confirmed by the
   34  senate and serve staggered terms of five years as provided by
   35  law. The chair of the faculty senate, or the equivalent, and the
   36  president of the student body of the university shall also be
   37  members.
   38         (d) STATEWIDE BOARD OF GOVERNORS. The board of governors
   39  shall be a body corporate consisting of seventeen members. The
   40  board shall operate, regulate, control, and be fully responsible
   41  for the management of the whole university system. These
   42  responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to, defining
   43  the distinctive mission of each constituent university and its
   44  articulation with free public schools and community colleges,
   45  ensuring the well-planned coordination and operation of the
   46  system, and avoiding wasteful duplication of facilities or
   47  programs. The board’s management shall be subject to the powers
   48  of the legislature to appropriate for the expenditure of funds,
   49  and the board shall account for such expenditures as provided by
   50  law. The governor shall appoint to the board fourteen citizens
   51  dedicated to the purposes of the state university system. The
   52  appointed members shall be confirmed by the senate and serve
   53  staggered terms of seven years as provided by law. The
   54  commissioner of education, the chair of the advisory council of
   55  faculty senates, or the equivalent, and the chair of the council
   56  of student body presidents, which council shall be organized by
   57  the board of governors and consist of all the student body
   58  presidents of the state university system and the president of
   59  the Florida student association, or the equivalent, shall also
   60  be members of the board.
   61         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
   62  placed on the ballot:
   63                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT                     
   64                        ARTICLE IX, SECTION 7                      
   65         APPOINTMENT OF STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS
   66  OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.—Proposing an amendment to the
   67  State Constitution to remove the Florida Student Association as
   68  the organization responsible for electing the student member of
   69  the Board of Governors of the State University System and to
   70  require that the Board of Governors organize a council of state
   71  university student body presidents for the purpose of electing
   72  one of the state university student body presidents to the Board
   73  of Governors.