SF 1790

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to the University of Minnesota; regulating
the selection of the Board of Regents; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 137.0245,
subdivisions 2, 3; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 137.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 137.0245,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Membership.

The Regent Candidate Advisory
Council shall consist of deleted text begin 24 deleted text end new text begin 18 new text end members. deleted text begin Twelve deleted text end new text begin Six members
shall be appointed by the governor. Six new text end members shall be
appointed by the Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on
Rules and Administration of the senate. deleted text begin Twelve deleted text end new text begin Two members
appointed by the subcommittee must be persons recommended by the
minority leader of the senate. Six new text end members shall be appointed
by the speaker of the house of representatives. deleted text begin Each appointing
authority deleted text end new text begin Two members appointed by the speaker must be persons
recommended by the house minority leader. The subcommittee and
the speaker new text end must new text begin each new text end appoint one member who is a student
enrolled in a degree program at the University of Minnesota at
the time of appointment. No more than one-third of the members
appointed by each appointing authority may be current or former
legislators. No more than two-thirds of the members appointed
by each appointing authority may belong to the same political
party; however, political activity or affiliation is not
required for the appointment of any member. Geographical new text begin and
gender new text end representation must be taken into consideration when
making appointments. new text begin A person may not serve for more than one
term. new text end Section 15.0575 shall govern the advisory council, except
that:

(1) the members shall be appointed to six-year terms with
one-third appointed each even-numbered year; and

(2) student members are appointed to two-year terms with
two students appointed each even-numbered year.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 137.0245,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Duties.

new text begin (a) new text end The advisory council shall:

(1) develop, in consultation with current and former
regents and the administration of the University of Minnesota, a
statement of the selection criteria to be applied and a
description of the responsibilities and duties of a regent, and
shall distribute this to potential candidates; and

(2) for each position on the board, identify and recruit
qualified candidates for the Board of Regents, based on the
background and experience of the candidates, and their potential
for discharging the responsibilities of a member of the Board of
Regents.

new text begin (b) The guidelines developed under paragraph (a), clause
(1), must include a guide that regents represent diversity in
geography; gender; race; occupation, including business and
labor; and experience. The advisory council must submit its
candidate recommendations to the education policy committees and
to the budget divisions of the house of representatives and
senate with jurisdiction over higher education finance by
February 1 for vacancies to be filled during that year's
legislative session.
new text end

Sec. 3.

new text begin [137.0246] REGENT SELECTION; LEGISLATURE.
new text end

new text begin (a) By March 7 of each odd-numbered year, or at a date
agreed to by concurrent resolution, a joint legislative
committee shall meet to recommend nominees for regent of the
University of Minnesota to be presented to a joint convention of
the legislature. The joint legislative committee consists of 30
legislator members. Twenty members shall be appointed by the
speaker of the house. Ten members shall be appointed by the
Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on Rules and
Administration from the senate. An equal number of members from
the majority and minority party shall be appointed from each
house. The members appointed from the minority party must be
appointed from among those recommended by the minority leader.
The chairs of the education policy committees and of the higher
education budget divisions and the ranking minority member of
those committees and divisions must be appointed. A majority of
the members from each house is a quorum of the joint committee.
new text end

new text begin (b) The joint committee shall determine the number of
persons, and the person or persons to be recommended for each
open seat.
new text end

new text begin (c) Each person recommended by the Regent Candidate
Advisory Council is considered nominated. Other persons may be
nominated by a member of the committee at the meeting.
Nominations may be made by committee members only. Nominations
must be made for a specified congressional or student seat, or
for any at-large seat.
new text end