STUDENT AND ALUMNI REPRESENTATION ON BOARDS OF TRUSTEES

Location:
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS; EDUCATION - HIGHER;
Scope:
Background;


January 19, 2012		2012-R-0039
STUDENT AND ALUMNI REPRESENTATION ON BOARDS OF TRUSTEES

By: Terrance Adams, Legislative Analyst II

You asked about student and alumni representation requirements on boards of trustees of state flagship universities. You specifically asked us to review a selection of 25-30 institutions nationwide.

SUMMARY

We reviewed the required representation for 30 boards of trustees, including UConn. Of these 30, seven require alumni representation and 23 require student representation, with 18 having at least one voting student member. (Some boards have both voting and nonvoting student members.)

Please note that this report only considers required representation. In practice, most, if not all, boards have alumni members, and alumni comprise a significant portion of board members.

REQUIRED REPRESENTATION

“Flagship institution” is a term that often refers to a state's first public university. In states with multi-institution systems, the “flagship” is typically the oldest campus in the system. It is possible for a state to have more than one institution that is considered a flagship; in those cases we chose one institution from that state to include in this report.

We reviewed the required representation for 30 boards of trustees, including UConn (see Table 2). Most of these boards are in the eastern U.S., but our selection encompasses all regions of the country. Of the 30 we reviewed, seven require alumni representation and 23 require student representation, with 18 having at least one voting student member. (Some boards have both voting and nonvoting student members.) Additionally, Virginia allows, but does not require, its board to appoint a student member. UConn's 21-member board must have both alumni (six members) and student (two members) representation.

Table 1 shows statistics from these 30 boards. The averages for alumni and student representation apply only to those boards that require it.

Table 1: Statistics for Selected Boards of Trustees


Average Size		17.33
Number Requiring Alumni Representation		7
Average Number of Required Alumni Members		5.86
Number Requiring Student Representation		23
Number Requiring at Least One Voting Student Member		18
Average Number of Student Members		1.57
Process for Becoming a Student Member	Appointment	14
	Election	6
	Ex-officio	3

This information only represents required alumni membership. In practice, most, if not all, boards have alumni members. For example, a 2010 survey by the Association of Governing Boards found that, on average, alumni comprise half of the board members at public colleges and universities (note that this includes all public college and university boards, not just those of flagship institutions).

Table 2 shows, for each state flagship institution in our selection, (1) its governing body, (2) the number of members, (3) the number of required alumni members, and (4) the number of required student members and the method by which they become part of the board (e.g., appointed, elected, or ex-officio).

The overall board sizes include both voting and nonvoting members. Unless otherwise noted, the student members listed are voting members. Additionally, please note that many of these boards govern multiple institutions and not just the one that is listed.

Table 2: Required Student and Alumni Representation for Selected Boards of Trustees

*University*	*Governing Body*	*Number of Members*	*Required Alumni Members*	*Required Student Members*
University of Arizona	Arizona Board of Regents	12	0	2 appointed 1 is a voting member
University of California-Berkeley	Regents of the University of California	26	0	1 appointed
University of Colorado-Boulder	Regents of the University of Colorado	9	0	0
University of Connecticut	Board of Trustees for the University of Connecticut	21	6	2 elected
University of Delaware	Board of Trustees of the University of Delaware	32	0	0
University of Florida	Florida Board of Governors	17	0	1 ex-officio
University of Georgia	Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia	18	0	0
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois	13	0	3 elected governor designates 1 of these 3 as a voting member
Indiana University	Trustees of Indiana University	9	3	1 appointed
University of Iowa	Board of Regents, State of Iowa	9	0	1 appointed
University of Maine	Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System	16	0 governor must make every effort to appoint an alumnus from each of the system's seven institutions	1 appointed
University of Maryland-College Park	Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland	17	0	1 appointed


Table 2 (Continued)
*University*	*Governing Body*	*Number of Members*	*Required Alumni Members*	*Required Student Members*
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts	22	5 one from each UMass campus	5 elected one from each UMass campus 2 are voting members
University of Michigan	Board of Regents of the University of Michigan	9	0	0
University of Minnesota- Twin Cities	Regents of the University of Minnesota	12	0	1 elected
University of Missouri-Columbia	Board of Curators of the University of Missouri	10	0	1 appointed, non-voting
University of New Hampshire	University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees	27	6	2 elected
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey	Board of Governors of Rutgers, the State University	15	0	1 elected, nonvoting
State University of New York (system does not have a flagship campus, but all institutions are governed by the same board)	Board of Trustees of the State University of New York	18	0	1 ex-officio
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill	Board of Governors for the University of North Carolina	33	0	1 ex-officio, non-voting
Ohio State University	Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University	19	0	2 appointed, nonvoting
University of Oregon	State Board of Higher Education	12	0	2 appointed


Table 2 (Continued)
*University*	*Governing Body*	*Number of Members*	*Required Alumni Members*	*Required Student Members*
Pennsylvania State University- University Park	Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees	32	9	0
University of South Carolina-Columbia	Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina	20	1	0
University of Rhode Island	Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education	13	0	1 appointed
University of Texas-Austin	University of Texas System Board of Regents	10	0	1 appointed, non-voting
University of Vermont	Board of Trustees of the University of Vermont	25	0	2 appointed
University of Virginia	Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia	16/17 see note about student member	11	board may, but is not required to, appoint a non-voting student member (who would increase board's membership to 17)
University of Washington	University of Washington Board of Regents	10	0	1 appointed
University of Wisconsin-Madison	University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents	18	0	2 appointed

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