HERSHEY, Pa. – The Penn State Board of Trustees considered changes to its charter and bylaws today (March 6), including the creation of a permanent seat for a student trustee.
The Committee on Governance and Long-Range Planning listened to a proposal that would ensure that a student presence is specified in the board's governance documents.
For four decades, students have been represented on the Board of Trustees by a student chosen from an identified pool of interested and eligible candidates. In the past, the name of the student who is selected from this pool has been forwarded by the governor to the Pennsylvania Senate for confirmation. The longstanding process is at the discretion of the governor. Historically, the governor has opted to designate one of the six governor-appointed seats on the 32-member board as a student trustee, but this tradition has not been codified.
The change, which would require a vote of the full board in May to be enacted, is supported by the University Park Undergraduate Association, the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments and the Graduate Student Association.
Under the changes proposed in the meeting, the action would specifically designate a trustee to represent the student body, with a two-year term unless the student trustee ceases to meet the criteria set forth in the bylaws. The criteria spelled out for a student trustee is that he or she be an undergraduate, graduate, professional or World Campus student in a degree-seeking program and in good academic standing. By a vote of 8-1, the committee agreed to move the proposal forward.
Also two proposals approved by the committee in January will be taken up by the full board on Friday (March 7):
-- Alumni trustee nomination and election ballots will now be sent electronically to qualified electors who have a valid email address on file in the University’s alumni records. Previously, only individuals who were active members of the Alumni Association or donors of the University automatically received a ballot.
-- A change to the bylaws that will modify and clarify the types of real estate and other capital transactions to be brought to the board for approval and informational purposes.
Matters that would now require the approval of the Board of Trustees include the purchase of land and other real estate with a purchase price of $1 million or more, the sale of land and other real estate with the exception of sales with a price of less than $3 million gifted to the University for the express purpose of sale, and honorific names for individual buildings and roads. Also under the change, the Board of Trustees would be required to receive “thorough and forthright reports on the affairs” on matters such as new construction or renovations projects with a total cost equal to or greater than $1 million but less than $5 million, the purchase of real estate with a purchase price of less than $1 million, and proceeds from the sale of land and other real estate with a sale price of less than $3 million gifted to the University for the express purpose of sale.