CRC - 2017 P 44 By Commissioner Washington washingtn-00049C-17 201744__ 1 A proposal to amend 2 Section 7 of Article IX of the State Constitution to 3 establish the minimum vote threshold required to be 4 met by the board of trustees of a state university and 5 the Board of Governors of the State University System 6 in order to implement any tuition or fee increase. 7 8 Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of 9 Florida: 10 11 Section 7 of Article IX of the State Constitution is 12 amended to read: 13 ARTICLE IX 14 EDUCATION 15 SECTION 7. State University System.— 16 (a) PURPOSES. In order to achieve excellence through 17 teaching students, advancing research and providing public 18 service for the benefit of Florida’s citizens, their communities 19 and economies, the people hereby establish a system of 20 governance for the state university system of Florida. 21 (b) STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. There shall be a single state 22 university system comprised of all public universities. A board 23 of trustees shall administer each public university and a board 24 of governors shall govern the state university system. 25 (c) LOCAL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES. Each local constituent 26 university shall be administered by a board of trustees 27 consisting of thirteen members dedicated to the purposes of the 28 state university system. The board of governors shall establish 29 the powers and duties of the boards of trustees. Each board of 30 trustees shall consist of six citizen members appointed by the 31 governor and five citizen members appointed by the board of 32 governors. The appointed members shall be confirmed by the 33 senate and serve staggered terms of five years as provided by 34 law. The chair of the faculty senate, or the equivalent, and the 35 president of the student body of the university shall also be 36 members. 37 (d) STATEWIDE BOARD OF GOVERNORS. The board of governors 38 shall be a body corporate consisting of seventeen members. The 39 board shall operate, regulate, control, and be fully responsible 40 for the management of the whole university system. These 41 responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to, defining 42 the distinctive mission of each constituent university and its 43 articulation with free public schools and community colleges, 44 ensuring the well-planned coordination and operation of the 45 system, and avoiding wasteful duplication of facilities or 46 programs. The board’s management shall be subject to the powers 47 of the legislature to appropriate for the expenditure of funds, 48 and the board shall account for such expenditures as provided by 49 law. The governor shall appoint to the board fourteen citizens 50 dedicated to the purposes of the state university system. The 51 appointed members shall be confirmed by the senate and serve 52 staggered terms of seven years as provided by law. The 53 commissioner of education, the chair of the advisory council of 54 faculty senates, or the equivalent, and the president of the 55 Florida student association, or the equivalent, shall also be 56 members of the board. 57 (e) TUITION OR FEE INCREASES. Any proposal or action that 58 increases tuition or fees of a constituent university must be 59 approved by at least nine affirmative votes of the members of 60 the board of trustees of the constituent university and at least 61 twelve affirmative votes of the members of the board of 62 governors in order to take effect.