MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Constitution

By: Senator(s) Walls

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 213-A, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT, WHEN MAKING APPOINTMENTS TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING, THE GOVERNOR SHALL ENSURE THAT AT LEAST ONE ALUMNUS FROM EACH STATE UNIVERSITY IS A MEMBER OF THE BOARD. 

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

Amend Section 213-A, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

Section 213-A. The state institutions of higher learning now existing in Mississippi, to-wit: University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, Mississippi University for Women, University of Southern Mississippi, Delta State University, Alcorn State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and any others of like kind which may be hereafter organized or established by the State of Mississippi, shall be under the management and control of a board of trustees to be known as the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the members thereof to be appointed by the Governor of the state with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor shall appoint only men or women as such members as shall be qualified electors residing in the district from which each is appointed, and at least twenty-five (25) years of age, and of the highest order of intelligence, character, learning and fitness for the performance of such duties, to the end that such board shall perform the high and honorable duties thereof to the greatest advantage of the people of the state of such educational institutions, uninfluenced by any political considerations. It shall be the duty of the Governor in making such appointments to ensure that the board shall include not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of Mississippi State University, not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of Mississippi University for Women, not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of Delta State University, not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of Alcorn State University, not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of Jackson State University, and not less than one (1) member who is a graduate of Mississippi Valley State University. There shall be appointed one (1) member of such board from each congressional district of the state as now existing and one (1) member from each Supreme Court district, and two (2) members shall be appointed from the state at large. The term of office of said trustees herein provided for shall begin May 8, 1944; and it shall be the duty of the Governor to make such appointments during the regular session of the Legislature of Mississippi in 1944; and one-third (1/3) of the membership of said board shall be appointed for a period of four (4) years; one-third (1/3) for a period of eight (8) years; and one-third (1/3) for a period of twelve (12) years; and thereafter their successors shall hold office for a period of twelve (12) years. The members of the board of trustees as constituted at the time this amendment shall be inserted in the Constitution as a part thereof shall continue to hold office until their respective terms expire under existing law, after which time the membership of the board shall consist of the number hereinabove provided for. In case of a vacancy on said board by death or resignation of a member, or from any other cause than the expiration of such member's term of office, the board shall elect his successor, who shall hold office until the end of the next session of the Legislature. During such term of the session of the Legislature the Governor shall appoint the successor member of the board from the district from which his predecessor was appointed, to hold office until the end of the period for which such original trustee was appointed, to the end that one-third (1/3) of such trustees' terms will expire each four (4) years.

The Legislature shall provide by law for the appointment of a trustee for the La Bauve Fund at the University of Mississippi and for the perpetuation of such fund.

Such board shall have the power and authority to elect the heads of the various institutions of higher learning, and contract with all deans, professors and other members of the teaching staff, and all administrative employees of said institutions for a term not exceeding four (4) years; but said board shall have the power and authority to terminate any such contract at any time for malfeasance, inefficiency or contumacious conduct, but never for political reasons.

Nothing herein contained shall in any way limit or take away the power the Legislature had and possessed, if any, at the time of the adoption of this amendment, to consolidate, abolish or change the status of any of the above named institutions.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this amendment to the Constitution shall be submitted to the qualified electors of this state at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 1998, in the manner provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by law.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment requires the Governor, in making appointments to the college board, to see that at least one (1) alumnus from each state university is a member of the board."