MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2020 Regular Session

To: Constitution; Universities and Colleges

By: Representative Bell (65th)

House Concurrent Resolution 25

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING TO AMEND SECTION 213-A, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO ABOLISH THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING EFFECTIVE MAY 7, 2021; TO PROVIDE THAT THE GOVERNANCE OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING SHALL BE VESTED IN A BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR EACH UNIVERSITY ELECTED BY THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS AND DULY ENROLLED MEMBERS OF THE STUDENT BODY OF EACH RESPECTIVE UNIVERSITY; TO PRESCRIBE THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD AND TERMS OF OFFICE OF SUCH INDIVIDUALS ELECTED TO SERVE AS TRUSTEES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     "Section 213-A.  The state institutions of higher learning 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 which may be organized or established by the State of Mississippi, shall be under the management and control of * * *a an university specific board of trustees to be known as the "(name of university) Board of Trustees" * * *of State Institutions of Higher Learning.  The Governor shall appoint the members of the board with the advice and consent of the Senate.  The Governor shall appoint only persons who are 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 its high and honorable duties to the greatest advantage of the people of the state and such educational institutions, uninfluenced by any political considerations.  The board of trustees shall be composed of twelve (12) members.  The members of the board of trustees as constituted on January 1, 2004, shall continue to serve until expiration of their respective terms of office.  Appointments made to fill vacancies created by expiration of members' terms of office occurring after January 1, 2004, shall be as follows:  The initial term of the members appointed in 2004 shall be for eleven (11) years; the initial term of the members appointed in 2008 shall be for ten (10) years; and the initial term of the members appointed in 2012 shall be for nine (9) years.  After the expiration of the initial terms, all terms shall be for nine (9) years.  Four (4) members of the board of trustees shall be appointed from each of the three (3) Mississippi Supreme Court districts and, as such vacancies occur, the Governor shall make appointments from the Supreme Court district having the smallest number of board members until the membership includes four (4) members from each district.  Each state institution of higher learning shall be administered by a university board of trustees comprised of three (3) members who shall be residents of the State of Mississippi, and who shall be elected by members of the university's alumni association and duly enrolled members of the university's student body at any such time that elections are conducted.  In addition to the elected trustees, the president of each university shall serve on the board of trustees as an ex-officio member of the board for the university in which he or she serves.  The chairperson of the faculty senate or the equivalent and the president of the student body of the university shall serve the board in an advisory capacity.  The elected members shall serve staggered five-year terms.  In order to achieve staggered terms, beginning May 7, 2021, of the initially elected trustees, one (1) member shall serve a five-year term, one (1) member shall serve a three-year term, and one (1) member shall serve a two-year term, and thereafter, each elected trustee shall serve a term of five (5) years.  In case of a vacancy on the board by death or resignation of a member, or from any cause other than the expiration of such member's term of office, the * * *board university president shall elect his successor, who shall hold office until the end of the * * *next session of the Legislature fiscal year in which the vacancy occurred.  If the vacancy occurs within forty-five (45) days of the fiscal year's end, the president shall elect a successor who shall serve until the end of the immediate following fiscal year, at which such time an election shall be held to fill the vacancy, the person so elected shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term.  * * *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 for the balance of the unexpired term for which such original trustee was appointed, to the end that one‑third (1/3) of such trustees' terms will expire each three (3) 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, which shall be under the management and control of the University of Mississippi Board of Trustees.

     Such board shall have the power and authority to elect the * * *heads head of * * *the various institutions its respective institution of higher learning, and contract with all deans, professors and other members of the teaching staff, and all administrative employees of the institutions for a term not exceeding four (4) years; but the board may 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 2020, 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 amendment provides that after May 7, 2021, the twelve-member Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall be abolished and the governance of the state institutions of higher learning shall be vested in a board of trustees for each university elected by the alumni associations and duly enrolled members of the student body of each respective university."