Bill Text: CA SCA21 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: University of California.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-03 - From committee with author's amendments. Read second time. Amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. [SCA21 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SCA21-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SCA 21 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 3, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senators Yee and Ashburn
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Nestande and Portantino)
(Coauthor: Senator Romero)
MAY 26, 2009
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending,
repealing, and adding Section 9 of Article IX thereof, relating to
the University of California.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCA 21, as amended, Yee. University of California.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution provide that
the University of California constitutes a public trust and requires
the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of
California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers
of organization and government, subject to legislative control only
for specified purposes. These provisions require that corporation to
have all powers necessary or convenient for the effective
administration of its trust.
This measure would repeal on January 1, 2011, the constitutional
provisions relating to the university and the regents and would
require the university and the regents to be continued in existence
subject to legislative control as may be provided by statute. The
measure would require the Legislature to enact legislation to
implement these provisions , but would prohibit the
Legislature from enacting any law that restrains academic freedom, as
defined, or imposes educational or curricular requirements on
students enrolled at the University of California .
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2009-10 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2008, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California, that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
First-- That Section 9 of Article IX thereof is amended to read:
SEC. 9. (a) The University of California shall constitute a
public trust, to be administered by the existing corporation known as
"The Regents of the University of California," with full powers of
organization and government, subject only to that legislative control
as may be necessary to ensure the security of its funds and
compliance with the terms of the endowments of the university and
competitive bidding procedures as may be made applicable to the
university by statute for the letting of construction contracts,
sales of real property, and purchasing of materials, goods, and
services. The corporation shall be in form a board composed of seven
ex officio members, which shall be: the Governor, the Lieutenant
Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the president and the vice president of the alumni
association of the university and the acting president of the
university, and 18 appointive members appointed by the Governor and
approved by the Senate, a majority of the membership concurring.
(b) The terms of the members appointed prior to November 5, 1974,
shall be 16 years; the terms of two appointive members to expire as
heretofore on March 1 of every even-numbered calendar year, and two
members shall be appointed for terms commencing on March 1, 1976, and
on March 1 of each year thereafter; provided that no such
appointments shall be made for terms to commence on March 1, 1979, or
on March 1 of each fourth year thereafter, to the end that no
appointment to the regents for a newly commencing term shall be made
during the first year of any gubernatorial term of office. The terms
of the members appointed for terms commencing on and after March 1,
1976, shall be 12 years.
In case of any vacancy, the term of office of the appointee to
fill such vacancy, who shall be appointed by the Governor and
approved by the Senate, a majority of the membership concurring,
shall be for the balance of the term for which that vacancy exists.
(c) The members of the board may, in their discretion, following
procedures established by them and after consultation with
representatives of faculty and students of the university, including
appropriate officers of the academic senate and student governments,
appoint to the board either or both of the following persons as
members with all rights of participation: a member of the faculty at
a campus of the university or of another institution of higher
education; a person enrolled as a student at a campus of the
university for each regular academic term during his or her service
as a member of the board. Any person so appointed shall serve for not
less than one year commencing on July 1.
(d) Regents shall be able persons broadly reflective of the
economic, cultural, and social diversity of the State, including
ethnic minorities and women. However, it is not intended that
formulas or specific ratios be applied in the selection of regents.
(e) In the selection of the regents, the Governor shall consult an
advisory committee composed as follows: The Speaker of the Assembly
and two public members appointed by the Speaker, the President pro
Tempore of the Senate and two public members appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules, two public members appointed by the Governor, the
chairperson of the regents of the university, an alumnus of the
university chosen by the alumni association of the university, a
student of the university chosen by the Council of Student Body
Presidents, and a member of the faculty of the university chosen by
the academic senate of the university. Public members shall serve for
four years, except that one each of the initially appointed members
selected by the Speaker of the Assembly, the President pro Tempore of
the Senate, and the Governor shall be appointed to serve for two
years; student, alumni, and faculty members shall serve for one year
and may not be regents of the university at the time of their service
on the advisory committee.
(f) The Regents of the University of California shall be vested
with the legal title and the management and disposition of the
property of the university and of property held for its benefit and
shall have the power to take and hold, either by purchase or by
donation, or gift, testamentary or otherwise, or in any other manner,
without restriction, all real and personal property for the benefit
of the university or incidentally to its conduct. However, sales of
university real property shall be subject to competitive bidding
procedures as may be provided by statute. The corporation shall also
have all the powers necessary or convenient for the effective
administration of its trust, including the power to sue and to be
sued, to use a seal, and to delegate to its committees or to the
faculty of the university, or to others, the authority or functions
as it may deem wise. The regents shall receive all funds derived from
the sale of lands pursuant to the act of Congress of July 2, 1862,
and any subsequent acts amendatory thereof. The university shall be
entirely independent of all political or sectarian influence and kept
free therefrom in the appointment of its regents and in the
administration of its affairs, and no person shall be debarred
admission to any department of the university on account of race,
religion, ethnic heritage, or sex.
(g) Meetings of the Regents of the University of California shall
be public, with exceptions and notice requirements as may be provided
by statute.
(h) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2011, and
as of that date is repealed.
Second-- That Section 9 is added to Article IX thereof, to read:
SEC. 9. (a) The University of California is hereby continued
in existence in the state government, and is subject to legislative
control as may be provided by statute.
(b) The University of California shall be administered by the
existing corporation known as "The Regents of the University of
California," which is hereby continued in existence in the state
government, and is subject to legislative control as may be provided
by statute.
(c) (1) The Legislature shall enact
legislation to implement this section.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), or any other
provision of this Constitution, the Legislature shall not enact any
law that restrains academic freedom within the University of
California or imposes educational or curricular requirements on
students enrolled at the University of California.
(3) As used in this subdivision, "academic freedom" means the
freedom to discuss all relevant matters in the classroom, to explore
all avenues of scholarship, research, and creative expression, and to
speak or write without institutional discipline or restraint on
matters of public concern as well as matters related to professional
duties and the functioning of the university.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2011.
