Prohibits employees of the higher education system, members of the board of directors of any institution of higher education, or members of the governing board of any public or private educational institution from being members on the Board of Trustees for the regional universities and the Evergreen State College.
Boards of Trustees?Community and Technical College Districts.
Community and technical college districts are governed by Governor-appointed boards of trustees.? Each board of trustees is composed of five members appointed for terms of five years.? A sixth student member may be selected.? In making appointments, the Governor must consider geographical diversity, and a membership representing labor, business, women, and racial and ethnic minorities.? Members must be residents of the college district in which they are appointed.? Boards of trustees for districts containing technical colleges must include at least one member from business and one member from labor.
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Members cannot be an employee of the community and technical college system, a member of the board of directors of any school district, or a member of the governing board of any public or private educational institution.
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Boards of Trustees?Regional Universities.
Each regional university is governed by Governor-appointed boards of trustees composed of eight members who serve for six years, except the student member who serves for one year.? The regional universities are Western Washington University in Bellingham, Eastern Washington University in Cheney, and Central Washington University in Ellensburg.
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Boards of Trustees?The Evergreen State College.
The Evergreen State College is governed by a Governor-appointed board of trustees composed of eight members appointed for terms of six years, except the student member who serves for one year.
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State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (College Board) is a nine-member, Governor-appointed board that has general supervision and control over Washington's system of 34 public community and technical colleges.? Among other duties, the College Board is charged with:
Beginning October 1, 2030, the boards of trustees for each community and technical college district, as opposed to only technical college districts, must include at least one member from business and one member from labor.? The boards of trustees for each regional university and the Evergreen State College must include one member from labor.?
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Members on the boards of trustees for the regional universities and the Evergreen State College cannot be employees of the higher education system, members of the board of directors of any institution of higher education, or members of the governing board of any public or private educational institution.
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The College Board may adopt rules to clarify the appointment process for community and technical college districts.
The substitute bill prohibits employees of the higher education system, members of the board of directors of any institution of higher education, or members of the governing board of any public or private educational institution from being members on the boards of trustees for the regional universities and the Evergreen State College. ?The College Board is permitted to adopt rules to clarify the appointment process for community and technical college districts.? The substitute bill adds a member from labor to the board of trustees for the Evergreen State College.
(In support) As we continue to expand options for students, we need to make sure that labor is at the table providing that voice to ensure that programs offered are done so in the correct way.? Adding labor trustees to boards of trustees helps to address the growing interest in ideological and experiential diversity at universities and colleges around the country, especially given that our regents and boards of trustees are dominated by corporate interests.
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All of the community colleges that would be subject to this policy offer a diverse range of vocational and technical programs, such as culinary arts, automotive, aeronautical, welding, accounting, and nursing.? All of these programs produce a workforce that will go into an organized labor environment.? There are over 576,000 unionized employees in the state.? When community college students graduate they are largely going into a unionized employment environment.? Current community college boards of trustees lack the labor perspective, which is necessary to adequately represent students and their needs as they graduate.? Something to consider in an amendment is clarifying that the labor member be from "organized" labor to make sure the member is a unionized employee. ?It is appreciated that this bill does not specify a specific labor group.
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(Opposed) None.
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(Other) Currently, there is an important safeguard against conflict of interest in the community and technical college system for boards of trustees.? That is, no trustee can be an employee to the community and technical college system.? A technical amendment should be considered to alter the terms for eligibility to mirror this safeguard for the boards of trustees of the regional universities.
(In support) Representative Lillian Ortiz-Self, prime sponsor; Simone Boe, Washington Education Association; Bill Lyne, United Faculty of WA; Sue Nightingale, Association of Higher Education, WEA; Jacob Vigdor, University of Washington Faculty; Helena Ribeiro, AFT 1789 (Seattle Community Colleges); and Christopher "Kip" Zwolenski, AFT-WA.