Restructuring Of University Boards Would Reduce Role Of Staff, Students

Monday afternoon the House Education Committee discussed a bill that would change the makeup of the Boards of Governors at the state’s 19 public colleges and universities.

Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison, is a co-sponsor of House Bill 3279. He said the bill’s primary aim is to expand the size of the boards of West Virginia University and West Virginia State University, the state’s land grant universities. The bill would also require one member of the board be a representative of the agricultural sciences. 

“Land grant universities, as you know, were created by Congress to fulfill a three part mission, which is teaching, research and service,” Riley said. “Agriculture is the bedrock component of our rural economy, and forestry has long been one of the pillars of West Virginia economy, and it remains so today.” 

However the bill also removes the voting rights of board members elected by the faculty, staff and students of all universities and recategorizes those members as “nonvoting, advisory” members.

Representatives from Marshall and West Virginia State University spoke against the action, citing the importance of shared governance in institutions of higher learning. Travis Mollohan, associate vice president of government relations at WVU, said it was critical the voices of faculty, staff and students be heard when making decisions for the institution.

“Shared governance is a standard in higher education, and so we believe that denying those four members the ability to vote and to have buy-in is counter to higher education principles,” he said. 

A university board of governors is responsible for establishing policy and choosing a president. Several delegates argued that many other leadership structures do not allow members to choose leadership.

“The employees don’t choose a CEO, and you have a board of governors who their role is to appoint the CEO,” Riley said.

Tuesday the House Education committee voted 15 to 9 to advance the bill to the full House.

The committee also advanced House Bill 3446, which would make submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) a graduation requirement for high schoolers.