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A1296
ASSEMBLY, No. 1296
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CODY D. MILLER
District 4 (Atlantic, Camden and Gloucester)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson
SYNOPSIS
���� Revises training requirements for governing board
members of public institutions of higher education.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the members of governing boards of public
institutions of higher education, amending P.L.2021, c.250, repealing section
17 of P.L.2009, c.308, and
supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey
Statutes
.�
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1. Section 1 of P.L.2021,
c.250 (C.18A:3B-6.3) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1. a. As a condition of
serving as a member of the governing board of a public institution of higher
education, a person shall be required to complete a training program developed
by
[
that
institution in consultation with
]
the Secretary of Higher Education that is designed to clarify the roles and
duties of a governing board member.
���� b.��� The training shall be
completed no later than
[
one
year
]
six
months
after the date that the person is appointed as a member of the
governing board of a public institution of higher education
[
except that a
]
and within
six months of the start of each successive term
thereafter.
A person
who serves as a member of a governing board prior to the effective date of
[
this act
]
P.L.2021,
c.250
shall
[
not
]
be required
to complete the training
within six months from the effective date of P.L.��
, c.��� (C.���� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
and within
six months of the start of each successive term thereafter
.
���� c.���� The
[
institution,
in consultation with the
]
secretary
[
,
]
shall:
���� (1)�� prescribe the subject
matter of the training which shall include, but need not be limited to,
governance responsibilities, ethical standards, due diligence, the requirements
of the "Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act," P.L.1975,
c.231 (C.10:4-6 et seq.), and P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), issues
associated with laws on privacy, board member fiduciary responsibilities
and
the role of the governing board in the financial management of an institution
of higher education
, and a review of the types of financial,
organizational, legal, and regulatory issues that a member of a governing board
may be required to consider in the course of discharging the member's
governance responsibilities;
���� (2)��
[
provide the
training directly or
]
arrange for
[
,
or specify,
]
[
the
]
an
entity or entities to provide the training.� In the case of a county college,
the secretary shall designate the New Jersey Council of County Colleges to
provide the training
[
;
]
in
consultation with the secretary; and
;
���� (3)��
[
conduct a
periodic review of the prescribed subject matter of the training to insure that
the training includes information on relevant changes to State or federal law
and other information deemed necessary to enable governing board members to
serve effectively;
]
(Deleted by amendment, P.L.��� , c.� ) (pending before the Legislature as
this bill)
���� (4)��
[
certify
completion of the training for each governing board member upon receipt of
documentation thereof, as provided on a form and in a manner prescribed by the
secretary, or otherwise arrange for certification by the training entity; and
]
(Deleted
by amendment, P.L.��� , c.� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
���� (5)
take other such actions as the
secretary determines appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this act.
����
d. The institution shall
certify completion of the training required under this section for each
governing board member upon receipt of documentation thereof, as provided on a
form and in a manner prescribed by the secretary.
����
e.� The secretary shall
provide notification to a governing board member who has failed to comply with
the requirements of this section and provide the member with a 30-day grace
period to fulfill the outstanding training requirement. The secretary may provide
additional extensions to the grace period.� Notwithstanding any other provision
of law to the contrary, failure to fulfill the outstanding training requirement
within the grace period may, at the discretion of the secretary, constitute a
resignation from the governing board. In the event that the secretary
determines that the member has resigned, a vacancy shall be deemed to exist and
the board member shall be disqualified from being reappointed to the board, or
appointed to any other governing board of a public institution of higher
education, for the succeeding two-year period.
����
f. Training pursuant to
this section may, upon approval of the secretary, be made available online.
(cf: P.L.2021, c.250, s.1)
���� 2.� Section 17 of P.L.2009,
c.308 (C.18A:3B-62) is repealed.�
���� 3. (New section) There is
annually appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of the Secretary of
Higher Education the sum of $350,000 to effectuate the purposes of P.L.�� ,
c.��� (C.���� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill.�
���� 4. This act shall take effect
on the 1st day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment, but
the Secretary of Higher
Education may take such
anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for
the implementation of the act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill makes various
changes to the training requirements of governing board members of public
institutions of higher education and provides for an annual appropriation of
$350,000 from the General Fund to the Office of the Secretary of Higher
Education for the bill�s purposes.
���� Under current law, a newly
appointed member of a governing board of a public institution of higher
education is required to complete training within one year of the member�s
appointment.� This bill requires that the training be completed within six
months of the member�s appointment and further that previously appointed
members who were exempted from the current training requirement complete the
training within six months of this bill�s effective date.� All members will be
required to complete training within six months of the start of each successive
term thereafter.
���� Current law generally provides
that the subject matter of the board member training is prescribed by the
institutions of higher education, in consultation with the Secretary of Higher
Education.� This bill provides that the secretary is to determine the subject
matter of the training and that the training include the role of the governing
board in the financial management of an institution of higher education.� The
bill provides that, in the case of four-year public institutions of higher
education, the secretary will arrange for the training; current law, by
contrast, requires the institution to arrange for the training.� Public
institutions of higher education also would no longer be required to conduct a
periodic review of the training.
���� The bill directs the secretary
to provide notification to a governing board member who has failed to comply
with the training requirement and provide the member with a 30-day grace period
to fulfill the outstanding training requirement. The bill permits the secretary
to provide additional extensions to the grace period. The bill provides that
failure to fulfill the outstanding training requirement within the grace period
may constitute a resignation from the governing board at the discretion of the
secretary and a vacancy will be deemed to exist.� Under the bill, the board
member will be disqualified from being reappointed to the board, or appointed
to any other governing board of a public institution of higher education, for
the succeeding two-year period.
���� Additionally, the bill permits
training for governing board members to be made available online.
���� The bill further repeals a
section of law that requires four-year public institutions of higher education
to provide certain information, orientation, and training to each of its
governing board members. Under the bill, all required training for governing
board members at public institutions of higher education is to be arranged for
by the secretary.
���� Finally, the bill provides
that $350,000 will be annually appropriated from the General Fund to the Office
of the Secretary of Higher Education to effectuate the bill�s purposes.