Senate passes House bill stripping some university board of governors members of voting rights
Apr. 9—DBeard @DominionPost.com MORGANTOWN—A divided state Senate on Wednesday passed the House bill stripping the voting rights from certain members of university governing boards.
The vote followed an unsuccessful effort by Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, to restore those rights during a Tuesday evening floor session.
During Wednesday's debate on HB 3279, Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, obliquely addressed an issue that's been discussed in the hallways but not on the record: the origin of the bill.
All the members know the origin, he said. "Somebody applied for a job. They didn't get the job. And now we're running a bill to change the board of governors for every college and university in the state."
Woelfel was referring to an unsuccessful applicant for the WVU president's job—a member of the West Virginia Legislature who has been named in media reports, but not confirmed by WVU.
Students are being removed from voting positions at schools they pay to attend, he said. "If you think our students are not knowledgeable or sophisticated enough to cast a thoughtful and intelligent vote, you don't know our students, " he said.
HB 3279 turns the student, faculty and staff members of boards of governors across the state into non-voting advisory members. For WVU specifically, it makes the Extension service faculty representative also a non-voting member.
When Oliverio explained his amendment on Tuesday evening, he said, "If we fail to adopt this amendment, we will eliminate the voting rights for students, faculty and staff at all institutions."
All the members, he said, may have heard from their constituents the importance of those voices in the governing process. He's heard from Fairmont State and WVU in his district.
Government Organization chair Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, defended the measure, saying only two Big 12 university BOGs have voting faculty members, six have voting student members and none have voting staff. She cited similar numbers among 20 WVU peer institutions.
A survey by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, she said, shows that 18.4 % have voting faculty and 8.7 % have voting staff.
"The duty of loyalty to the institution obligates board members to act in good faith and put the interests of the institution above any personal or private interest, " she said. Faculty and staff have incontrovertible conflicts, and even without an actual conflict, there's always an appearance."
Oliverio suggested that Rucker better understands BOGs everywhere than in her own district. West Virginia has had this setup for 30 years without any complaint.
"To suggest that the thousands of men and women in this state who serve as faculty members at our institutions would be disloyal to their institution if they had an opportunity to vote on their governing board, I find offensive, " he said.
Oliverio read a letter from WVU President Gordon Gee, who said the university is strong when everyone is engaged and invested in the outcome. Compromise is built when all sides have a place in decision making, and voting power creates a buy0in from the groups most affected by BOG decisions. He knows of many instances where those voices have shaped policy for the better.
Oliverio's amendment failed in a 14-19 vote. Education chair Amy Grady, R-Mason, supported the amendment along with, locally, Sens. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, and Joey Garcia, D-Marion. Sens. Chris Rose, R-Monongalia, Jay Taylor, R-Taylor, and Senate President Randy Smith, R-Tucker, opposed it.
Two other Oliverio amendments also failed: one to require a geographical balance on the WVU BOG by requiring five members from each congressional district, and one to make sure advisory members aren't edged out by explicitly allowing them to attend all BOG meetings.
The debate continued Wednesday when the bill was up for passage. Oliverio asked Woelfel whether he agreed that the tone of Tuesday's debate reflected a view that boards are better run by lawyers and business people. Woelfel agreed and noted that Marshall President Brad Smith, perhaps the most successful businessman in the state, opposes the bill because he wants to hear from students and staff and faculty.
"He felt that participation of those people on the board are the yeast that helps the loaf rise, " Woelfel said.
And Oliverio noted that for the past three weeks, no legislator has approached him to advise him of any problems with the current setup.
Rucker, alluding to Woelfel's assertion about the origin of the bill, said, "This bill was not meant to attack anyone." It's a policy decision and those members will remain on the boards as advisory members, he said, and many alumni serve as board members and know and understand the students and faculty.
The vote to pass the bill was 19-15, with the senators named above voting in the same way: opposing the amendment and supporting the bill.
Other measures in the bill include mandating that one BOG member for WVU and West Virginia State University — the two land-grant institutions — represent agriculture, forestry or the related sciences.
It raises the number of gubernatorial appointees for WVU's BOG from 12 to 15, and requires one of them to be the agriculture /forestry representative, one to represent WVU Tech, and one to represent Potomac State.
It raises total WVU BOG membership from 17 to 19.
For West Virginia State, it requires one of nine gubernatorial appointees to be the agriculture /forestry representative.
HB 3279 now returns to the House for concurrence with some Senate tweaks.
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