SF 323 (LSB 1204XS (1) 91)

SENATE FILE 323

BY  GREEN

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the membership and functions of the state board of regents and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

DIVISION I
SHORT TITLE

    Section 1.  SHORT TITLE.  This Act shall be known and may be cited as the “Regent Governance Reform Act”.
DIVISION II
STATE BOARD OF REGENTS —— MEMBERSHIP AND TERMS

    Sec. 2.  Section 256.176, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  A voting member of the state board of regents to be named by the state board of regents, or the executive director of the state board of regents if so appointed by the state board of regents, who shall serve for a four-year term or until the expiration of the member’s term of office, and who shall serve as an ex officio, nonvoting member. 
    Sec. 3.  Section 262.1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   262.1  Membership.
   1.  The state board of regents consists of nine voting members, eight of whom who shall be selected from the state at large solely with regard to their qualifications and fitness to discharge the duties of the office. The ninth member shall be a student enrolled on a full-time basis in good standing at either the graduate or undergraduate level at one of the institutions listed in section 262.7, subsection 1, 2, or 3, at the time of the member’s appointment. Not more than five voting members shall be of the same political party.
   2.  The state board shall include five ex officio, nonvoting members as follows:
   a.  A student enrolled on a full-time basis in good standing at each of the institutions listed in section 262.7, subsections 1, 2, and 3, at the time of the member’s appointment.
   b.  One member appointed by the majority leader of the senate and one member appointed by the speaker of the house.
    Sec. 4.  Section 262.2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   262.2  Appointment —— term of office.
   1.  The voting members shall be appointed by the governor subject to confirmation by the senate. Prior to appointing the ninth member as specified in section 262.1, the governor shall consult with the appropriate student body government at the institution at which the proposed appointee is enrolled. The term of each member of the board shall be for six four years, unless the ninth member, appointed in accordance with section 262.1, graduates or is no longer enrolled at an institution of higher education under the board’s control, at which time the term of the ninth member shall expire one year from the date on which the member graduates or is no longer enrolled in an institution of higher education under the board’s control. However, if within that year the ninth member reenrolls in any institution of higher education under the board’s control on a full-time basis and is a student in good standing at either the graduate or undergraduate level, the term of the ninth member shall continue in effect. The terms of three five voting members of the board shall begin and expire in each odd-numbered year as provided in section 69.19.
   2.  A student member shall be appointed by the president of the institution listed in section 262.7, subsection 1, 2, or 3, at which the student is enrolled. A student member shall serve at the pleasure of the president, but shall serve no longer than four years. If a student member graduates from or is no longer enrolled at the institution, the member shall no longer be eligible for service on the board, and the president of the institution shall appoint a new member pursuant to section 262.6.
   3.  A legislative member shall serve for a term as provided in section 4A.13. A legislative member is eligible for per diem and expenses as provided in section 2.10.
    Sec. 5.  Section 262.4, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   262.4  Removals.
   The governor, with the approval of a majority of the senate during a session of the general assembly, may remove any voting member of the board for malfeasance in office, or for any cause which would render the member ineligible for appointment or incapable or unfit to discharge the duties of office, and the member’s removal, when so made, shall be final.
    Sec. 6.  Section 262.5, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   262.5  Suspension.
   When the general assembly is not in session, the governor may suspend any voting member so disqualified and shall appoint another to fill the vacancy thus created, subject to the approval of the senate when next in session.
    Sec. 7.  Section 262.6, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   262.6  Vacancies.
   Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner in which regular appointments are required to be made. If the ninth member resigns prior to the expiration of the term, the individual appointed to fill the vacancy shall meet the requirements for the ninth member specified in section 262.1. Other vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of the ninth member’s term shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments for those vacancies.
    Sec. 8.  Section 262.8, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   262.8  Meetings.
   Meetings may be called by the board, by the president of the board, or by the executive director of the board upon written request of any five voting members thereof.
    Sec. 9.  Section 262.9, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Each even-numbered year elect, from its voting members, a president of the board, who shall serve for two years and until a successor is elected and qualified.
    Sec. 10.  Section 262.9, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  When electing a president of an institution of higher learning, the board may use a presidential selection committee. Only voting members of the board shall serve as voting members of a presidential selection committee.
    Sec. 11.  Section 262.9, subsection 33, paragraph d, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  The compensation and benefits paid to the voting members of the board pursuant to section 7E.6.
    Sec. 12.  Section 262.11, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   262.11  Record —— acts affecting property.
   All acts of the board relating to the management, purchase, disposition, or use of lands and other property of said institutions shall be entered of record, which shall show the members present, and how each voting member voted upon each proposition. The board may, in its discretion, delegate to each university the authority to approve leases.
    Sec. 13.  TRANSITION —— APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF STATE BOARD OF REGENTS MEMBERS.  This division of this Act shall not affect the appointment or term of a member serving on the state board of regents immediately prior to the effective date of this division of this Act.
DIVISION III
STATE BOARD OF REGENTS —— FUNCTIONS

    Sec. 14.  Section 262.9, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Make rules for admission to and for the government of said institutions, not inconsistent with law.  The rules shall require the institutions of higher learning under its control to incorporate the classic learning test, developed by classic learning initiatives, into the regent admission index prior to the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year.
    Sec. 15.  Section 262.9, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  39.  Develop and adopt a policy prohibiting a committee or subcommittee of the faculty senate at an institution of higher education governed by the board from exercising any governance authority over the institution. The policy shall specify that a committee or subcommittee of the faculty senate at an institution serves only in an advisory capacity.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  40.  Develop and adopt a policy requiring prior approval of the board before an institution of higher education governed by the board may establish a new major or minor to be offered at the institution.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  41.  Develop and adopt a policy providing for a post-tenure review at any time of any tenured employee of an institution of higher education governed by the board if authorized by the board by a majority vote or by the president of the institution.
    Sec. 16.  EMERGENCY RULES.  The state board of regents shall adopt emergency rules under section 17A.4, subsection 3, and section 17A.5, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, to implement the provision of this division of this Act amending section 262.9, subsection 3, at the next meeting of the board occurring after the effective date of this division of this Act. The rules shall be effective immediately upon filing unless a later date is specified in the rules. Any rules adopted in accordance with this section shall also be published as a notice of intended action as provided in section 17A.4.
DIVISION IV
DISAPPROVAL OF EXPENDITURES

    Sec. 17.  NEW SECTION.  262.29  Disapproval of expenditures —— joint resolution.
   The general assembly, by passage of a joint resolution requiring approval of the governor, may disapprove any individual, ongoing expenditure by the state board of regents or an institution of higher education under the governance thereof. The board or institution shall terminate the expenditure upon the effective date of the resolution. This section does not apply to an ongoing expenditure specifically authorized by law.
DIVISION V
EFFECTIVE DATE

    Sec. 18.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the membership and functions of the state board of regents (board).
   DIVISION I —— SHORT TITLE. The bill shall be known and may be cited as the “Regent Governance Reform Act”.
   DIVISION II —— STATE BOARD OF REGENTS —— MEMBERSHIP AND TERMS. This division replaces the student member of the board with a ninth member appointed by the governor, confirmed by the senate, and subject to the same terms as the other eight voting members.
   The division adds five ex officio, nonvoting members to the board. Three ex officio, nonvoting members are students enrolled at the university of Iowa, Iowa state university, and the university of northern Iowa, respectively, and appointed by the president of the institution at which they are enrolled. The division provides terms of service for student members. The other two ex officio, nonvoting members of the board are legislative members appointed by the majority leader of the senate and the speaker of the house.
   The division includes conforming changes to statutory references to the board.
   The division shall not affect the appointment or term of a member serving on the board immediately prior to the effective date of the division.
   DIVISION III —— STATE BOARD OF REGENTS —— FUNCTIONS. This division directs the board to require the institutions of higher learning under its control (institutions) to incorporate the classic learning test, developed by classic learning initiatives, into the regent admission index prior to the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year. The division authorizes emergency rulemaking for this purpose.
   The division requires the board to develop and adopt a policy prohibiting a committee or subcommittee of the faculty senate at an institution from exercising any governance authority over the institution. The policy shall specify that a committee or subcommittee of the faculty senate at an institution serves only in an advisory capacity.
   The division requires the board to develop and adopt a policy requiring prior approval of the board before an institution may establish a new major or minor to be offered at the institution.
   The division requires the board to develop and adopt a policy providing for a post-tenure review at any time of any tenured employee of an institution if authorized by the board by a majority vote or by the president of the institution.
   DIVISION IV —— DISAPPROVAL OF EXPENDITURES. This division authorizes the general assembly, by passage of a joint resolution requiring approval of the governor, to disapprove any individual, ongoing expenditure by the board or an institution under the governance thereof. The board or institution shall terminate the expenditure upon the effective date of the resolution. The division does not apply to an ongoing expenditure specifically authorized by law.
   DIVISION V —— EFFECTIVE DATE. The bill takes effect upon enactment.