130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2021
Legislative Document No. 1391
H.P. 1025 House of Representatives, April 7, 2021
An Act To Enhance the Educational Expertise and Knowledge of
the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System
Received by the Clerk of the House on April 5, 2021. Referred to the Committee on
Education and Cultural Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to
Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative COLLINGS of Portland.
Cosponsored by Representatives: OSHER of Orono, SYLVESTER of Portland, TALBOT
ROSS of Portland.
Printed on recycled paper
 1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2 Sec. 1. P&SL 1865, c. 532, §4, as amended by P&SL 1997, c. 37, §2, is further
3 amended to read:
4 Section 4. Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees of the University of Maine
5 System shall consist consists of 16 22 members.
6 1. Commissioner of Educational and Cultural Services Education. The
7 Commissioner of Educational and Cultural Services Education shall serve as a voting
8 member ex officio.
9 2. Members appointed by the Governor. Fourteen members shall must be appointed
10 for 5-year terms by the Governor, subject to review by the joint standing committee of the
11 Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs and confirmation by the
12 Legislature Senate. Each term shall expire on May 26th of the appropriate year, except
13 that the retiring member shall serve until a successor is appointed by the Governor and
14 confirmed by the Legislature. No person accepting such appointment may be a member of
15 the State Board of Education. In making appointments, the Governor shall strive to achieve
16 a membership which is representative of the population of this State. In so far as feasible
17 when selecting qualified nominees to the board, the Governor shall consider affirmative
18 action criteria, professional education and experience and an equitable geographical
19 representation among the members. Trustees may serve a maximum of 2 terms, except that
20 an individual appointed to fill an unexpired term of 3 years or less is eligible for
21 appointment to 2 full terms. Vacancies shall be filled by the Governor, subject to review
22 by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and
23 confirmation by the Legislature, for the unexpired balance of the term. In order to restore
24 and maintain rotation of terms of office of trustees, an incumbent trustee who was
25 appointed for a term of 5 years at a time subsequent to the expiration of the term of his
26 predecessor in office shall be deemed to have commenced his 5-year term upon the date of
27 the expiration of the term of office of his predecessor rather than from the date of his
28 appointment and qualification. Trustees shall serve without compensation, but may be
29 reimbursed for travel and other expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
30 2-A. Members elected by educator unions. Six members must be current or retired
31 public sector educators selected pursuant to this subsection. These 6 members are full
32 voting members and may sit on any board of trustees committee. Three of the 6 members
33 must be elected by members of Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine labor
34 union or its successor organization, and 3 of the 6 members must be elected by members
35 of the Maine Education Association labor union or its successor organization. All 6 of the
36 members must be confirmed by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having
37 jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs. These 6 members serve for 5-year terms,
38 except that, of the initial trustees elected by the Associated Faculties of the Universities of
39 Maine, one member shall serve for one year, one member shall serve for 3 years and one
40 member shall serve for 5 years and, of the initial trustees elected by the Maine Education
41 Association, one member shall serve for one year, one member shall serve for 3 years and
42 one member shall serve for 5 years.
43 2-B. Terms; reimbursement. The term of a member of the board of trustees is for 5
44 years. Each term expires on May 26th of the appropriate year, except that, with regard to
45 a retiring member who was appointed by the Governor pursuant to subsection 2, the retiring
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1 member shall serve until a successor is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the
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2 Senate and, with regard to a retiring member selected pursuant to subsection 2-A, the
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3 retiring member shall serve until a successor is elected by an educator union pursuant to
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4 subsection 2-A and confirmed by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having
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5 jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs. No person accepting an appointment may
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6 be a member of the State Board of Education. A trustee may serve a maximum of 2 terms,
52
7 except that an individual appointed to fill an unexpired term of 3 years or less is eligible
53
8 for appointment to 2 full terms. A vacancy must be filled by the Governor pursuant to
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9 subsection 2 or by an educator union pursuant to subsection 2-A, subject to review and
55
10 confirmation, for the unexpired balance of the term. In order to restore and maintain
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11 rotation of terms of office of trustees, an incumbent trustee who was appointed for a term
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12 of 5 years at a time subsequent to the expiration of the term of the trustee's predecessor in
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13 office is deemed to have commenced the trustee's 5-year term upon the date of the
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14 expiration of the term of office of the trustee's predecessor rather than on the date of the
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15 trustee's appointment and qualification. A trustee shall serve without compensation but
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16 may be reimbursed for travel and other expenses incurred in the performance of the trustee's
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17 official duties.
18 3. Student member. One of the members shall must be a full-time student at one of
19 the campuses of the University of Maine System at the time of appointment and shall must
20 be a permanent resident of the State. To be eligible as a student member, a student must be
21 enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester. The student member shall be is a
22 full voting member of the board of trustees and shall serve for a 2-year term and until a
23 successor is qualified. Sixty days prior to the expiration of the student member's term, the
24 Governor shall solicit a list of 6 eligible students from the student senates from 6 of the
25 campuses within the University of Maine System; the 7th campus being excluded in
26 accordance with this subsection. The Governor shall then nominate a student member
27 within 30 days of receiving the list of names and the nomination shall be is subject to review
28 by the Joint Standing Committee on Education joint standing committee of the Legislature
29 having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs and confirmation by the Legislature
30 Senate. The student representative shall may not come from the same campus in any 2
31 consecutive terms. In the event that the student representative transfers from one campus
32 to another during the student's term of appointment, the original campus of enrollment shall
33 prevail prevails in reference to the provisions of the subsection.
34 3-A. Alumni members. The Governor shall make every effort to appoint to the Board
35 board of Trustees trustees pursuant to section 2, subject to review by the joint standing
36 committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters and cultural affairs
37 and confirmation by the Senate, 7 alumni members, one from each of the universities in the
38 system.
39 4. Meetings of the Board board of Trustees trustees. The Board board of Trustees
40 trustees shall meet from time to time at each of the various campuses of the University of
41 Maine System, whenever reasonably practical.
42 Each meeting of the board must include an opportunity for citizen input. Each citizen
43 must be permitted to address the board for a period of time established by the board.
44
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 1 SUMMARY
2 This bill adds 6 members to the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System,
3 who must be current or retired public sector educators, are full voting members and may
4 sit on any board of trustees committee. It requires 3 of the 6 members to be elected by
5 members of Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine labor union and 3 to be
6 elected by members of the Maine Education Association labor union. All 6 of the members
7 must be confirmed by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction
8 over education and cultural affairs. It requires the 6 members to serve for 5-year terms,
9 except that, of the initial trustees elected by the Associated Faculties of the Universities of
10 Maine, one member must serve for one year, one member must serve for 3 years and one
11 member must serve for 5 years and, of the initial trustees elected by the Maine Education
12 Association, one member must serve for one year, one member must serve for 3 years and
13 one member must serve for 5 years.
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