Legislature(2025 - 2026)GRUENBERG 120
02/06/2025 03:15 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Payroll Division | |
| HB10 | |
| HB61 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 61 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 10-ADD FACULTY MEMBER UNIV BOARD OF REGENTS
4:23:53 PM
VICE CHAIR STORY announced that the next order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 10 "An Act relating to the Board of Regents of
the University of Alaska."
4:24:13 PM
CHAIR CARRICK, as prime sponsor, introduced HB 10 and described
some of the bill's details.
4:24:40 PM
STUART RELAY, Chief of Staff, Representative Ashley Carrick,
Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Carrick,
prime sponsor, presented HB 10. He began by introducing the
University Board of Regents and its role. He noted that HB 10
would add one faculty member to the Board of Regents for a two-
year term. He stated that six other states include faculty
member(s) on their respective universities board of regents. He
said that adding one faculty member would provide better
representation and allow universities to have the same parity
and respect granted to students who have an elected student
regent.
4:26:39 PM
MR. RELAY read the sectional analysis for HB 10 [included in the
committee file], which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Section 1. Short title: "The University of Alaska
Faculty Representation Act."
Section 2. Amends AS 14.40.120 to increase the size of
the UA Board of Regents from 11 members to 12 members.
Section 3. Adds subsection (f) to AS 14.40.130
establishing the requirements for the faculty regent.
• One of the 12 regents must be a current, full-time,
tenured faculty member within the University of Alaska
system.
• If the faculty regent is no longer tenured, no
longer employed full-time, or no longer employed in
the UA system during their term they shall forfeit the
position.
• The Governor is required to appoint a faculty regent
from a list of nominees within 60 days of the
forfeiture or vacancy of the seat.
Section 4. Amends AS 14.40.140 to establish the term
length of a faculty regent as two-years.
Section 5. Adds subsection (c) to AS 14.40.150
establishing the appointment process for the faculty
regent.
• Requires at least one member of the Board of Regents
to be a faculty member.
• The faculty regent will be appointed by the Governor
from a list of six nominees within 60 days after the
list is submitted to the Governor.
• The list of nominees consists of names of two
faculty members selected by each of the three faculty
senates of the UA system after an election is held by
each faculty senate.
• The elections process for faculty regent elections
conducted by the faculty senates shall be conducted
under rules established by the Governor's office.
• The term length of a faculty regent is two years and
begins on June 1 of the year in which appointment is
made.
Section 6. Changes the quorum requirements for Board
of Regents Meetings from six to seven members present.
Section 7. Requires the University of Alaska to hold
elections for faculty regent nominees on or before Feb
1, 2026.
4:29:11 PM
CHAIR CARRICK gave a PowerPoint pertaining to HB 10 [hard copy
included in the committee packet]. She mentioned that this bill
and its intent have been in consideration for years. She
provided a background on the University of Alaska's Board of
Regents and its duties. She mentioned that appointed student
regents have full voting power amongst the board and two
students from a campus can be selected for nomination and are
subject to nomination by the governor. She said that the
faculty members at the board can act as advisors but do not have
any speaking rights. When comparing to other states, there are
24 state university systems that have student regents and 6
university systems that have a faculty regent. She noted that
there is not one way to govern a university system and provided
differences amongst various state university systems. On Slides
4 and 5, she provided an illustration of differences among these
university systems.
4:33:06 PM
CHAIR CARRICK outlined how HB 10 would work in practice. She
remarked that because the bill would increase the number of
regents from an odd to an even number, there is language that
specifies that a quorum would be increased by one member, as
would the number of votes needed for a motion to carry. She
noted that most votes on the Board of Regents are unanimous.
The faculty regent, if appointed, would be selected from a list
of six names given by the three faculty senates, and this
includes two nominees per university system. The governor would
select a single appointee, and it would be subject to
confirmation by the legislature. Much like the student regent,
she reiterated, faculty regents would have full board power.
She clarified that of the three main campuses, there are faculty
members affiliated with branch campuses around the state, and
they could be prospective nominees as well. She discussed Slide
8 and presented a chart that shows the way that current
individuals interact with the Board of Regents.
4:36:28 PM
CHAIR CARRICK, in closing, noted that over many years of working
on this bill's concept, what has become clear is that many
faculty members feel they don't have a seat at the table. She
remarked that most regents come from professional backgrounds,
and this was a positive thing. She explained that this would
not create a majority dynamic but provide a voice that is in
parity with the university.
4:38:20 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked about guarantees with regards to
smaller universities having the opportunity to have candidacy
for seats on the board.
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK responded that when looking at the
student regent process, it may be an appropriate comparison with
prospective faculty regents. She noted that the University of
Alaska Southeast (UAS) has had some years without submissions
for student regents. She noted that past governors have done a
decent job trying to achieve parity between campuses by
selecting student regents across the different universities.
She acknowledged that UAS hasn't had parity in student regent
representation but expressed optimism that this is changing.
4:39:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND said he was in support of this effort and
had previous experience working for universities in different
capacities. He asked if being tenured faculty was a requirement
for faculty regents and if this could be left to the Faculty
Senate. Additionally, he asked for clarification for a backstop
if a nominee isn't appointed by the governor and whether the
term length is appropriate.
CHAIR CARRICK noted that previous discussions with university
affiliates had made it clear that there is a preference for
tenured faculty. She said adjunct faculty could be considered
with Faculty Senate approval and this may serve the branch
universities or UAS. She said the current bill is drafted from
previous feedback and explained that the previous iteration of
the bill had the University of Alaska president weighing in as a
tiebreaker. She said that previous discussions with university
affiliates made it clear that the executives and the board of
regents should be separated. She said that if a governor failed
to appoint somebody for the position, then it would remain
vacant. She noted that faculty time on the board was another
talking point amongst affiliates and the term seemed appropriate
and would foster positive turnover.
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND clarified that his inquiry into non-
tenured faculty was with specific consideration to termed but
non-tenured faculty.
4:46:57 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked for clarification on the fiscal note
and if concerns had been addressed.
CHAIR CARRICK responded that the university administration likes
the way things are, and that the fiscal note speaks to a
question regarding conflict of interest. She said HB 10 is
trying to achieve parity with a student regent and support
faculty. She noted that students can be employees of the
university while serving as regent and will recuse themselves
from votes with conflicts of interest. She noted that these
same standards can be applied to faculty regents. She said that
she could get back to Representative Moore regarding fiscal note
details.
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE asked about faculty members on each campus
and if discussions were made about rotating faculty regent
appointments amongst the different universities.
CHAIR CARRICK responded that it has been discussed in the past
and she was not opposed to specifying rotations in statute. She
raised concerns that it could create an inequity because of the
higher proportions of tenured faculty at University of Alaska
Fairbanks (UAF) and University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). She
noted that the intent is not to have a single university system
monopolize this position.
4:51:21 PM
VICE CHAIR STORY, regarding the twelve-member proposed under HB
10, asked if a thirteen-member Board of Regents would be
considered.
CHAIR CARRICK responded that she would be open to adding an
alumni member on the board. She said that bringing this
legislation forward was to see better representation and
informed decision making, and the bill seeks to alleviate a
current issue. She said alumni associations haven't been asking
for this representation, but the faculty have been.
VICE CHAIR STORY asked about being open to thirteen regent
members regardless of designation. She raised concern about
split votes from an even number of board members.
CHAIR CARRICK responded that a previous iteration of the bill
had an odd number of regents, and it was not as popular as the
current version. She noted that when adding regents beyond what
is in the legislation, role clarity is important. She remarked
that adding members could water down pre-existing board members
voices and votes.
VICE CHAIR STORY asked about whether other university systems
had been studied on how they handle conflicts of interest with
board members.
CHAIR CARRICK replied that it has been some time since she made
calls regarding this topic. She recalled that some university
systems found the idea of a faculty regent as outlandish but
those with faculty members as regents simply recused themselves
from voting. She noted that regents are held to a high
professional standard. She responded in short that no,
considerable research hadn't been conducted.
VICE CHAIR STORY asked about instances in which faculty recuse
themselves from voting.
CHAIR CARRICK said she could not speak to that since there
wasn't a faculty regent currently in place, but Faculty Senate
members may have these experiences as would student appointed
regents.
4:57:22 PM
VICE CHAIR STORY announced that HB 10 was held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 61 Sponsor Statement verions A.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 61 |
| HB 61 Version A.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 61 |
| HB 61 Sectional Analysis version A.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 61 |
| HB 61 Fiscal Note 1.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 61 |
| HB 61 Presentation 2-6-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 61 |
| HB10.Sponsor.Statement.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 10 |
| HB10.Ver N.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 10 |
| HB10.Sectional.Analysis.Version N.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 10 |
| HB10.FiscalNote.UA.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 10 |
| HB10.Support.UNAC 1-30-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 10 |
| HB10.Presentation 2-6-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 10 |
| 2025.02.06.HSTA.Presentation.Payroll Division.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
|
| HB61.Oppose.Alaska Nurses Association 1-31-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 61 |
| HB 61 DOLWD Handout.pdf |
HSTA 2/6/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 61 |