49-8-201. Composition.

(a) (1)  The board shall consist of nineteen (19) members, including four (4) ex officio members who shall be the governor, the commissioners of education and agriculture, and the executive director of the higher education commission. 

(2) The executive director of the higher education commission shall serve as a nonvoting member. 

(3) Twelve (12) public members shall be appointed by the governor, one (1) of whom shall be from each congressional district, and three (3) at-large from different geographical areas of the state. In appointing public members to the board, the governor shall strive to ensure that at least one (1) person serving on the board is sixty (60) years of age or older and that at least one (1) person serving on the board is a member of a racial minority. Appointments made after January 1, 1995, shall alternate such that every other appointment of a new member to the board shall be a female until the membership of the board reflects the percentage of females in the population generally, after which the provisions of this sentence shall cease to be effective. One (1) member shall be a current faculty member at an institution or technology center of the board of regents. The faculty member shall be appointed for a one (1) year term. The governor shall appoint the faculty member from a list of three (3) nominees who shall be:  (1) the president of the faculty senate, or equivalent body, at a four-year institution; (2) the president of the faculty senate, or equivalent body, at a two-year institution; and (3) a representative of the faculty selected by the faculty, at a technology center. The first nominee from a four-year institution shall be from Austin Peay State University, followed by East Tennessee State University, the University of Memphis, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee State University, and Tennessee Technological University.  When a nominee has been submitted from each four-year institution, the cycle shall be repeated.  The first nominee from a two-year institution shall be from Chattanooga State Technical Community College, followed by Cleveland State Community College, Columbia State Community College, Dyersburg State Community College, Jackson State Community College, Motlow State Community College, Nashville State Technical Community College, Northeast State Technical Community College, Pellissippi State Technical Community College, Roane State Community College, Shelby State Community College (now the Community College in Southwest Tennessee), State Technical Institute at Memphis (now the Community College in Southwest Tennessee), Volunteer State Community College, and Walters State Community College. When a nominee has been submitted from each two-year institution, the alphabetical  cycle shall be repeated.  The first nominee from a technology center shall be from the state technology center located at Athens followed by the technology centers at Chattanooga, Covington, Crossville, Crump, Dickson, Elizabethton, Harriman, Hartsville, Hohenwald, Jacksboro, Jackson, Knoxville, Lexington, Livingston, McKenzie, McMinnville, Memphis, Morristown, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Newbern, Oneida, Paris, Pulaski, Ripley, Shelbyville, and Whiteville. When a nominee has been submitted from each technology center, the alphabetical cycle set out above shall be repeated.  The nominees from the applicable institutions each year shall be forwarded to the chancellor of the board of regents for submission to the governor no later than the month of April. 

(4) One (1) member shall be the immediate past commissioner of education, as of July 1, 1972, who shall serve for a term of twenty-nine (29) years therefrom. 

(5) The terms of the first at-large members shall be two (2), four (4) and six (6) years, with the terms of the remaining initial eight (8) members to be one (1), two (2), three (3), four (4), five (5), six (6), seven (7) and eight (8) years. The terms for all public members shall begin July 1, 1972. As their terms expire, successors shall be appointed for nine-year terms; provided, that on April 26, 1988, the term shall be for six (6) years, and as each current term expires the successor appointee shall be appointed for a six-year term. 

(6) The appointed members shall be subject to confirmation by the senate, but appointments shall be effective until adversely acted upon by the senate. 

(7) Members shall be eligible for reappointment. 

(8) If a vacancy occurs, except by reason of expiration of term, it shall be filled for the remainder of the term. 

(9) Each of the two (2) leading political parties shall be represented thereon by at least three (3) appointive members. 

(10) At least four (4) of the appointed members shall be alumni of the institutions governed by the board but not more than two (2) of such appointed members shall be alumni of the same institution. 

(11) "Alumni," as used herein, means a person who has attended such institution for at least two (2) years. 

(12) At least one (1) of the appointed members shall be under thirty (30) years of age. 

(13) The position of any at-large member of the board shall be vacated at such time as such member ceases to have such member's domicile in this state. 

(14) The position of any member appointed from the congressional districts shall be vacated at such time as such member shall cease to have such member's domicile in that district. However, no incumbent member shall be removed from the member's seat prior to the expiration of the member's current term as a result of changes in congressional districts occasioned by reapportionment. 

(15) No employee of any public institution of higher education, any elected or appointed official or employee of the state, or any member of a governing body for any institution of higher education, may serve as a public member of the board while so employed. 

(b) (1)  One (1) member of the board shall be a student who shall be appointed annually by the governor from a list of three (3) nominees selected and submitted no later than the month of April by the presidents of the student government associations/associated student bodies of all technical schools, colleges and universities in the state university and community college system. 

(2) The student member shall serve for a term of one (1) year commencing on July 1 following such member's appointment by the governor, and must retain status as a student in good standing within the state university and community college system for the duration of the student's term on the board. 

(3) The student regent nominee shall be selected in accordance with the following provisions: 

(A) (i) One (1) nominee shall be enrolled as a full-time student at the time of nomination and shall maintain that status at a four-year institution which is a member of the state university and community college system; 

(ii) One (1) nominee shall be enrolled as a full-time student at the time of nomination and shall maintain that status at a two-year institution which is a member of the state university and community college system; and 

(iii) One (1) nominee shall be enrolled as a full-time student at the time of nomination at any institution which is a member of the state university and community college system, with the provision that neither of the other two (2) nominees is enrolled at the same institution; 

(B) All nominees for the position of student regent shall be residents of this state; and 

(C) A majority of the student government association/associated student body presidents of all technical institutions, community colleges and universities in the state university and community college system shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting the business of the nomination. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the quorum shall be required to effect all nominations. 

(4) The chancellor of the board of regents shall notify all student government association/associated student body presidents in the state university and community college system of the necessity for the conference herein described. 

(c)  The first meeting of the board after all members have been appointed shall be upon the call of the governor. The board thereafter shall meet at least quarterly. 

(d)  The board shall elect from its members a chair and such other officers as it may deem appropriate, shall determine their terms of office, and shall adopt rules for the organization and conduct of business. 

(e)  Board members shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties, in conformity with the comprehensive travel regulations as promulgated by the department of finance and administration and approved by the attorney general and reporter. 

[Acts 1972, ch. 838, §§ 2, 5; 1973, ch. 120, § 1; 1975, ch. 13, §§ 1, 2; 1975, ch. 303, § 1; 1976, ch. 806, § 1(70); 1977, ch. 8, § 3; 1978, ch. 548, §§ 1, 2; 1981, ch. 41, § 1; 1983, ch. 56, §§ 1, 2; T.C.A., §§ 49-3237, 49-3240; Acts 1984, ch. 512, § 1; 1984, ch. 712, § 1; 1987, ch. 60, § 1; 1988, ch. 839, § 2; 1988, ch. 1013, § 20; 1992, ch. 710, § 1; 1994, ch. 731, § 3; 1995, ch. 72, § 1; 1995, ch. 250, §§ 1, 2; 2001, ch. 369, § 2.]