1001.706 Powers and duties of the Board of Governors.—
(1) GENERAL PROVISIONS.—For each constituent university, the Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall be responsible for cost-effective policy decisions appropriate to the university’s mission, the implementation and maintenance of high-quality education programs within law, the measurement of performance, the reporting of information, and the provision of input regarding state policy, budgeting, and education standards.
(2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—
(a) Pursuant to s. 7, Art. IX of the State Constitution, the Board of Governors has the authority to regulate the State University System and may adopt a regulation development procedure for the Board of Governors and the university boards of trustees to use in implementing their constitutional duties and responsibilities.
(b) The Board of Governors shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 120 when acting pursuant to statutory authority derived from the Legislature, except that the Board of Governors may adopt regulations if expressly authorized or required by law. Such regulations must be adopted pursuant to a development procedure that complies with paragraph (c). If the Board of Governors delegates a power or duty to a university board of trustees as the designee, the authority to adopt rules or regulations is included in the delegation. If the Board of Governors delegates a statutory power or duty to a university board of trustees, the university board of trustees shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 120 but may adopt regulations to the same extent as the Board of Governors under this subsection.
(c) The development procedure for regulations authorized or required by law must provide for notice to the public of, and an opportunity for public comment on, the proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation; a process for a substantially affected person to challenge a statement of general applicability that has not been properly adopted as a regulation; a process for a substantially affected person to challenge an unlawful regulation; and a process for the adoption of and challenges to emergency regulations that are necessary to protect the public interest in the emergency. Judicial review shall be sought in the appellate district in which the headquarters of the Board of Governors is located or in which the main campus of the state university is located, as applicable. The regulation development procedure shall be published prominently on the websites of the Board of Governors and the state universities.
(3) POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF STATE UNIVERSITIES.—
(a) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall develop guidelines and procedures related to data and technology, including information systems, communications systems, computer hardware and software, and networks.
(b) The Board of Governors shall develop guidelines relating to divisions of sponsored research, pursuant to the provisions of s. 1004.22, to serve the function of administration and promotion of the programs of research.
(c) The Board of Governors shall prescribe conditions for direct-support organizations and university health services support organizations to be certified and to use university property and services. Conditions relating to certification must provide for audit review and oversight by the Board of Governors.
(d) The Board of Governors shall develop guidelines for supervising faculty practice plans for the academic health science centers.
(e) The Board of Governors shall ensure that students at state universities have access to general education courses as provided in the statewide articulation agreement, pursuant to s. 1007.23.
(f) The Board of Governors shall approve baccalaureate degree programs that require more than 120 semester credit hours of coursework prior to such programs being offered by a state university. At least half of the required coursework for any baccalaureate degree must be offered at the lower-division level, except in program areas approved by the Board of Governors.
(g) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall adopt a written antihazing policy, appropriate penalties for violations of such policy, and a program for enforcing such policy.
(h) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, may establish a uniform code of conduct and appropriate penalties for violations of its regulations by students and student organizations, including regulations governing student academic honesty. Such penalties, unless otherwise provided by law, may include reasonable fines, the withholding of diplomas or transcripts pending compliance with regulations or payment of fines, and the imposition of probation, suspension, or dismissal.
(i) The Board of Governors shall adopt regulations requiring universities to use purchasing agreements or state term contracts pursuant to s. 287.056 or enter into consortia and cooperative agreements to maximize the purchasing power for goods and services. A consortium or cooperative agreement may be statewide, regional, or a combination of institutions, as appropriate to achieve the lowest cost, with the goal of achieving a 5-percent savings on existing contract prices through the use of new cooperative arrangements or new consortium contracts.
(4) POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO FINANCE.—
(a) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall account for expenditures of all state, local, federal, and other funds. Such accounting systems shall have appropriate audit and internal controls in place that will enable the constituent universities to satisfactorily and timely perform all accounting and reporting functions required by state and federal law and rules.
(b) The Board of Governors shall prepare the legislative budget requests for the State University System, including a request for fixed capital outlay, and submit them to the State Board of Education for inclusion in the K-20 legislative budget request. The Board of Governors shall provide the state universities with fiscal policy guidelines, formats, and instruction for the development of individual university budget requests.
(c) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall establish tuition and fees pursuant to ss. 1009.24 and 1009.26, unless otherwise provided in law.
(d) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, is authorized to secure comprehensive general liability insurance pursuant to s. 1004.24.
(e) The Board of Governors may transfer unused appropriations from the Education/General Student and Other Fees Trust Fund, pursuant to s. 1011.4106(2), between institutions.
(5) POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO ACCOUNTABILITY.—
(a) The Legislature intends that the Board of Governors shall align the missions of each constituent university with the academic success of its students; the national reputation of its faculty and its academic and research programs; the quantity of externally generated research, patents, and licenses; and the strategic and accountability plans required in paragraphs (b) and (c). The mission alignment and strategic plan shall consider peer institutions at the constituent universities. The mission alignment and strategic plan shall acknowledge that universities that have a national and international impact have the greatest capacity to promote the state’s economic development through: new discoveries, patents, licenses, and technologies that generate state businesses of global importance; research achievements through external grants and contracts that are comparable to nationally recognized and ranked universities; the creation of a resource rich academic environment that attracts high-technology business and venture capital to the state; and this generation’s finest minds focusing on solving the state’s economic, social, environmental, and legal problems in the areas of life sciences, water, sustainability, energy, and health care. A nationally recognized and ranked university that has a global perspective and impact shall be afforded the opportunity to enable and protect the university’s competitiveness on the global stage in fair competition with other institutions of other states in the highest Carnegie Classification.
(b) The Board of Governors shall develop a strategic plan specifying goals and objectives for the State University System and each constituent university, including each university’s contribution to overall system goals and objectives. The strategic plan must:
1. Include performance metrics and standards common for all institutions and metrics and standards unique to institutions depending on institutional core missions, including, but not limited to, student admission requirements, retention, graduation, percentage of graduates who have attained employment, percentage of graduates enrolled in continued education, licensure passage, average wages of employed graduates, average cost per graduate, excess hours, student loan burden and default rates, faculty awards, total annual research expenditures, patents, licenses and royalties, intellectual property, startup companies, annual giving, endowments, and well-known, highly respected national rankings for institutional and program achievements.
2. Consider reports and recommendations of the Higher Education Coordinating Council pursuant to s. 1004.015 and the Articulation Coordinating Committee pursuant to s. 1007.01.
3. Include student enrollment and performance data delineated by method of instruction, including, but not limited to, traditional, online, and distance learning instruction.
4. Include criteria for designating baccalaureate degree and master’s degree programs at specified universities as high-demand programs of emphasis. Fifty percent of the criteria for designation as high-demand programs of emphasis must be based on achievement of performance outcome thresholds determined by the Board of Governors, and 50 percent of the criteria must be based on achievement of performance outcome thresholds specifically linked to:
a. Job placement in employment of 36 hours or more per week and average full-time wages of graduates of the degree programs 1 year and 5 years after graduation, based in part on data provided in the economic security report of employment and earning outcomes produced annually pursuant to s. 445.07.
b. Data-driven gap analyses, conducted by the Board of Governors, of the state’s job market demands and the outlook for jobs that require a baccalaureate or higher degree.
(c) The Board of Governors shall develop an accountability plan for the State University System and each constituent university. The accountability plan must address institutional and system achievement of goals and objectives specified in the strategic plan adopted pursuant to paragraph (b) and must be submitted as part of its legislative budget request.
(d) Beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year and annually thereafter, the Board of Governors shall require a state university prior to registration to provide each enrolled student electronic access to the economic security report of employment and earning outcomes prepared by the Department of Economic Opportunity pursuant to s. 445.07. In addition, the Board of Governors shall require a state university to provide each student electronic access to the following information each year prior to registration using the data described in s. 1008.39:
1. The top 25 percent of degrees reported by the university in terms of highest full-time job placement and highest average annualized earnings in the year after earning the degree.
2. The bottom 10 percent of degrees reported by the university in terms of lowest full-time job placement and lowest average annualized earnings in the year after earning the degree.
(e) The Board of Governors shall maintain an effective information system to provide accurate, timely, and cost-effective information about each university. The board shall continue to collect and maintain, at a minimum, management information as such information existed on June 30, 2002.
(f) If the Board of Governors of the State University System determines that a state university board of trustees is unwilling or unable to address substantiated allegations made by any person relating to waste, fraud, or financial mismanagement within the state university, the Office of the Inspector General shall investigate the allegations.
(g) The Board of Governors may consider waiving its regulations and may waive or modify the tuition differential use requirements under s. 1009.24(16)(a). If not currently authorized, the Board of Governors may request authority from the Legislature to waive or modify specific statutory requirements, including percentages and dollar amount limitations in s. 1009.24, in order to reduce barriers and support the attainment of goals identified in institutional plans, as necessary for advancing system priorities and unique institutional priorities. Regulatory flexibilities authorized and statutory flexibilities authorized or requested by the Board of Governors pursuant to this paragraph must be included in the accountability plan prepared and submitted pursuant to paragraph (c).
(6) POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO PERSONNEL.—
(a) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall establish the personnel program for all employees of a state university. The Board of Governors shall confirm the presidential selection and reappointment by a university board of trustees as a means of acknowledging that system cooperation is expected.
(b) The Department of Management Services shall retain authority over state university employees for programs established in ss. 110.123, 110.1232, 110.1234, 110.1238, and 110.161 and in chapters 121, 122, and 238. Unless specifically authorized by law, neither the Board of Governors nor a state university may offer group insurance programs for employees as a substitute for or as an alternative to the health insurance programs offered pursuant to chapter 110.
(c) Except as otherwise provided by law, university employees are public employees for purposes of chapter 112 and any payment for travel and per diem expenses shall not exceed the level specified in s. 112.061.
(d) Each contract or employment agreement, or renewal or renegotiation of an existing contract or employment agreement, containing a provision for severance pay with an officer, agent, employee, or contractor must include the provisions required in s. 215.425.
(7) POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO PROPERTY.—
(a) The Board of Governors shall develop guidelines for university boards of trustees relating to the acquisition of real and personal property and the sale and disposal thereof and the approval and execution of contracts for the purchase, sale, lease, license, or acquisition of commodities, goods, equipment, contractual services, leases of real and personal property, and construction. The acquisition may include purchase by installment or lease-purchase. Such contracts may provide for payment of interest on the unpaid portion of the purchase price. Title to all real property acquired prior to January 7, 2003, and to all real property acquired with funds appropriated by the Legislature shall be vested in the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund and shall be transferred and conveyed by it. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subsection, each board of trustees shall comply with the provisions of s. 287.055 for the procurement of professional services as defined therein. Any acquisition pursuant to this paragraph is subject to the provisions of s. 1010.62.
(b) The Board of Governors shall develop guidelines for university boards of trustees relating to the use, maintenance, protection, and control of university-owned or university-controlled buildings and grounds, property and equipment, name, trademarks and other proprietary marks, and the financial and other resources of the university. Such authority may include placing restrictions on activities and on access to facilities, firearms, food, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, distribution of printed materials, commercial solicitation, animals, and sound. The authority provided the board of trustees in this subsection includes the prioritization of the use of space, property, equipment, and resources and the imposition of charges for those items.
(c) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall administer a program for the maintenance and construction of facilities pursuant to chapter 1013.
(d) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall ensure compliance with the provisions of s. 287.09451 for all procurement and ss. 255.101 and 255.102 for construction contracts, and rules adopted pursuant thereto, relating to the utilization of minority business enterprises, except that procurements costing less than the amount provided for in CATEGORY FIVE as provided in s. 287.017 shall not be subject to s. 287.09451.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 253.025 but subject to the provisions of s. 1010.62, the Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, may, with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, sell, convey, transfer, exchange, trade, or purchase real property and related improvements necessary and desirable to serve the needs and purposes of the university.
1. The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, may secure appraisals and surveys. The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall comply with the rules of the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund in securing appraisals. Whenever the Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, finds it necessary for timely property acquisition, it may contract, without the need for competitive selection, with one or more appraisers whose names are contained on the list of approved appraisers maintained by the Division of State Lands in the Department of Environmental Protection.
2. The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, may negotiate and enter into an option contract before an appraisal is obtained. The option contract must state that the final purchase price may not exceed the maximum value allowed by law. The consideration for such an option contract may not exceed 10 percent of the estimate obtained by the Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, or 10 percent of the value of the parcel, whichever is greater, unless otherwise authorized by the Board of Governors or the board’s designee.
3. This paragraph is not intended to abrogate in any manner the authority delegated to the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or the Division of State Lands to approve a contract for purchase of state lands or to require policies and procedures to obtain clear legal title to parcels purchased for state purposes. Title to property acquired by a university board of trustees prior to January 7, 2003, and to property acquired with funds appropriated by the Legislature shall vest in the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
(f) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall prepare and adopt a campus master plan pursuant to s. 1013.30.
(g) The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, shall prepare, adopt, and execute a campus development agreement pursuant to s. 1013.30.
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 216.351, the Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, may authorize the rent or lease of parking facilities provided that such facilities are funded through parking fees or parking fines imposed by a university. The Board of Governors, or the board’s designee, may authorize a university board of trustees to charge fees for parking at such rented or leased parking facilities.
(8) COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS, RULES, REGULATIONS, AND REQUIREMENTS.—The Board of Governors has responsibility for compliance with state and federal laws, rules, regulations, and requirements.
(9) COOPERATION WITH OTHER BOARDS.—The Board of Governors shall implement a plan for working on a regular basis with the State Board of Education, the Commission for Independent Education, the Higher Education Coordinating Council, the Articulation Coordinating Committee, the university boards of trustees, representatives of the Florida College System institution boards of trustees, representatives of the private colleges and universities, and representatives of the district school boards to achieve a seamless education system.
(10) PROHIBITION.—The Board of Governors is prohibited from assessing any fee on state universities, unless specifically authorized by law.
(11) AUTHORIZATION TO REVOKE OR MODIFY.—The Board of Governors may revoke or modify the scope of any power or duty it has delegated.
History.—s. 76, ch. 2007-217; s. 3, ch. 2009-60; s. 1, ch. 2009-213; s. 11, ch. 2010-78; s. 24, ch. 2011-5; s. 5, ch. 2012-134; s. 5, ch. 2012-195; s. 45, ch. 2013-27.
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