Provides for the inclusion of a faculty or staff member on the board of trustees of community colleges

Latest action Dec 19, 2025

Provides for the inclusion of a faculty or staff member on the board of trustees of community colleges elected by and from among the faculty and staff of the college.

Not chosen yet

Where it stands

Rejected by the executive.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

Vetoed

New York State Senate

Same as A5979, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Education Law.

Committee

Higher Education · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Higher Education · New York State Senate, Ways and Means · New York State Assembly.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

This legislation expands the Board of Trustees for community colleges to include an eleventh, ex-officio, non-voting member who shall be elected by and from among the faculty and staff of the college. SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:; Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 1 of section 6306 of the educa- tion law to expand, from ten to eleven, the number of community college trustees. The amendment provides that the eleventh member shall be elected by and from among the faculty and staff of the college as an ex-officio and non-voting members. Such Faculty or staff and student members shall be subject to every provision of any general, special or local law, ordinance, charter, code, rule or regulation apply to the members of such board with respect to the discharge of their duties. Section 2 of the bill contains the effective date.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateJun 10, 2025Result: passed
(46) (12) (0) (5)
Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateApr 24, 2025Result: passed
(41) (10) (0) (11)
Vote: Committee vote · Higher Education
Senate Higher EducationMar 4, 2025Result: passed
(11) (0) (0) (0)

The sponsor's argument

Why Toby Ann Stavisky says this is needed

SUNY community colleges are currently administered by a separate Board of Trustees composed of ten members, five appointed by the local Legis- lative body or board, or other appropriate governing agency; four by the governor and one member elected by and from among the students at the college. There is no faculty or staff representation on any of the boards. Consequently, faculty input is often limited to a few minutes during the "public comment" period of trustee meetings. Since the faculty and staff interact with the students daily, they are keenly aware of what is going on at their institutions and what policy deci- sions may or may not be working. This legislation seeks to give faculty/staff a voice, albeit a non-voting one on their boards of trus- tees. The SUNY Board of Trustees was recently expanded to include the Presi- dent of the University Faculty Senate as a non-voting, ex-officio member. The inclusion of a faculty member has resulted in a collabora- tive improvement between the trustees, administrators, and faculty, all in furtherance of the SUNY mission. Including community college faculty/staff on their boards will yield the same results.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

Dec 19, 2025
Vetoed
VETOED MEMO.144
NY Senate
Dec 8, 2025
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR
NY Senate
Jun 13, 2025
Ordered to Third Reading Rules CAL.729
ORDERED TO THIRD READING RULES CAL.729
NY Assembly
Jun 13, 2025
Passed a chamber
PASSED ASSEMBLY
NY Assembly
Jun 13, 2025
Reported out of committee
REPORTED REFERRED TO RULES
NY Assembly

Show full history (19 earlier events)

Jun 13, 2025
Substituted
SUBSTITUTED FOR A5979B
NY Assembly
Jun 10, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS
NY Assembly
Jun 10, 2025
Passed a chamber
REPASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Jun 10, 2025
Returned to Assembly
RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
May 28, 2025
Reported out of committee
REPORTED REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS
NY Assembly
May 27, 2025
Amended
AMENDED ON THIRD READING 4685B
NY Senate
May 27, 2025
Recalled From Assembly
RECALLED FROM ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
May 27, 2025
Returned to Senate
RETURNED TO SENATE
NY Assembly
May 23, 2025
Amend and Recommit to Higher Education
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Apr 24, 2025
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Apr 24, 2025
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Apr 24, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Apr 8, 2025
Amend and Recommit to Higher Education
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Apr 3, 2025
Amended
AMENDED ON THIRD READING 4685A
NY Senate
Mar 10, 2025
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Mar 5, 2025
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Mar 4, 2025
1ST Report CAL.457
1ST REPORT CAL.457
NY Senate
Feb 25, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Feb 11, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Cosponsors: The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.
Party colors: Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 22, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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