1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to the University of Minnesota; regulating 
  1.3             the selection of the Board of Regents; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 137.0245, subdivision 
  1.5             3; Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  1.6             137.0245, subdivision 2; proposing coding for new law 
  1.7             in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 137. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  1.10  137.0245, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 2.  [MEMBERSHIP.] The Regent Candidate Advisory 
  1.12  Council shall consist of 24 18 members.  Twelve Six members 
  1.13  shall be appointed by the governor.  Six members shall be 
  1.14  appointed by the Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on 
  1.15  Rules and Administration of the senate.  Twelve Two members 
  1.16  appointed by the subcommittee must be persons recommended by the 
  1.17  minority leader of the senate.  Six members shall be appointed 
  1.18  by the speaker of the house of representatives.  Each appointing 
  1.19  authority Two members appointed by the speaker must be persons 
  1.20  recommended by the house minority leader.  The subcommittee and 
  1.21  the speaker must each appoint one member who is a student 
  1.22  enrolled in a degree program at the University of Minnesota at 
  1.23  the time of appointment.  No more than one-third of the members 
  1.24  appointed by each appointing authority may be current or former 
  1.25  legislators.  No more than two-thirds of the members appointed 
  1.26  by each appointing authority may belong to the same political 
  2.1   party; however, political activity or affiliation is not 
  2.2   required for the appointment of any member.  Geographical 
  2.3   representation must be taken into consideration when making 
  2.4   appointments.  Section 15.0575 shall govern the advisory 
  2.5   council, except that: 
  2.6      (1) the members shall be appointed to six-year terms with 
  2.7   one-third appointed each even-numbered year; and 
  2.8      (2) student members are appointed to two-year terms with 
  2.9   two students appointed each even-numbered year. 
  2.10     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 137.0245, 
  2.11  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.12     Subd. 3.  [DUTIES.] The advisory council shall: 
  2.13     (1) develop, in consultation with current and former 
  2.14  regents and the administration of the University of Minnesota, a 
  2.15  statement of the selection criteria to be applied and a 
  2.16  description of the responsibilities and duties of a regent, and 
  2.17  shall distribute this to potential candidates; and 
  2.18     (2) for each position on the board, identify and recruit 
  2.19  qualified candidates for the Board of Regents, based on the 
  2.20  background and experience of the candidates, and their potential 
  2.21  for discharging the responsibilities of a member of the Board of 
  2.22  Regents. 
  2.23     The guidelines developed under clause (1) must include a 
  2.24  guide that regents represent diversity in geography; gender; 
  2.25  race; occupation, including business and labor; and experience.  
  2.26  The advisory council must submit its candidate recommendations 
  2.27  to the budget divisions of the house of representatives and 
  2.28  senate with jurisdiction over higher education finance by 
  2.29  February 1 for vacancies to be filled during that year's 
  2.30  legislative session.  
  2.31     Sec. 3.  [137.0246] [REGENT SELECTION; LEGISLATURE.] 
  2.32     By March 7 of each odd-numbered year, or at a date agreed 
  2.33  to by concurrent resolution, a joint legislative committee shall 
  2.34  meet to recommend nominees for regent of the University of 
  2.35  Minnesota to be presented to a joint convention of the 
  2.36  legislature.  The members of the joint committee are the members 
  3.1   of the senate and house finance divisions with jurisdiction over 
  3.2   higher education finance.  A majority of the members from each 
  3.3   house is a quorum of the joint committee.  
  3.4      The joint committee shall determine the number of persons, 
  3.5   and the person or persons to be recommended for each open seat.  
  3.6      Each person recommended by the Regent Candidate Advisory 
  3.7   Council is considered to be nominated.  Other persons may be 
  3.8   nominated by a member of the committee at the meeting.  
  3.9   Nominations may be made by committee members only.  Nominations 
  3.10  must be made for a specified congressional or student seat, or 
  3.11  for any at-large seat.