Collin County Community College
043500

BOARD MEMBERS:
ORIENTATION


BBD
(LEGAL)


TRAINING A member of a governing board of an institution of higher education, the members of which are elected, may attend a training program conducted under Education Code 61.084.

The training program must include a seminar held annually in Austin to be conducted by the staff of the Coordinating Board. The staff of the Coordinating Board may obtain assistance from representatives of the office of the attorney general, the office of the comptroller of public accounts, the office of the state auditor, and the Texas Ethics Commission, and from other training personnel the Coordinating Board deems necessary. The Coordinating Board by rule may prescribe an alternative training program for members of governing boards for whom attendance at a seminar held in Austin would be a hardship. The alternative training program need not be in the form of a seminar but must include substantially the same information included in the seminar held in Austin.

The content of the instruction at the training program shall focus on the official role and duties of the Trustees and shall provide training in the areas of budgeting, policy development, and governance.

Topics covered by the training program may include:

  1. Auditing procedures and recent audits of public community/junior colleges;
  2. The enabling legislation that creates public community/junior colleges;
  3. The role of the Board and the relationship between the Board and a college's administration, faculty and staff, and students;
  4. The mission statements of public community/junior colleges;
  5. Disciplinary and investigative authority of the Board;
  6. The requirements of the open meetings law, Chapter 551, Government Code, and the open records law, Chapter 552, Government Code;
  7. The requirements of conflict of interest laws and other laws relating to public officials;
  8. Any applicable ethics policies adopted by public community/junior colleges or the Texas Ethics Commission; and
  9. Any other topic relating to higher education the board considers important.

Education Code 61.084

FEES A Trustee shall pay from private funds the required fee and the Trustee's costs of travel, including transportation, lodging, and meals. Neither the required fee nor a Trustee's travel costs shall be reimbursed from appropriated funds, other than grants and donations of private funds available for that purpose.

Education Code 61.084(c)

LOCAL POLICY All public community/junior colleges should adopt a policy for Trustee training to include orientation for new members and continuing education for current members.

New Trustees should participate in a formal orientation session on the legal and budgetary oversight responsibilities of Trustees within the calendar year following their election.

Each institution should develop and implement an annual plan to address the training needs of Trustees. Topics include, but are not limited to: community college history and philosophy; governance; ethics; legal issues; accreditation; finance; audits; legislative relations; planning (strategic, short-term, and long-range); evaluations (Board, President, institution and educational programs); Board policies and bylaws; Boardsmanship; state and national trends on educational, social, and technological issues; and Texas government operations (executive and legislative branches, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and other state agencies).

19 TAC 9.77

CONVENTIONS AND WORKSHOPS Board members may attend regional, state, or national conventions or workshops without such gatherings being construed as "meetings" under the Open Meetings Act. However, no formal action shall be taken at such conventions or workshops concerning District business, and any discussion of public business shall be merely incidental to the convention or workshop. Gov't Code 551.001(4)


DATE ISSUED: 02/05/1996
UPDATE 11
BBD(LEGAL)-PJC

This online presentation of your college district's policy concerning the stated subject material is an electronic representation of TASB's record of the college district's currently adopted policy manual. It does not reflect updating activities in progess nor is it a legally binding document. Please contact the office of the President or Chancellor for the official, legally binding generation of this and the other policies that pertain to your college district.