GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

SESSION LAW 2015-167

HOUSE BILL 390

AN ACT to AUTHORIZE THE EXPANSION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF beaufort county community college, to provide that beaufort county community college shall serve all of washington county, and to direct the state board of community colleges to review service areas that include multiple community colleges for one county.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 115D‑12(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       Each community college established or operated pursuant to this Chapter shall be governed by a board of trustees consisting of 13 members, or of additional members if selected according to the special procedure prescribed by the third paragraph of this subsection, who shall be selected by the following agencies. No member of the General Assembly may be appointed to a local board of trustees for a community college.

Group One – four trustees, elected by the board of education of the public school administrative unit located in the administrative area of the institution. If there are two or more public school administrative units, whether city or county units, or both, located within the administrative area, the trustees shall be elected jointly by all of the boards of education of those units, each board having one vote in the election of each trustee, except as provided in G.S. 115D‑59. No board of education shall elect a member of the board of education or any person employed by the board of education to serve as a trustee, however, any such person currently serving on a board of trustees shall be permitted to fulfill the unexpired portion of the trustee's current term.

Group Two – four trustees, elected by the board of commissioners of the county in which the main campus of the institution is located. Provided, however, if the administrative area of the institution is composed of two or more counties, the trustees shall be elected jointly by the boards of commissioners of all those counties, each board having one vote in the election of each trustee. Provided, also, if the administrative area of the institution is composed of two or more counties, the board of trustees of the institution may authorize the county commissioners of any county in which the main campus is not located to elect an additional board member. Provided, also, the county commissioners of the county in which the community college has established a satellite campus may elect an additional two members if the board of trustees of the community college agrees. No more than one trustee from Group Two may be a member of a board of county commissioners. Should the boards of education or the boards of commissioners involved be unable to agree on one or more trustees the senior resident superior court judge in the superior court district or set of districts as defined in G.S. 7A‑41.1 where the institution is located shall fill the position or positions by appointment.

Group Three – four trustees, appointed by the Governor.

Group Four – the president of the student government or the chairman of the executive board of the student body of each community college established pursuant to this Chapter shall be an ex officio nonvoting member of the board of trustees of each said institution."

SECTION 1.(b)  This section applies only to Beaufort County Community College.

SECTION 2.  The State Board of Community Colleges shall designate all of Washington County in the service area of Beaufort County Community College.

SECTION 2.5.  G.S. 115D‑5 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

"(w) The State Board of Community Colleges shall review, at least every five years, service areas that include counties assigned to more than one community college to determine the feasibility of continuing to assign those counties to more than one community college. The State Board shall revise service areas as needed to ensure that counties are served effectively. The first review and any revisions shall be completed no later than March 1, 2016, and the State Board shall report its findings and any revisions to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee no later than March 1, 2016. All subsequent reviews and revisions shall also be submitted to the Committee."

SECTION 3.  Section 2 of this act becomes effective August 1, 2015, and applies to enrollments for the 2015 fall academic semester and beyond. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 22^nd day of July, 2015.

                                                                    s/  Daniel J. Forest

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Tim Moore

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Pat McCrory

                                                                         Governor

Approved 1:32 p.m. this 23^rd day of July, 2015