§ 371 — State university construction fund

§ 371. State university construction fund. 1. There is hereby created\nwithin the state university the "state university construction fund".\nThe fund shall be a corporate governmental agency constituting a public\nbenefit corporation. It shall be administered by three trustees\nappointed by the governor, one of whom shall at all times be a state\nuniversity trustee. The trustees other than the state university trustee\nshall be appointed with the advice and consent of the senate.\n 2. The trustees of the fund first appointed by the governor shall\nserve for terms ending December thirty-first, in nineteen hundred\nsixty-four, nineteen hundred sixty-six and nineteen hundred sixty-eight,\nrespectively. Persons appointed for full terms as their successors shall\nserve for six years each commencing as of the January first next\nfollowing the year in which the term of his predecessor expired. In the\nevent of a vacancy occurring in the office of a trustee by death,\nresignation or otherwise, the governor shall appoint a successor in the\nsame manner as an original appointment to serve for the balance of the\nunexpired term. A vacancy shall be deemed to have occurred whenever the\ntrustee of the fund who is a state university trustee ceases to be a\nstate university trustee.\n 3. The trustees of the fund shall serve without salary, but each\ntrustee shall be entitled to reimbursement for his actual and necessary\nexpenses incurred in the performance of his official duties.\n 4. The trustees of the fund may engage in private employment, or in a\nprofession or business, subject to the limitations contained in sections\nseventy-three and seventy-four of the public officers law. The fund\nshall, for the purposes of such sections, be a "state agency", the\ntrustees thereof shall be "officers" of the agency for the purposes of\nsaid sections, and the trustees, officers and other persons in the\nemployment of the fund shall be "employees" for the purposes of\nsubdivision one of section seventeen of the public officers law.\n 5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of law, general,\nspecial or local, no officer or employee of the state, or of any civil\ndivision thereof, shall be deemed to have forfeited or shall forfeit his\noffice or employment by reason of accepting appointment as a trustee of\nthe fund.\n 6. The governor may remove any trustee for inefficiency, neglect of\nduty or misconduct in office after giving him a copy of the charges\nagainst him, and an opportunity to be heard, in person or by counsel, in\nhis defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. If any trustee shall\nbe removed, the governor shall file with the secretary of state a\ncomplete statement of charges made against the trustee, and his findings\nthereon, together with a complete record of the proceedings.\n 7. The chairman of the fund shall be designated by the governor, shall\npreside over all its meetings and shall have such other duties as the\ntrustees may direct. A vice-chairman who shall preside over all meetings\nof the fund in the absence of the chairman and shall have such other\nduties as the trustees may direct may be designated from time to time by\nthe trustees from among the other trustees.\n 8. The powers of the fund shall be vested in and exercised by no fewer\nthan two of the trustees then in office. The fund may delegate to one or\nmore of its trustees, or officers, agents and employees, such powers and\nduties as it may deem proper; provided, however, that all contracts\ninvolving an estimated expense of seventy-five thousand dollars or more\nand all lease agreements to be entered into pursuant to section three\nhundred seventy-eight of this article shall be approved prior to\nexecution by no fewer than two trustees of the fund.\n 9. The fund may appoint such officers, employees and agents as it may\ndeem advisable, including a general manager to be the chief\nadministrative officer of the fund, a counsel and a controller, and may\nprescribe their duties and fix their compensation.\n 10. Officers and employees of other state agencies may be transferred\nto the fund and officers and employees of the fund may be transferred to\nother state agencies without examination and without loss of any civil\nservice status or rights. No such transfer, however, may be made except\nwith the approval of the head of the other state agency involved, the\ndirector of the budget and the chairman of the fund, and in compliance\nwith the rules and regulations of the state civil service commission.\n