§ 652 — New York state higher education services corporation; purposes; board of trustees

§ 652. New York state higher education services corporation; purposes;\nboard of trustees. 1. There is hereby created in the State Education\nDepartment and within the University of the State of New York as\nestablished under the Board of Regents, an educational corporation to be\nknown as the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation.\n 2. The purposes of such corporation shall be:\n a. To improve the post-secondary educational opportunities of eligible\nstudents through the centralized administration of New York state\nfinancial aid and loan programs;\n b. To coordinate the state's administrative effort in student\nfinancial aid and loan programs with those of other levels of\ngovernment;\n c. To support the administration by the federal government, other\nstates, and institutions of post-secondary education of the federal\nstudent aid programs established under Title IV of the Higher Education\nAct of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, or any successor\nstatute.\n 3. The corporation shall be governed and all of its corporate powers\nexercised by a board of trustees which shall consist of fifteen members,\nnine of whom shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and\nconsent of the senate. The members not requiring the advice and consent\nof the senate shall be the commissioner of education, the chancellor of\nthe state university, the chancellor of the city university of the city\nof New York, and three students. One such student shall be the president\nof the student assembly of the state university of New York, one such\nstudent shall be the chair of the united student senate of city\nuniversity of New York, and one such student shall be a student\nregistered in a full time course of study at a state university\ncommunity college. In the event a student who shall be a member by\nreason of his or her office in a student organization shall fail to\nqualify, the student who holds the next highest office in the\norganization shall be the member of the board.\n 4. All members shall be at least eighteen years of age, citizens of\nthe United States and residents of the state. The appointed members\nshall consist of two representatives of banking institutions within the\nstate, two such members shall be the presidents of independent\ninstitutions of higher education within the state, one such member shall\nbe a president or chief executive officer of a school licensed or\nregistered pursuant to section five thousand one of this chapter, one\nsuch member shall be a financial aid officer at a higher education\ninstitution in New York, one such member shall be a president or chief\nexecutive officer of a degree granting proprietary college located\nwithin the state, one such member shall be a student currently\nregistered and in full time attendance at a degree granting independent\ninstitution of higher education in New York, and one shall be\nrepresentative of the public.\n 5. The appointed members shall serve for terms of six years each and\nshall be eligible for reappointment to successive terms; provided,\nhowever, that the student representative of the state university\ncommunity colleges shall serve for a term of one year.\n 6. The board of trustees shall elect, from among its appointed\nmembers, a chairman and vice-chairman who shall serve in such offices\nfor terms of one year and who shall be eligible for reelection for\nsuccessive terms. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term in\nthe same manner as original appointments. Trustees, including the\nchairman and vice-chairman, shall receive no compensation for their\nservices but shall be reimbursed for their expenses actually and\nnecessarily incurred by them in the performance of their duties under\nthis article.\n 7. a. The board of trustees shall provide for the holding of regular\nmeetings and such special meetings at the call of the chairman, as may\nbe necessary. A majority of the trustees shall constitute a quorum for\nthe transaction of any business and the act of the majority of the\ntrustees present at any meeting shall be deemed the act of the board.\n b. The agenda for any such meeting of the board of trustees shall be\navailable electronically on the higher education services corporation\nwebsite three days prior to the meetings and shall be considered a\npublic record. The attendance, minutes, voting record, and either\ntranscripts or video record, for any such meeting of the board of\ntrustees shall be electronically available on the higher education\nservices corporation website no later than seven days after the meeting\nand shall be considered public records. Information posted on the higher\neducation services corporation website regarding board of trustee\nmeetings shall remain on the site as archived data for a minimum of ten\nyears.\n c. Any such meeting of the board of trustees shall be conducted in\naccordance with article seven of the public officers law.\n 8. The commissioner of education, the chancellor of the state\nuniversity and the chancellor of the city university each may, by\nofficial authority filed in his or her respective department or\nuniversity, and with the secretary of the board, designate an officer of\nhis or her respective department or university to represent and exercise\nall the powers of such commissioner or chancellor as the case may be at\nall meetings of the board from which such commissioner or chancellor may\nbe absent.\n