Section 37-4-3 - Establishment of board; composition; qualifications, appointment, terms of office and compensation of members; officers; director of state system of public junior and community colleges; general powers and duties of board(1) From and after July 1, 1986, there shall be a Mississippi Community College Board which shall receive and distribute funds appropriated by the Legislature for the use of the public community and junior colleges and funds from federal and other sources that are transmitted through the state governmental organization for use by said colleges. This board shall provide general coordination of the public community and junior colleges, assemble reports and such other duties as may be prescribed by law.(2) The board shall consist of ten (10) members of which none shall be an elected official. Until January 1, 2028, the Governor shall appoint two (2) members from the First Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of two (2) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of five (5) years; two (2) members from the Second Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of five (5) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of three (3) years; and two (2) members from the Third Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of four (4) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of two (2) years; two (2) members from the Fourth Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of three (3) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of four (4) years; and two (2) members from the Fifth Mississippi Congressional District, one (1) who shall serve an initial term of five (5) years and one (1) who shall serve an initial term of two (2) years. All subsequent appointments shall be for a term of six (6) years and continue until their successors are appointed and qualify. An appointment to fill a vacancy which arises for reasons other than by expiration of a term of office shall be for the unexpired term only. All members shall be appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Mississippi Community College Board, created by former Section 37-4-3, is continued and reconstituted as follows: Effective January 1, 2028, the Governor shall appoint three (3) members from each Mississippi Supreme Court District and one (1) from the state at large. The members shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of office of four (4) years, provided that six (6) members shall be appointed in 2028 to a term ending December 31, 2031, and four (4) members shall be appointed in 2030 to a term ending December 31, 2033. Appointments made at the beginning of the four-year cycle shall be made to fill any member's term which actually expires that year and any member's term which expires next until the majority of the membership of the board or commission is reached. Appointments made at the beginning of the third year of the four-year cycle shall be made for the remainder of the membership positions irrespective of the time of their prior appointment. Any question regarding the order of appointments shall be determined by the Secretary of State in accordance with the specific statute. All appointment procedures, vacancy provisions, interim appointment provisions and removal provisions specifically provided for in Section 7-1-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be fully applicable to appointments to the Mississippi Community College Board, and to the position of executive director.
(3) There shall be a chairman and vice chairman of the board, elected by and from the membership of the board; and the chairman shall be the presiding officer of the board. The board shall adopt rules and regulations governing times and places for meetings and governing the manner of conducting its business.(4) The members of the board shall receive no annual salary, but shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for each day devoted to the discharge of official board duties and shall be entitled to reimbursement for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties, including mileage as authorized by Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972.(5) Effective July 1, 2028, the board shall name a director for the state system of public junior and community colleges, who shall serve at the will and pleasure of the board, with the advice and consent of the Senate, not less than every four (4) years. Such director shall be the chief executive officer of the board, give direction to the board staff, carry out the policies set forth by the board, and work with the presidents of the several community and junior colleges to assist them in carrying out the mandates of the several boards of trustees and in functioning within the state system and policies established by the Mississippi Community College Board. The Mississippi Community College Board shall set the salary of the director of the board. The Legislature shall provide adequate funds for the Mississippi Community College Board, its activities and its staff.(6) The powers and duties of the Mississippi Community College Board shall be: (a) To authorize disbursements of state-appropriated funds to community and junior colleges through orders in the minutes of the board.(b) To make studies of the needs of the state as they relate to the mission of the community and junior colleges.(c) To approve new, changes to and deletions of vocational and technical programs to the various colleges.(d) To require community and junior colleges to supply such information as the board may request and compile, publish and make available such reports based thereon as the board may deem advisable.(e) To approve proposed new attendance centers (campus locations) as the local boards of trustees should determine to be in the best interest of the district. Provided, however, that no new community/junior college branch campus shall be approved without an authorizing act of the Legislature.(f) To serve as the state approving agency for federal funds for proposed contracts to borrow money for the purpose of acquiring land, erecting, repairing, etc., dormitories, dwellings or apartments for students and/or faculty, such loans to be paid from revenue produced by such facilities as requested by local boards of trustees.(g) To approve applications from community and junior colleges for state funds for vocational-technical education facilities.(h) To approve any university branch campus offering lower undergraduate level courses for credit.(i) To appoint members to the Post-Secondary Educational Assistance Board.(j) To appoint members to the Authority for Educational Television.(k) To contract with other boards, commissions, governmental entities, foundations, corporations or individuals for programs, services, grants and awards when such are needed for the operation and development of the state public community and junior college system.(l) To fix standards for community and junior colleges to qualify for appropriations, and qualifications for community and junior college teachers.(m) To have sign-off approval on the State Plan for Vocational Education which is developed in cooperation with appropriate units of the State Department of Education.(n) To approve or disapprove of any proposed inclusion within municipal corporate limits of state-owned buildings and grounds of any community college or junior college and to approve or disapprove of land use development, zoning requirements, building codes and delivery of governmental services applicable to state-owned buildings and grounds of any community college or junior college. Any agreement by a local board of trustees of a community college or junior college to annexation of state-owned property or other conditions described in this paragraph shall be void unless approved by the board and by the board of supervisors of the county in which the state-owned property is located.Laws, 1986, ch. 434, § 2; Laws, 1988, ch. 461, eff. 4/27/1988.Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 497, SB 2799,§ 5, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by Laws, 2019, ch. 436, SB 2749,§ 1, eff. 3/29/2019.Amended by Laws, 2014, ch. 397, HB 460, 9, eff. 7/1/2014.