CT SB00018

Board members of the Board of Regents for Higher Education and University of Connecticut Board of Trustees must complete training by January 1, 2023 covering 15 topics including board duties, accounting standards, Freedom of Information Act, ethics, budgeting, student welfare, and current higher education issues, with completion required within one year of appointment.

Each public higher education institution must post its governing board's training policy and a summary of instruction received by board members on its website by January 1, 2023.

The Board of Regents for Higher Education is designated as the budgeted agency for the Connecticut State University System, regional community-technical colleges, Charter Oak State College, and the central office, and must develop formula or program-based budgeting systems for all institutions.

Budget authority transfers from individual constituent unit boards of trustees to the Board of Regents for Higher Education, which now controls transfers up to $50,000 or 10% of appropriations (whichever is less) without Finance Advisory Committee consent.

The Board of Regents for Higher Education assumes centralized control over operating funds, tuition policies, institutional mergers or closures, academic program approval, and coordinated budgeting for all public higher education constituent units under its jurisdiction.