110 ILCS 310/1

(110 ILCS 310/1) (from Ch. 144, par. 41)

Sec. 1. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois shall consist of the Governor and at least 12 trustees. Nine trustees shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The other trustees shall be students, of whom one student shall be selected from each University campus.

Each student trustee shall serve a term of one year, beginning on July 1 or on the date of his or her selection, whichever is later, and expiring on the next succeeding June 30.

Each trustee shall have all of the privileges of membership, except that only one student trustee shall have the right to cast a legally binding vote. The Governor shall designate which one of the student trustees shall possess, for his or her entire term, the right to cast a legally binding vote. Each student trustee who does not possess the right to cast a legally binding vote shall have the right to cast an advisory vote and the right to make and second motions and to attend executive sessions.

Each trustee shall be governed by the same conflict of interest standards. Pursuant to those standards, it shall not be a conflict of interest for a student trustee to vote on matters pertaining to students generally, such as tuition and fees. However, it shall be a conflict of interest for a student trustee to vote on faculty member tenure or promotion. For the purposes of this Section, a student member shall not be deemed to have a direct conflict of interest in and may vote on any item involving the employment or compensation of the Chancellor at any campus or the President of the University or the election of officers. Student trustees shall be chosen by campus-wide student election, and the student trustee designated by the Governor to possess a legally binding vote shall be one of the students selected by this method. A student trustee who does not possess a legally binding vote on a measure at a meeting of the Board or any of its committees shall not be considered a trustee for the purpose of determining whether a quorum is present at the time that measure is voted upon. To be eligible for selection as a student trustee and to be eligible to remain as a voting or nonvoting student trustee, a student trustee must be a resident of this State, must have and maintain a grade point average that is equivalent to at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, and must be a full time student enrolled at all times during his or her term of office except for that part of the term which follows the completion of the last full regular semester of an academic year and precedes the first full regular semester of the succeeding academic year at the University (sometimes commonly referred to as the summer session or summer school). If a voting or nonvoting student trustee fails to continue to meet or maintain the residency, minimum grade point average, or enrollment requirement established by this Section, his or her membership on the Board shall be deemed to have terminated by operation of law. The University may not use residency for tuition purposes as a factor in making the determination that a student is or is not a resident of this State. In order to determine residency for a student trustee, the student must provide evidence of the student's Illinois domicile for at least the previous 6 months and at least one of the following:

(1) evidence of the student's current, valid Illinois driver's license or Illinois Identification Card; or

(2) evidence of the student's valid Illinois voter registration.

Evidence of residency in this State for student trustees and candidates for student trustees under this Section does not apply to residency requirements for tuition purposes.

If a voting student trustee resigns or otherwise ceases to serve on the Board, the Governor shall, within 30 days, designate one of the remaining student trustees to possess the right to cast a legally binding vote for the remainder of his or her term. If a nonvoting student trustee resigns or otherwise ceases to serve on the Board, the chief executive of the student government from that campus shall, within 30 days, select a new nonvoting student trustee to serve for the remainder of the term.

No more than 5 of the 9 appointed trustees shall be affiliated with the same political party. Each trustee appointed by the Governor must be a resident of this State. A failure to meet or maintain this residency requirement constitutes a resignation from and creates a vacancy in the Board. The term of office of each appointed trustee shall be 6 years from the third Monday in January of each odd numbered year. The regular terms of office of the appointed trustees shall be staggered so that 3 terms expire in each odd-numbered year.

Vacancies for appointed trustees shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as original appointments. If a vacancy in membership occurs at a time when the Senate is not in session, the Governor shall make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Senate, when he shall appoint persons to fill such memberships for the remainder of their respective terms. If the Senate is not in session when appointments for a full term are made, appointments shall be made as in the case of vacancies.

No action of the board shall be invalidated by reason of any vacancies on the board, or by reason of any failure to select student trustees.

(Source: P.A. 101-300, eff. 1-1-20.)