Governing boards of colleges and universities in the United States

In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual colleges and universities, or both. In general, they operate as a board of directors, and they vary by formal name, size, powers, and membership. In some states, members are appointed by the governor.

From a legal standpoint, many higher education institutions are corporations; they have separate legal personhood. The corporation is the legal owner of its endowment and other property. The corporation's name might consist of its governing board members' title (for example, The Trustees of Princeton University is a New Jersey nonprofit corporation). These board members (trustees, regents, etc.) are fiduciaries for the corporation. In some cases, the institution might not have separate legal personhood; the trustees transact in their own name with other parties, such as students, faculty, or donors. However, the trustees often utilize a common, enduring title, which enables the trust to operate continuously even as individual trustees change.

In some private institutions of higher learning, non-governing boards may also be appointed. These boards' members' duties often include, but are not limited to, major gift cultivation and fundraising.

Membership

Governing boards of universities are of varying sizes across the United States. Smaller boards may have about ten members, while larger boards can have over 50 members. In 2016, the average public university board had 12 members, while the average private university board had 29 members.

Some university governing boards are composed entirely of alumni of that university. Other boards contain various elected officials, often the state governor, as ex officio members.

Members of the governing board can be selected in a variety of ways. Members of public university boards are most often selected by the state governor. Four states (Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, and Nevada) elect members of some university boards by popular vote. Boards of private universities can be selected either by an alumni vote or by the existing members of the board.

Board names

Trustees

The term "Board of Trustees" is the most commonly used name for governing bodies of universities in the United States.

All schools within the Ohio Higher Education System are governed by individual Boards of Trustees, including Miami University and Ohio State University. The governing body at Duke University is known as the board of trustees, while each college and the graduate school maintains its own board of visitors. The University of Florida, University of South Carolina Michigan State University, Indiana University, University of Notre Dame, and the University of Connecticut are also governed by boards of trustees.

Regents

Thirty-nine states have boards of regents to govern their public university systems.

The Regents of the University of California govern the University of California system, with one exception: the original endowment that allowed for the creation of UC's Hastings College of the Law stipulated that it could not be governed by the Regents. However, Hastings diplomas are issued on the recommendation of the Hastings faculty in the name of the UC Regents and are signed by the UC President.

The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York oversees all public education, including the State University of New York (SUNY), affiliated community colleges, and the K–12 public school system (run by the New York State Education Department) via the Regents Examinations. High school graduates may receive Regents Scholarships to defray expenses at SUNY universities.

The boards of the University System of Georgia, University of Hawaii, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Texas, Texas Tech University,