49-4-202 - Administration.
49-4-202. Administration.
(a) The Tennessee student assistance corporation shall be governed by a board of directors consisting of the governor, the commissioner of education, the state treasurer, the comptroller of the treasury, the commissioner of finance and administration, the director of the higher education commission, the president of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities, the president of the Tennessee Proprietary Business School Association, the chair of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities, the president of the University of Tennessee, the chancellor of the board of regents, the president of the Tennessee Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a representative of a commercial lender, a student enrolled in an institution of higher education in Tennessee, and three (3) private citizens involved in the field of education, but not employed by or professionally affiliated with any institution of higher education in the state.
(b) (1) The three (3) private members of the board shall be appointed by the governor for three-year terms and shall be eligible for reappointment.
(2) All appointments of citizen members made subsequent to the expiration of the initial terms shall be for three (3) years. In appointing citizen members to the board, the governor shall strive to ensure that at least one (1) private citizen serving on the board is sixty (60) years of age or older and that at least one (1) private citizen serving on the board is a member of a racial minority.
(3) Vacancies created by the death or resignation of the student member or any of the three (3) private members of the board shall be filled by gubernatorial appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(c) (1) The student member shall be enrolled full time in a public or private institution of higher education in Tennessee. The student member shall be or have been a recipient of financial aid from one (1) or more of the programs administered by the Tennessee student assistance corporation.
(2) The student member shall be appointed for a one-year term by the governor. Student members shall alternate between private and public institutions.
(3) The student representative shall be selected by the governor from nominees produced by the following procedures:
(A) On or before April 1 of each year, the Tennessee student assistance corporation will notify the presidents of the institutions eligible to nominate a student that the institution may, if it wishes to do so, nominate one (1) student who satisfies the criteria. The nomination process, which must be agreed to by students in each institution, shall be completed by May 1, and the student nominated shall have the student's name and qualifications submitted to the Tennessee student assistance corporation on a nomination form designed to collect information that will be helpful to the governor in the final selection.
(B) By May 15, the Tennessee student assistance corporation will present the nominations received from the institutions to the governor.
(C) The governor will select one (1) student and appoint that student to the board for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
(d) (1) The representative of a commercial lender shall be appointed by the governor for a three-year term and shall be eligible for reappointment.
(2) A vacancy created by death or resignation of the representative of a commercial lender shall be filled by gubernatorial appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(e) The governor, the commissioner of education, the state treasurer, the comptroller of the treasury, the commissioner of finance and administration, the director of the higher education commission, the president of the University of Tennessee, the president of the Tennessee Proprietary Business School Association, the president of the Tennessee Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the chair of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities and the chancellor of the board of regents are authorized to designate an alternate representative who shall have full authority to vote and participate in all other activities of the board under this part and parts 3-7 of this chapter. The designations must be made in writing to the chair of the board of directors, with copies filed with the executive director and with the secretary of state. The board of directors has the authority to issue regulations implementing provisions concerning designations in such a manner as to provide for maximum continuity of representation.
(f) The board shall elect its own chair.
(g) All reimbursement for travel expenses shall be in accordance with the comprehensive travel regulations as promulgated by the department of finance and administration and approved by the attorney general and reporter.
(h) The executive director of the Tennessee higher education commission, appointed pursuant to § 49-7-205, shall serve as the executive director of the Tennessee student assistance corporation and shall have the responsibility, including employment of other personnel, to carry out the purposes of parts 2 and 3, this part and parts 5-7 of this chapter.
(i) The Tennessee student assistance corporation is authorized and empowered to expend for the necessary administration of this part and parts 3-7 of this chapter any funds appropriated, received or allocated for the purposes of this part and parts 3-7 of this chapter.
[Acts 1974, ch. 620, § 2; 1976, ch. 806, § 1(73); 1977, ch. 351, § 1; 1979, ch. 155, § 1; T.C.A., § 49-5002; Acts 1982, ch. 630, § 1; 1982, ch. 936, §§ 1, 2; 1983, ch. 123, §§ 1, 2; 1983, ch. 269, § 1; T.C.A., § 49-50-102; Acts 1988, ch. 535, §§ 3, 4; 1988, ch. 1013, § 17; 1991, ch. 201, § 1; 2009, ch. 531, § 52.]