Rutgers is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher education, chartered as a colonial college in 1766 and designated a land-grant institution in 1864. The Board of Trustees was the governing body of the university from the time of its founding as Queen’s College in 1766 until the university was reorganized under Chapter 61, Laws of 1956, as Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

The 1956 act created the Board of Governors as the primary governing body of the university with the Board of Trustees continuing in an advisory capacity with certain fiduciary responsibilities. As part of its compact with the state, Rutgers maintains autonomy in academic matters such as programs of study, student-body composition, faculty hiring and promotion, and labor negotiations. It also maintains control of its lands, endowments, and assets. Currently, the university’s Moody’s and Standard & Poor's bond ratings are superior to those of all other four-year public higher education institutions in New Jersey.

Members of the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees are distinguished volunteers drawn from New Jersey’s business and policy leaders and Rutgers alumni. They bring a broad range of experience to bear on complex university issues.

• They receive no monetary compensation.
• Their terms are limited to no more than two six-year consecutive terms.
• While some members have given generously to the university, members’ donations play no part in the selection process.

The Board of Governors

• The 1956 law created a Board of Governors as the governing body of the university.
• The governors are charged with shaping policy, securing resources, and ensuring institutional quality. They have general supervisory responsibility for the government, control, management, and administration of Rutgers.
• The major responsibilities of the Board of Governors include:
  
  • general supervision over the government, control, conduct, management, and administration of Rutgers;
  • exercising legal power over the land acquired by Rutgers after 1956, including decisions to sell, lease, or encumber the property;
  • hiring the president of the university;
  • approving all new academic programs;
    
  • approving all plans for new buildings and facilities;
  • approving all faculty promotion and tenure decisions;
  • approving major financial expenditures;
  • approving institutional policies;
  • oversight of the university’s financial assets and processes.

Committees

• Much of the work of the Board of Governors is carried out through eight standing committees. Each committee is chaired by a governor and composed of both governors and trustees. In addition, there is one joint committee charged with the oversight of the university’s investments. Among the major committees are:
  
  • Committee on Audit, which is responsible for accounting, auditing, internal controls, and financial reporting processes;
  • Committee on Budget and Finance, which advises the board on the preparation of the university’s annual budget and oversees the administration of the budget and financial affairs of the university;
  • Committee on Buildings and Grounds, which attends to the university’s facility needs;
  • Committee on Educational Planning and Policy, which examines the university’s organizational and educational effectiveness, recommends plans to advance Rutgers’ mission, exercises general oversight of educational programs, and approves tenure and promotion.

Composition

• The Board of Governors is composed of 11 voting members.
  
  • Of the 11 voting members, six are appointed by the governor of the state with confirmation by the New Jersey State Senate and five are elected by and from the Board of Trustees.
  • The president of the university is an ex officio, nonvoting member.
  • Two faculty members and one student are elected by the University Senate as nonvoting representatives.

The Board of Trustees

• The 1956 law provided for the continuation of the Board of Trustees in an advisory capacity with certain critical fiduciary responsibilities over assets of the university in existence before 1956, including most of the property of the university and other assets held in the name of the Board of Trustees.
• The 1956 law also created a compact between the state and the Board of Trustees whereby any material change to the governance and structure of Rutgers would require the consent of the Board of Trustees to be legally effective.
• The trustees’ major responsibility is to oversee the financial integrity of the university and safeguard Rutgers’ relations with the state. This includes:
  
  • guaranteeing Rutgers’ continued financial health and high degree of self-governance;
  • exercising legal power over property, funds, and trusts owned by the university before 1956;
  • serving in an advisory capacity to the Board of Governors on matters of academic programs, fiscal matters, and facilities, among others. This is accomplished by way of membership on the committees of the Board of Governors;
  • approving the hiring of the president.

Composition

• The Board of Trustees is composed of 59 voting members.
  
  • The 59 voting members are chosen in the following way as mandated by state law: 28 charter members (of whom at least three shall be women), 20 alumni members nominated by the Nominating Committee of the Board of Trustees, and five public members appointed by the governor of the state, with confirmation by the New Jersey State Senate. The six members of the Board of Governors appointed by the state’s governor also serve as members of the Board of Trustees. Of the 28 charter seats, three are reserved for students with full voting rights.
  • The president is an ex officio, nonvoting member.
  • Two faculty members and two students are elected by the University Senate as nonvoting representatives.