Florida A&M University hopes to welcome at least two new faces to the Board of Trustees this year.
After the recent passing of Trustee Thomas Dortch and the resignation of Trustee David Lawrence last year, there are two vacancies on the board that the university would like to see filled in the coming weeks. Governor Ron DeSantis is responsible for one of the positions, and the Board of Governors will appoint the other trustee.
The FAMU BOT is made up of 13 members; six are appointed by the governor and five by the Board of Governors. They are joined by the Faculty Senate president and the Students Government Association president.
Trustees typically serve five-year terms and are strategically set to end in different years. The SGA and Faculty Senate presidents serve a one-year term, beginning in May and August. The BOT chair and vice chair are elected for a two-year term and may be re-elected an additional consecutive terms.
The two vacancies have also caused openings within the BOT’s standing and special committees, such as the chair of Direct Support Organizations and Governance committees. The BOT, however, can move forward and fill these positions.
“I’ve already reappointed two individuals for those two committees,” BOT Chair Kelvin Lawson said. “And as other members rotate off the board, that were chairpeople and chairpersons, I’ll appoint new people to replace them.”
In addition to the vacancies, four trustees’ terms have ended but they will continue to serve until they are either reappointed or new appointments are made. Two of these appointments will be made by the BOG and the last two will be made by Governor DeSantis.
The BOT is the public employer of the university, setting the policies, appointing the university president and holding the overall responsibility for the university.
Although it is possible that there will be new BOT members, the current board holds the highest number of FAMU alumni to serve on the board than ever before.
Six of the 11 trustees are graduates of FAMU, and Trustee Zachary Bell is a FAMU student.
Linda Barge-Miles, the university’s liaison to the FAMU BOT and chief of staff, said most of the applicants for the vacant BOT positions are also graduates of FAMU.
“It’s really exciting because these people have a vested interest in FAMU,” Barge-Miles said. “They want to see us do well.”
There isn’t a set date for the appointments to be made. However, you can stay up to date on what’s happening by visiting https://www.famu.edu/about-famu/leadership/board-of-trustees/index.php .