Gov. Bill Haslam names choices for university boards

What’s next

Haslam’s 48 appointments will need to be approved by the General Assembly in the 2017 legislative session. Each board will also include a faculty member, selected by the university’s faculty senate, and a nonvoting student member, selected by the board itself. The six boards will meet for the first time next spring, at which point they will officially take control of the universities from the Tennessee Board of Regents.

NASHVILLE - Over the course of three days last week, Gov. Bill Haslam named 48 people who he will appoint to oversee six of Tennessee's public universities on new governing boards starting next year.

The list - which includes an astronaut, retired army generals, a prominent Nashville businessman and one of the state's most recognizable politicians - illustrates the governor's wide-ranging influence over higher education in the state. Interviews with Haslam's staff, university leaders, a state lawmaker and one of the new board members suggest he did not take the responsibility lightly.

It took months to find eight appointees for each new board for universities now overseen by the Tennessee Board of Regents. Once those boards are approved by the General Assembly, they will have the power to set tuition, approve budgets and hire or fire presidents at their institutions.

Read the full story from our news partner at tennessean.com.

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