Original Date: 6/11/1992 * Last Revision Effective: 2/3/2015
Policy Contact: President
Policy
The board of trustees is an agency of the state and derives its authority as described in RCW 28B.50.100. It shall be the responsibility of the board of trustees to establish policy and to evaluate the total college program. The board of trustees shall appoint a college president to administer the college and shall delegate to him/her the authority and responsibility for implementation of board policy.
Offices of the Board of Trustees
The board of trustees shall maintain an office at Bellevue College, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue, Washington, 98007-6484, where all records, minutes, and the official college seal shall be kept. Written comments or requests for information may be submitted to the secretary of the board who is located at this address.
Meetings of the Board of Trustees
Meetings may be held upon request by the chair or a majority of the members of the board.
The board of trustees customarily holds a regular meeting at such time and place as it may designate approximately every six weeks from January through June and from September through December. Exact board meeting dates may be found in the Washington state register or by contacting the president’s office at (425) 564-2302.
All regular and special meetings of the board of trustees shall be announced and held in accordance with chapter 42.30 RCW (Open Public Meetings Act). No official business shall be conducted by the board of trustees except during a regular or special meeting. The board of trustees may convene in executive session whenever it is deemed necessary pursuant to RCW 42.30.110.
Officers of the Board of Trustees
The board annually elects from its membership a chair and vice-chair to serve for the ensuing year. The president of Bellevue College or the president’s designee serves as secretary to the board of trustees as specified by state law.
Powers and Duties of the Board of Trustees
The board of trustees is responsible for establishing policy and evaluating the total program of the college. The state of Washington has empowered the board of trustees to:
- create comprehensive programs of college education and training, offer baccalaureate level degrees as authorized by the state, and maintain an open-door policy in accordance with RCW 28B.50.090(3)
- employ a college president, members of the faculty, and such other administrative officers and other employees as may be necessary or appropriate, and fix their salaries and duties within the amounts established by legislative appropriation;
- establish, under the approval and direction of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, new facilities as community needs and interests demand;
- establish or lease, operate, equip, and maintain dormitories, food service facilities, bookstores, and other self-supporting facilities connected with the operation of a college;
- with the approval of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, borrow money and issue and sell revenue bonds for the construction, reconstruction, erection, equipping with permanent fixtures, demolition, and major alteration of buildings or other capital assets, and the acquisition of sites, rights-of-way, easements, improvements, or appurtenances for dormitories, food service facilities, bookstores, and other self-supporting facilities connected with the operation of a college, in accordance with RCW 28B.10.300-330 as applicable;
- receive such gifts, grants, conveyances, devices, and bequests of personal property from private sources, as may be made from time to time, in trust or otherwise, whenever the terms and conditions thereof will aid in carrying out the college programs as specified by law and the regulations of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges; and sell, lease, or exchange, invest, or expend the same or the proceeds, rents, profits, and income thereof according to the terms and conditions thereof; and adopt regulations to govern the receipt and expenditure of the proceeds, rents, profits, and income thereof;
- establish and maintain night schools, and authorize classrooms and other facilities to be used for summer or night schools, or for public meetings and for any other uses consistent with the use of such classrooms or facilities for college purposes;
- make rules and regulations for pedestrian and vehicular traffic on property owned, operated, or maintained by the college district;
- prescribe, with the assistance of the faculty, the course of study in the various departments of the college, and publish such catalogs and bulletins as may become necessary;
- grant to every student, upon graduation or completion of a course of study, a suitable diploma, degree, or certificate;
- enforce the rules and regulations prescribed by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges for the government of colleges, students, and teachers and promulgate such rules and regulations and perform all other acts not inconsistent with law as the board of trustees may in its discretion deem necessary or appropriate to the administration of the district, provided that such rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to rules and regulations relating to housing, scholarships, conduct, and discipline;
- suspend or expel from the college any students who refuse to obey any of the duly promulgated rules and regulations;
- delegate to the president or his or her designee any of the powers and duties vested in or imposed on the board of trustees by the Community & Technical College Act of 1991, such delegated powers and duties to be exercised in the name of the board of trustees (RCW 28B.10.528, 28B.50.140(14));
- offer educational services on a contractual basis other than the tuition and fee basis set forth in RCW 28B.15 for a special fee for private or governmental entities, in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges;
- participate in higher education centers and consortia involving four-year public or independent colleges or universities;
- perform other activities consistent with the Community College Act and not in conflict with the directives of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges;
- perform any other duties and responsibilities imposed by law or by rule and regulation of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
Revisions to Bylaws of the Board of Trustees
Bylaws of the board may be revised by majority vote of the board.
Seal and Name of The College
The board of trustees of Bellevue College shall maintain an official seal for use upon any or all official documents of the board. The seal shall have inscribed upon it the name of the college which shall be: Bellevue College.
Relevant Laws and Other Resources
Revision History
Original 6/11/1992
Revisions 4/24/2002; 3/22/2005; 5/21/2009; 9/11/2012; 2/3/2015
Approved By
Board of Trustees
President’s Cabinet
Last Updated February 3, 2015