The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is the governing body of the University of the State of New York.
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History
The board was established by statute on May 1, 1784. At that time it was to consist of the Governor of New York, the Lieutenant Governor of New York, the Secretary of State of New York, the New York Attorney General, and the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, as well as the Mayor of New York City and the Mayor of Albany, New York as ex officio members. Besides, two other persons from each one of the twelve then existing counties were appointed by the Legislature, and named in the Statute. Also, one representative of each religious denomination in the state were to be chosen by their congregation, but none of them were actually appointed.
The regents living all over the state, and travelling being cumbersome in the 18th century, they found themselves unable to meet with the necessary quorum. Thus, on November 12, 1784, 33 additional members were appointed, twenty of them living in New York City. Nevertheless, experience showed that this arrangement wasn't working either.
On April 13, 1787, the Legislature legislated the existing regents out of office, and a new set of regents was appointed: the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor continued as ex officio members, and 19 regents were appointed for life. On April 8, 1842, the Secretary of State was added again as an ex officio member, and on March 30, 1854, also the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Vacancies were filled by joint ballot of the state legislature.
In 1904, the Board was re-organized. The ex officio members were legislated out. The offices of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Secretary of the Board of Regents were abolished and the duties of both transferred to the Commissioner of Education. The number of regents was reduced to eleven, three more than the number of judicial district of the State, but at least one residing in each of these districts. The regents continued to be elected by joint ballot of the Legislature. At this time the term was fixed at eleven years, beginning on April 1. Eleven of the sitting 19 regents were chosen by the Legislature to continue in office, and were classified to serve for different term lengths, so that every year one seat came up for election, for a full term. The original regents chosen in 1904 were: Albert Vander Veer, to serve 1 year; St. Clair McKelway, 2 years; William Nottingham, 3 years; Daniel Beach, 4 years; Eugene A. Philbin, 5 years; Charles A. Gardiner, 6 years; Edward Lauterbach, 7 years; T. Guilford Smith, 8 years; Whitelaw Reid, 9 years; Pliny T. Sexton, 10 years; and Charles S. Francis, 11 years. In February 1909, a new judicial district was created, and thus a regent was added. Philbin—whose term ended in 1909—was re-elected to a term of eleven years, and the additional regent Francis M Carpenter was elected to a term of twelve years. From 1910 on, the term of the newly elected regents was twelve years, so that one seat continued to come up for election each year.
Since 1784, the regents have never received a salary, only their travel expenses are re-imbursed.
Ex officio 1784–1787
Since 1787
Notes: Ex officio tenures are not mentioned if the officeholder was a full member at the same time.