Trustees authorize president to form real estate advisory committee to meet MOU space-planning deadline; board clarifies finance committee role

The Tennessee State University Board of Trustees on Friday voted to delegate authority to President Edison Tucker to convene a real estate advisory committee to prepare a space-utilization and facilities plan in accordance with the university’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with state authorities. Trustees also adopted a separate motion requiring the new advisory committee to report its work to the full board. The discussion lasted more than an hour as trustees sought to clarify the advisory committee’s charge, its relationship to the finance committee and the board’s ultimate authority over acquisitions and dispositions of real property. Several trustees emphasized that the finance committee has statutory and bylaw responsibility for review and recommendation of capital improvement plans, facilities master plans and real estate transactions, but the chair said the administration should lead the initial development of the plan and return to the full board for review. The board recorded a roll-call vote on the motion delegating authority to the president. Recorded votes in the public transcript show the following: Chair Winton — yes; Trustee Traubber — no; Trustee Chapman — no; Trustee Smith Knight — yes; Trustee Norfleet — yes; Trustee Qualls — no; Trustee Smith — yes; Trustee Towns — yes; Trustee Young Sigler — yes. The motion carried. Trustees later passed a related motion directing the advisory committee to report out to the full board; that measure also passed by roll-call vote. Trustees discussed timing and public meetings. President Tucker said the advisory committee would begin work quickly, and the administration expects to provide trustees a framework and preliminary membership proposals within two weeks. The MOU requires the university to submit a plan to the State of Tennessee by Dec. 1; trustees and the university’s legal representative discussed the MOU language and the state deadline, with the general counsel noting that the requirement is to make reasonable progress toward a plan and that the December date permits some flexibility on deliverables. Several trustees asked that the finance committee remain involved in the review process and that the advisory committee’s output flow to the finance committee when the work involves capital actions or transactions. The board chair said the administration would lead initial planning and then present findings and recommendations to the board; trustees asked that the administration include university faculty and staff and external subject-matter experts on the advisory committee. Trustees also discussed holding public sessions for much of the committee’s work and confirmed the board’s statutory authority over acquisitions or dispositions of real estate. The record indicates next steps: President Tucker will prepare a proposed advisory-committee membership and scope and provide an initial framework and schedule to trustees within about two weeks; the advisory committee will develop the space-utilization and facilities plan working to meet the Dec. 1 MOU timeline and will report its findings to the full board. Any specific acquisitions or dispositions identified by the advisory committee would proceed through the finance committee and board as required by board bylaws and Tennessee law. Direct quotations in the public record included trustees and staff discussing procedure and timing; all attributions in this article come from named speakers in the transcript.