Governance committee adopts board charter to centralize trustees’ authorities and responsibilities

The CalSTRS Governance Committee approved a board charter designed to centralize and summarize the board’s authorities and responsibilities to support onboarding and annual self‑evaluation.

A staff presenter described the charter as a succinct, comprehensive document that would sit at the start of section 3 of the governance manual and provide a crosswalk between board duties and committee work plans. The presenter said the charter “identifies all of the board's or summarizes the board's authority responsibilities, but doesn't restrict or limit you from performing any duties or responsibilities or authorities that may not be in this document.”

Board member Steve (first name recorded as Steve) said he had been skeptical at first but, after review and discussion with staff, supported immediate adoption. Steve moved the committee to adopt the charter and Ken (first name recorded as Ken) seconded the motion. Committee members suggested a minor formatting/numbering correction on page 3 of the clean copy; staff noted the correction.

There was no public comment on the item. The committee took a roll‑call vote with all members recorded as “Aye,” and the charter was approved. Staff said the charter will be used for trustee onboarding and periodic board self‑evaluation; no additional implementation details (such as publication date) were specified during the meeting.