Pennsylvania Act 1966-3 (session 3) — UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH-COMMONWEALTH ACT

Act text

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH-COMMONWEALTH ACT
         Act of Jul. 28, 1966, Special Session 3, P.L. 87, No. 3      Cl. 24
                      Special Session No. 3 of 1966
                                No. 1966-3

                                  AN ACT

     Providing for the establishment and operation of the University
        of Pittsburgh as an instrumentality of the Commonwealth to
        serve as a State-related university in the higher education
        system of the Commonwealth; providing for change of name;
        providing for the composition of the board of trustees; terms
        of trustees, and the power and duties of such trustees;
        authorizing appropriations in amounts to be fixed annually by
        the General Assembly; providing for the auditing of accounts
        of expenditures from said appropriations; providing for
        public support and capital improvements; authorizing the
        issuance of bonds exempt from taxation within the
        Commonwealth; requiring the chancellor to make an annual
        report of the operations of the University of Pittsburgh.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  Short Title.--This act shall be known and may be
     cited as the "University of Pittsburgh--Commonwealth Act."
        Section 2.  Legislative Findings: Declaration of Policy.--It
     is hereby determined and declared as a matter of legislative
     finding:
        (1)  That the University of Pittsburgh derives its corporate
     existence under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by
     reason of the act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth
     establishing an "Academy or Public School in the town of
     Pittsburgh" on February 28, 1787, Volume XII, Pennsylvania
     Statutes at Large, page 357, and from the act of February 18,
     1819 (P.L.61) incorporating the "Western University of
     Pennsylvania";
        (2)  That the original Charter of Incorporation of the
     Western University of Pennsylvania was subsequently amended and
     supplemented by the following acts of the General Assembly: act
     of March 9, 1826, recorded in Laws of Pennsylvania (1825)
     (P.L.74); act of February 9, 1855 (P.L.24); and act of March 6,
     1872 (P.L.218);
        (3)  That the name of "Western University of Pennsylvania"
     was duly changed to "University of Pittsburgh" by order of the
     Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County No. Four at 425 Third
     Term 1908 on July 11, 1908, the change of name being duly
     recorded in the Recorder's office of the County of Allegheny in
     Charter Book Volume No.43, page 446 and;
        (4)  That the Charter of the University of Pittsburgh was
     duly amended in accordance with the authority granted by the act
     of May 5, 1933 (P.L.289), article IV, section 403 as amended by
     amendments duly approved by the board of trustees on December
     13, 1949 and March 8, 1960;
        (5)  That the University of Pittsburgh owns and maintains
     land, buildings, and other facilities which are used, together
     with land and buildings owned by the Commonwealth of
     Pennsylvania, for higher education, which land, buildings and
     other facilities are under the entire control and management of
     the board of trustees;
        (6)  That the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognizes
     University of Pittsburgh as an integral part of a system of
     higher education in Pennsylvania, and that it is desirable and
     in the public interest to perpetuate and extend the relationship
     between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and University of
     Pittsburgh for the purpose of improving and strengthening higher
     education by designating University of Pittsburgh as a State-
     related university.
        Therefore, it is hereby declared to be the purpose of this
     act to extend Commonwealth opportunities for higher education by
     establishing University of Pittsburgh as an instrumentality of
     the Commonwealth to serve as a State-related institution in the
     Commonwealth system of higher education.
        Section 3.  Change of Name.--The Charter of University of
     Pittsburgh shall be amended by changing the name of University
     of Pittsburgh to "University of Pittsburgh--Of the Commonwealth
     System of Higher Education," hereinafter referred to as "the
     University" and, as such shall continue as a corporation for the
     same purposes as, and with all rights and privileges heretofore
     granted to, University of Pittsburgh, unless hereinafter
     modified or changed.
        Section 4.  Board of Trustees; Composition; Commonwealth
     Trustees; Terms.--(a)  The amended charter of the university as
     provided by section 3 of this act shall also provide that the
     board of trustees of the university shall consist of thirty-six
     voting members, one of whom shall be the Chancellor of the
     University of Pittsburgh and the Governor of the State, the
     Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction and the
     Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, all of whom shall be members of
     the board of trustees, ex officio.
        (b)  Twelve of the trustees shall be designated Commonwealth
     trustees and four shall be appointed by the Governor, with the
     advice and consent of two-thirds of all of the members of the
     Senate, four by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and
     four by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. One
     appointment shall be made by each of the appointing authorities
     for a term of four years, one for a term of three years, one for
     a term of two years, and one for a term of one year commencing
     with the date when the change in the charter of the university
     becomes effective. Annually thereafter, one appointment shall be
     made by each of the three Commonwealth appointing authorities
     for a term of four years.
        (c)  The twenty-four trustees, in addition to the twelve
     Commonwealth trustees, shall be elected annually under such
     terms and conditions as may be provided by the university by-
     laws.
        Section 5.  Powers and Duties of Board of Trustees.--The
     entire management, control and conduct of the instructional,
     administrative, and financial affairs of the university is
     hereby vested in the board of trustees. The board may exercise
     all the powers and franchises of the university and make by-laws
     for their own government, as well as for the university.
        Section 6.  State Appropriations, Tuition.--The annual
     appropriation act to the university for general maintenance may
     specify the purposes or areas for which such appropriations may
     be expended by the university. The annual appropriation act may
     also contain a tuition supplement requiring the university to
     maintain such tuition and fee schedules for Pennsylvania
     resident full-time students as set forth annually in such
     appropriation act: Provided, That the amounts appropriated by
     the act are sufficient for the maintenance of such schedules by
     the university: And, provided further, That for any given year,
     in the event the amounts appropriated are not sufficient for the
     maintenance of the tuition and fee schedules, the university
     shall have the right to alter the schedules to the extent
     necessary to provide required income equal to the amount not
     provided by the appropriation act.
        Section 7.  Payments of Appropriations, Accountability and
     Auditing.--(a)  The sums appropriated by the Commonwealth shall
     be paid to the board of trustees only upon presentation by them
     of certified payrolls and vouchers showing expenditures in
     accordance with the appropriations. The Auditor General shall
     draw a warrant upon the State Treasurer for payment of approved
     expenditures. All expenditures made by the board of trustees in
     respect to such appropriations shall be subject to a post-audit
     by the Auditor General.
        (b)  For the purpose of assuring the proper accountability on
     the part of the University of Pittsburgh for the expenditure of
     the amounts appropriated by the Commonwealth, the University of
     Pittsburgh shall establish a Commonwealth Appropriation Account
     into which only the amounts appropriated by the Commonwealth
     shall be credited when received. The University of Pittsburgh
     shall apply the moneys in the Commonwealth Appropriation Account
     only for such purposes as are permitted in the act appropriating
     the same and shall at all times maintain proper records showing
     the application of such moneys. Not later than ninety days after
     the close of the fiscal year to which the specific appropriation
     relates, the University of Pittsburgh shall file with the
     General Assembly and with the Auditor General of the
     Commonwealth, a statement setting forth the amounts and purposes
     of all expenditures made from both the Commonwealth
     Appropriation Account and other university accounts during the
     fiscal year. Such statement of expenditures shall be reviewed by
     the Auditor General of the Commonwealth, and he shall have the
     right, in respect to the Commonwealth Appropriation Account, to
     audit and disallow expenditures made for purposes not permitted
     by the appropriation act and to cause such sums to be recovered
     and paid by the University of Pittsburgh to the Treasurer of the
     Commonwealth. In respect to expenditures made by the university
     from accounts other than the Commonwealth Appropriation Account,
     the Auditor General shall have the right to review only and he
     shall file annually with the General Assembly such information
     concerning such expenditures as the General Assembly or any of
     its committee may require.
        Section 8.  Capital Improvements.--The benefits of all
     Commonwealth or Commonwealth authority programs for capital
     development and improvement shall be available to the university
     under terms and conditions comparable to those applicable to
     land grant institutions of higher learning and State colleges.
     In accordance with legislative appropriations made as provided
     by law, the Commonwealth may, by agreement with the board of
     trustees, acquire lands, erect and equip buildings, and provide
     facilities for the use of the university: Provided, however, the
     university shall pay to the Department of Property and Supplies
     the same aggregate rentals as that department shall pay to the
     General State Authority for any dormitory authorized under the
     provisions of the act of January 21, 1966 (P.L.1446).
        (8 amended July 10, 1968, P.L.326, No.158)
        Section 9.  Issuance of Bonds Tax Exempt within the
     Commonwealth.--(a)  The board of trustees may provide for the
     issuance of bonds in the name of the university for any proper
     purpose in the same manner as heretofore.
        (b)  The university shall have no power at any time or in any
     manner to pledge the credit or the taxing power of the
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any political subdivision nor
     shall any of its obligations be deemed to be obligations of the
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or of any of its political
     subdivisions, nor shall the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any
     political subdivision thereof be liable for the payment of
     principal of or interest on such obligations.
        (c)  Bonds issued by the university and loans secured by
     mortgages, their transfer and the income therefrom, (including
     any profits made on the sale thereof) shall at all times be free
     from taxation within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
        Section 10.  Reports.--The Chancellor of the university shall
     each year, not later than the first day of October, make a
     report of all the activities of the university, instructional,
     administrative and financial, for the preceding scholastic and
     fiscal year, to the board of trustees, who shall transmit the
     same to the Governor and to the members of the General Assembly.
        Section 11.  Exemption.--The act of March 15, 1899 (P.L.8),
     entitled "An act to regulate the manner in which appropriations
     to educational, penal, reformatory, charitable, benevolent, or
     eleemosynary institutions shall be paid," shall not apply to any
     appropriation made in pursuance of this act.
        Section 12.  Repealer.--All acts and parts of acts are
     repealed in so far as they are inconsistent herewith.
        Section 13.  Effective Date.--This act shall take effect
     immediately.