18A:65-27. Public policy of State

18A:65-27. I. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the State of New Jersey that:

a. the corporation and the university shall be and continue to be given a high degree of self-government and that the government and conduct of the corporation and the university shall be free of partisanship; and

b. resources be and continue to be provided and funds be and continue to be appropriated by the State adequate for the conduct of a State university with high educational standards and to meet the cost of increasing enrollment and the need for proper facilities.

II. In consideration of the utilization by the State for the purposes of public higher education of privately donated properties and funds valued as at September 1, 1956 at approximately $50,000,000, and the prospect of future private donations, the State by this chapter agrees with the board of trustees and its successors that:

a. if the properties and funds controlled by the trustees shall not be properly applied in accordance with the provisions of subsection d. of section 18A:65-25 for the purpose of higher education and in accordance with the terms of any applicable testamentary, trust, or other special provision; or

b. if, without the consent of the board of trustees,

(1) the university is not continued to be designated and maintained as the State University of New Jersey, or

(2) the name of the university shall be changed, or

(3) a vacancy in the office of the president of the university shall be filled otherwise than by appointment of the board of governors with the advice and consent of the board of trustees, or

(4) the provisions for the essential self-government of the university, viz., the provisions of sections 18A:65-12 to 18A:65-16, inclusive, 18A:65-19, 18A:65-24 to 18A:65-26, inclusive, 18A:65-28, subsection b. of 18A:65-29, 18A:65-30, subsection c. of 18A:65-31, 18A:65-33, 18A:65-6, 18A:65-9 and 18A:65-4, or any of them or of this section 18A:65-27, are amended or altered in any substantial respect or repealed; or

c. if provision shall not be made by the State sufficient to enable the board of trustees to discharge its trust to apply the trust assets described in subsection 2 of section 18A:65-26 for public higher education through the conduct of a university with high educational standards, the board of trustees, after careful consideration and on not less than 60 days' prior written notice to the board of governors and to the Governor, shall have and may exercise the right to withhold or withdraw the use of the properties and funds above described in subsection 2 of section 18A:65-26, or any part of them, (aa) subject to adjudication by the courts of the State, and (bb) subject to their proper application for the purposes of public higher education and in accordance with the terms of any applicable testamentary, trust or other special provision.

L.1967, c.271; amended 1994,c.48,s.182.