Lawmakers move to expand Rutgers governing board

The New Jersey Senate’s Higher Education Committee has advanced a proposal that would let the governor and lawmakers select more members of Rutgers University’s governing board.The full Senate will vote on the plan next week. It would expand the board of governors to 19 voting members from 15.

Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto are pushing the plan, which would give each of them one appointment. The proposal would allow 10 members to be chosen by the governor and seven by Rutgers’ larger but less powerful board of trustees.

Currently, the governor chooses eight board members and the trustees pick seven. Sweeney says the additional appointees would add medical expertise to the board, said Sweeney, D-Gloucester.

Rutgers officials testified against the measure, with the trustees’ chairwoman calling it a “power grab.”