§16-5-2. Composition; appointment; qualifications of members; duties.

(a) The commission shall consist of 12 members. Ten of these members shall be appointed by the Governor, one shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and one shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. One person shall be appointed from each United States Congressional District in Alabama and shall reside or maintain an office or place of business within the congressional district from which he is appointed, and the remaining members shall be appointed from the state at large with no more than two in number of the total 12 members being from the same congressional district.

(b) The 12 members shall be citizens of the state and shall be selected, as far as may be practicable, on the basis of their interest in higher education. Appointees shall be selected without regard to political affiliation and appointments shall be of a nature as to aid the work of the commission and to inspire the highest degree of cooperation and confidence. No member of the commission shall be on the governing boards, be employed by or directly connected with any institution of higher education in the state, the State Department of Education or any county or other local board of education. No member of the commission shall serve past June 30th following his seventieth birthday. All members of the commission shall be deemed members at large charged with the responsibility of serving the best interest of the entire system of higher education in the state. No member shall act as the representative of any particular region or of any particular institution of higher education. New appointments to the commission shall be made so that the total membership of the commission is broadly representative of the total population of the State of Alabama.

(c) The commission shall serve in an advisory capacity to the Legislature and the Governor of this state in respect to all matters pertaining to state funds for the operation and the allocation of funds for capital improvements of state supported institutions of higher education. The initial membership of the commission and the term of each initial member is as follows in Section 16-5-3.

(Acts 1969, Ex. Sess., No. 14, p. 28, §2; Acts 1979, No. 79-461, p. 816, §2.)