It is the intention of the Legislature by passage of this chapter that Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University shall enjoy no less and no more autonomy than any other public university in the State of Alabama and shall offer to all citizens of the state an equal opportunity for quality education.

The board of trustees is hereby authorized to recommend, at such time as it deems necessary and proper, any program of instruction or service or any other action necessary to qualify the university for funds and/or services provided by any individual, philanthropic organization or agency of the federal government, to any state agency that is charged with the responsibility for statewide planning, coordination or budgeting for programs of instruction, research or public service in the public universities of the state. Such state agency shall accept or reject such recommendation and is hereby authorized to act in accordance with such recommendations in regard to Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University.

The personnel policies and procedures and statement of academic freedom and tenure for the faculty, other officers and professional and operating staff of the university, and the statement of rights and responsibilities of students of the university in force on September 5, 1975, shall be read, construed and have effect as if they were prescribed by the board of trustees created in this chapter; provided, that the board shall prescribe such amendments as it deems necessary and proper and that no person shall be deprived of any right or benefit earned prior to September 5, 1975.

There is created a Board of Trustees for Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, a state land-grant educational institution at Huntsville. The board of trustees shall consist of 12 members, two members who shall reside in the congressional district in which the institution is situated; one member shall reside in each of the remaining congressional districts in the state as constituted on September 5, 1975; three members shall be selected from the state at large, who shall reside in different districts; and the Governor, who shall be ex officio president of the board. The president of the student government association shall be an ex officio nonvoting member. The trustees shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The membership shall include at least three members who have earned a degree from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. Except for the first trustees appointed, trustees shall hold office for a term of six years. No member presently serving as of January, 1989 shall have his or her current term of office terminated because of these provisions. All appointments shall be effective immediately ad interim. The board shall be divided into three classes so that one third shall be appointed biennially. Of the first members appointed to the board, three shall be designated by the Governor to serve until January 31, 1978; four until January 31, 1980; and four to serve until January 31, 1982. A trustee may be appointed to serve a second term of six years, but no trustee shall be appointed to serve more than a total of 12 years. No trustee shall receive any pay or emolument other than his or her actual expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties. No member of the governing board, no officer of any public postsecondary educational institution, and no elected or appointed official having the power of review of the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University budget, other than the Governor, shall be eligible to serve on the board of trustees.

The Governor, by virtue of his office, and the trustees appointed from the several congressional districts of the state, pursuant to Section 16-49-20, and their successors in office are constituted a body corporate under the name of "Board of Trustees for Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University."

Such corporation shall have all the rights, privileges and franchises necessary to the promotion of the ends of its creation and shall be charged with all corresponding duties, liabilities and responsibilities. Such corporation may hold and may lease, sell or in any other manner not inconsistent with the object or terms of the grant or grants under which it holds, dispose of any property, real or personal, or any estate or interest therein remaining of any grant by any governmental unit or by any person, accruing to the corporation from any source, as it may deem best for the purposes of the university.

The board of trustees has the power to organize the university by appointing a president, whose salary shall be fixed by the board, and by employing a corps of instructors, who shall be nominated to the board in writing by the president and who shall be styled the faculty of the university and such other instructors and officers as the interests of the university may require; and to remove any such instructors or other officers, and to fix their salaries or compensation and increase or reduce the same at its discretion; to regulate, alter or modify the government of the university, as it may deem advisable; to prescribe courses of instruction, rates of tuition and fees; to confer such academic and honorary degrees as are usually conferred by institutions of similar character; and to do whatever else it may deem best for promoting the interest of the university.

The board of trustees created by this chapter for Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University shall have exclusive jurisdiction, power and authority with regard to the supervision, management and control of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University; and the State Board of Education is divested of all jurisdiction, power and authority with regard to the supervision, management and control of such university except as otherwise herein provided. In addition to the powers and duties hereinabove vested in the board of trustees, such board shall have and exercise all power, authority and duties heretofore conferred on, vested in or required of the State Board of Education under any laws of this state with regard to the supervision, management and control of such university except as otherwise herein provided. The State Board of Education shall transfer to the Board of Trustees of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University all supplies, funds, books, documents, records and other property or effects of such university.

Any vacancy in the office of trustee shall be filled by appointment of the Governor, such appointment to be effective upon confirmation by the Senate. A trustee appointed to fill a vacancy by the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate, shall hold office during the unexpired term.

(a) The Board of Trustees of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University shall hold three regular meetings at the university on the fourth Thursday in February, June, and October, unless the board or Governor as ex officio president, shall determine to hold its meetings at another time. Special meetings of the board may be assembled by either one of the two methods outlined as follows:

(1) Special meetings of the board may be called by the Governor. In calling special meetings, the Governor shall mail a written notice to each trustee naming the time and place at least 10 days in advance of the date of the meeting.

(2) Upon the application in writing of any four members of the board, the Governor shall call a special meeting, naming the time and place and issuing notices in writing to the several members of the board. The meeting shall not be held on a date less than 10 days subsequent to the notices from the Governor. In the event of an emergency, the Governor, as ex officio president, may call an emergency meeting.

(b) The board of trustees may ask the Governor to replace a member who has been absent from three consecutive regular meetings of the board.

Seven members, exclusive of the Governor, of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day until a quorum is present.

The certificate of the president of the board or, in his absence, of the president pro tempore, countersigned by the secretary, shall entitle the several trustees and ex officio members to the payment of their actual expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties as such trustees, in conformity with regulations governing travel expenses of state officials.

It shall be unlawful for any member of the board to derive financial benefit in any form from a contract or transaction affecting the interest of the university; to procure, or to be a party in any way, to procuring the appointment of any relative to any position of financial trust or profit; or to influence the appointment or reappointment, retention, dismissal or compensation of any employee of the university except through the prescribed procedures for such purposes. The violation of this provision shall subject the member so offending to removal by the Governor or the board.

No grant or gift, by will or otherwise, shall fail on account of any misnomer or informality, when the intent of the grantor or donor can be arrived at, nor shall any default, malfeasance or nonuser on the part of the trustees or other officers or agents of such corporation work a forfeiture of any of its rights, privileges, powers or franchises.

It shall be the duty of the board of trustees to make or cause to be made to the Legislature, at each session thereof, a full report of its transactions and of the condition of the university, embracing an itemized account of all receipts and disbursements of the university by those charged with the administration of its finances.

(a) The President of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, with the approval of the board of trustees, is hereby authorized to appoint and employ suitable persons to act as police officers to keep off intruders and prevent trespass upon and damage to the property and grounds of the university. Such persons shall be charged with all the duties and vested with all the powers of police officers and may eject trespassers from the university buildings and grounds, and may, without warrant, arrest any persons guilty of disorderly conduct or of trespass upon the property of the university, or for any public offense committed in their presence, and carry them before the nearest court or any other officer charged with the trial of such offenders, before whom, upon proper affidavit charging the offense, any person so arrested may be tried and convicted as in cases of persons brought before him on his warrant, and may with a warrant arrest any persons found upon or near the premises of the university charged with any public offense and take them before the proper officer.

(b) The police officers provided for in this section shall cooperate with and, when requested, furnish assistance to the regularly constituted authorities of the City of Huntsville, and their jurisdiction and authority shall be coextensive with the corporate limits of the municipality.

This article shall be cited as the "State Black Archives, Research Center and Museum."

For the purposes of this article the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) REPOSITORY. A place or depository on the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University campus.

(2) SOURCE MATERIALS. Any written or printed matter, memorabilia and artifacts.

(3) AFRO-AMERICAN. Any American person of African descent and who is identified with the black race.

The general purposes of this article are to provide for the obtaining, preserving and holding for circulation in a repository at the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University source materials on Afro-American history and culture which shall be used for research and other educational and cultural purposes, and which shall thereby encourage the development of inspiration and positive self-concepts on the part of black Americans and provide a basis for whites to gain greater respect for the black race.

The president of the university shall appoint a curator of the repository who shall be a recognized authority on Afro-American history and culture. The curator shall be empowered to seek out and secure source materials on or about Afro-Americans, to catalog and preserve such materials in keeping with the best available methods of preservation, and shall disseminate or make available to the public said materials in keeping with the designated functions of the repository.

The repository shall serve the state by collecting and preserving source materials on the contributions, achievements and general experiences of Afro-Americans, and shall endeavor to reproduce and secure copies of all materials on or about black Americans from the earliest beginnings to the present. It shall provide bibliographic and copy services, whenever practical, to state agencies, the university system, state officials, researchers and scholars of Afro-American history and culture, and encourage the use of Afro-American instructional materials in state educational services to all groups without regard to racial, religious, or ethnic membership.

For the purposes of this article the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University has the authority to accept and receive funds, grants and service from the federal government or its agencies; from departments, agencies and instrumentalities of state, municipal or local government; or from private or civic sources.