Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title II Chapter 15A
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 15A, § 22 (2026)

Board of trustees of community colleges or state universities; powers and duties

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 22. Each board of trustees of a community college or state university shall be responsible for establishing those policies necessary for the administrative management of personnel, staff services and the general business of the institution under its authority. Without limitation upon the generality of the foregoing, each such board shall: (a) cause to be prepared and submit to the secretary and the council estimates of maintenance and capital outlay budgets for the institution under its authority; provided further, that the local board of trustees of a community college shall annually submit a report detailing estimates of maintenance, capital outlay budgets and proposed property acquisitions for the institution under its authority to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the secretary of administration and finance and the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance on or before December 31; (b) establish all fees at said institution subject to guidelines established by the council. Said fees shall include fines and penalties collected pursuant to the enforcement of traffic and parking rules and regulations. Said rules and regulations shall be enforced by persons in the employ of the institution who throughout the property of the institution shall have the powers of police officers, except as to the service of civil process. Said fees established under the provisions of this section shall be retained by the board of trustees in a revolving fund or funds, and shall be expended as the board of the institution may direct; provided that the foregoing shall not authorize any action in contravention of the requirements of Section 1 of Article LXIII of the Amendments to the Constitution. Said fund or funds shall be subject to an audit by the state auditor, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards, as often as the state auditor determines is necessary; (c) appoint, transfer, dismiss, promote and award tenure to all personnel of said institution; (d) manage and keep in repair all property, real and personal, owned or occupied by said institution; (e) seek, accept and administer for faculty research, programmatic and institutional purposes grants, gifts and trusts from private foundations, corporations, federal agencies, alumnae and other sources, which shall be administered under the provisions of section two C of chapter twenty-nine and may be disbursed at the direction of the board of trustees pursuant to its authority; (f) implement and evaluate affirmative action policies and programs; (g) establish, implement and evaluate student services and policies; (h) recommend to the council admission standards and instructional programs for said institution, including all major and degree programs provided, however, that said admission standards shall comply with the provisions of section thirty; (i) have authority to transfer funds within and among subsidiary accounts allocated to said institution by the council; (j) establish and operate programs, including summer and evening programs, in accordance with the degree authority conferred under the provisions of this chapter; (k) award degrees in fields approved by the council; either independently or in conjunction with other institutions, in accordance with actions of the boards of trustees of said other institutions and the council; (l) submit a 5–year master plan to the secretary and the council, which plan shall be subject to the secretary's approval, in consultation with the council, and shall be updated annually according to a schedule determined by the secretary and the board in consultation with the board of trustees; (m) submit financial data and other data as required by the secretary and the board of higher education for the careful and responsible discharge of their purposes, functions, and duties. The data shall be reported annually to the secretary and the board of higher education according to a schedule determined by the secretary and the board of higher education in consultation with the board of trustees. The board of trustees shall also submit an annual institutional spending plan to the secretary and the council for review, comment, and transmittal to the secretary of administration and finance, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on higher education. Spending plans shall be reported using a standardized format developed by the secretary, in consultation with the board of higher education and the institutional boards of trustees, in a manner to allow comparison of similar costs between the various institutions of the commonwealth. Said plan shall include an account of spending from all revenue sources including but not limited to, trust funds; (n) develop a mission statement for the institution consistent with identified missions of the system of public higher education as a whole, as well as the identified mission of the category of institution within which the institution operates. Said mission statement shall be forwarded to the secretary and the council for approval. The board of trustees shall, after its approval, make said mission statement available to the public; (o) submit an institutional self-assessment report to the secretary and the council, which the board of trustees shall make public and available at the institution. Said assessment report shall be used to foster improvement at the institution by the board of trustees and shall include information relative to the institution's progress in fulfilling its approved mission. Said report shall be submitted annually to the secretary and the board of higher education according to a schedule determined by the secretary and said board in consultation with the board of trustees. Said assessment report shall include an analysis of the collaboration between the community college and vocational technical schools and the training and job development programs implemented by the community college and vocational technical schools. (p) The board of trustees of an institution with the potential to expand its mission, profile, and orientation to a more regional or national focus may submit to the secretary and the board of higher education, for approval, a 5–year plan embracing an entrepreneurial model which leverages that potential in order to achieve higher levels of excellence pursuant to section 7.

The board of trustees of each institution may delegate to the president of such institution any of the powers and responsibilities herein enumerated.

The commonwealth shall indemnify a trustee of a community college or state university against loss by reason of the liability to pay damages to a party for any claim arising out of any official judgment, decision, or conduct of said trustee; provided, however, that said trustee has acted in good faith and without malice; and provided, further, that the defense or settlement of such claim shall have been made by the attorney general or his designee. If a final judgment or decree is entered in favor of a party other than said trustee, the clerk of the court where such judgment or decree is entered shall, within twenty-one days after the final disposition of the claim, provide said trustee with a certified copy of such judgment or entry of decree, showing the amount due from said trustee, who shall transmit the same to the comptroller who shall forthwith notify the governor; and the governor shall draw his warrant for such amount on the state treasurer, who shall pay the same from appropriations made for the purpose by the general court.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1996–2019 · leading case: Bd. of Higher Educ. v. Massachusetts Teachers Ass'n, 814 N.E.2d 1113 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004).
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Bd. of Higher Educ. v. Massachusetts Teachers Ass'n, 814 N.E.2d 1113 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004). · cites it 3× “The judge, concluding that the decision to prohibit Atewologun from teaching in the DGCE was one of educational policy within the exclusive power of the college pursuant to G. L. c. 15A, § 22, vacated the award on the ground that the arbitrator had exceeded his authority.”
Higher Educ. Coordinating Council v. Massachusetts Teachers' Ass'n, 666 N.E.2d 479 (Mass. 1996). · cites it 2× “” The college contends that G. L. c. 15A, § 22 (1994 ed.), reflects an equivalent legislative intent to protect the trustees’ unfettered authority to make decisions bearing on core issues of educational policy.”
Massachusetts Bd. of Higher Educ. v. Massachusetts Teachers Ass'n, 943 N.E.2d 485 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). “This would render the arbitrator the ultimate decision maker on faculty hiring decisions, a result that is plainly inconsistent with G. L. c. 15A, § 22. Accordingly, to the extent that the arbitrator here substituted his judgment for that of the college administration in making…”
Massachusetts Cmty. Coll. Council v. Massachusetts Bd. of Higher Educ., 965 N.E.2d 217 (Mass. App. Ct. 2012). · cites it 2× “13 *560 The Legislature has granted the exclusive power to award or deny tenure to school administrators under G. L. c. 15A, § 22, amended by St. 2008, c.”
Bd. of Higher Educ. v. Commonwealth Emp. Relations Bd. (Mass. 2019). · cites it 4× “" G. L. c. 15A, § 22. The BHE, which is "responsible for defining the mission of and coordinating the [S]tate's system of higher education," "work[s] with [the State college] boards of trustees to identify and define institutional missions .”
Massachusetts Bd. of Higher Educ. v. Massachusetts Teachers Ass'n, 19 Mass. L. Rptr. 703 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2005). · cites it 2× “15A, §22 explicitly states that “[e]ach board of trustees of a community college or state college shall be responsible for establishing those policies necessary for the administrative management of personnel, staff services and the general business of the institution under its…”
Massachusetts Bd. of Higher Educ. v. Am. Fed'n of State, Cnty. & Mun. Employees, Council 93, 29 Mass. L. Rptr. 433 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2012). · cites it 2× “G.L.c. 15A, §22 “Section 22 of G.L.c. 15A, inserted by St.”
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