IV.C.6. The institution or the governing board publishes the board bylaws and policies specifying the board’s size, duties, responsibilities, structure, and operating procedures.
The Board’s size is established by Public Law 22-30. The governing Board consists of 8 members, including the Director of the American Samoa Department of Education. Six (6) of the seven others are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Legislature. The seventh is a 2nd year student elected at a school-wide election.
The current Board membership fulfills the requirements of the enabling legislation.
“The Student Representative is a full voting member of the Board, shares the same responsibilities and duties and also authority as an individual member of the board.” 1
By law, the Board’s powers and duties include developing a “program of education to meet the current and future needs of American Samoa, which shall be accredited under appropriate procedures existing in the United States for higher education” PL 22-30, §16.2002 (8). The Board “shall review and approve the educational program of the College” and (5) “shall grant diplomas, certificates, degrees, or other honors...” §16.2004 (4). 2
Other duties and Board responsibilities, structure, and operating procedures are described in ASCC Governance Policy Manual, Chapter II, Policy 2000 to 2015. 3
Policy 2005.C. Establishment of Board and College Policies describes the President’s responsibility for policy manuals.
“The Board shall designate responsibility to the President the official policy manual for the College. The official copy shall be kept in the President’s office, and the President or designee shall be responsible for its accuracy and currency. If discrepancies occur between different copies of the manual distributed throughout the College, the version contained in the official policy manual shall be regarded as the authoritative. All revisions shall be approved by the Board.” 4
Working with the Board, the President is responsible for overall integrity of the institution by assuring that governing policies are accurate and current.
The Board’s bylaws and policies can be found on the ASCC website. The Governance Policy Manual is available for open review. ASCC is currently shifting all documents on the ASCC website archive to Compliance Assist.