§ 2171 -   Corporation established; purposes; powers

§ 2171. Corporation established; purposes; powers

(a) There is hereby created as a part of the educational system of the state of Vermont a public corporation to be known as "Vermont State Colleges," which shall plan, supervise, administer and operate facilities for education above the high school level supported in whole or in substantial part with state funds; however, while the corporation shall maintain cooperative relations with the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, nothing in this chapter shall give the corporation any responsibility for the planning, supervision, administration or operation of the university.

(b) The corporation shall own the real and personal property of the Castleton, Johnson and Lyndon teachers colleges and the Vermont Agricultural and Technical Institute and of other state operated institutions of higher education which may be established. It shall protect, preserve and improve the property and promote its use as institutions of higher education.

(c) The corporation may acquire, hold and dispose of property in fee or in trust, or any other estate, except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, shall have a common seal and shall be an instrumentality of the state for the purposes set forth in this section. The state of Vermont shall support and maintain the corporation.

(d) The corporation shall not abandon, lease, sell or dispose of any of the institutions under its control unless such action is specifically authorized by the general assembly. The terms of any such sale, lease or other disposal shall be prescribed by the agency of administration, with the approval of the governor, within the terms of the authorization of the general assembly.

(e) The corporation may make expenditures for capital improvements. The corporation is authorized to borrow money for building purposes, to give security therefor as may be required, to execute necessary or proper instruments in connection therewith, and is also authorized to accept, use, and administer such funds as may be made available to it for any of its corporate purposes by the United States or any of its agencies, and to agree to any terms and conditions with reference thereto which may be required thereby not inconsistent with its corporate purposes. (Added 1961, No. 247, § 1, eff. July 28, 1961; amended 1963, No. 104, eff. May 22, 1963; 1973, No. 240 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 8, 1974; 2007, No. 52, § 41, eff. May 28, 2007.)