CEO 92-14 -- March 6, 1992

GIFT ACCEPTANCE/DISCLOSURE

BOARD OF REGENTS AND CHANCELLOR OF

STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM RECEIVING TRIPS

TO UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC EVENTS

To: Gregg A. Gleason, General Counsel, State University System of Florida (Tallahassee)

SUMMARY:

The State University System Chancellor and members of the Board of Regents are officers of the State universities and have not received a gift for purposes of Section 112.3148, Florida Statutes, when they travel at the expense of a university to attend a university sporting event. Further, as both the Chancellor and the Board of Regents members are considered to be officers of the university, pursuant to Section 112.3148(6), Florida Statutes, they may accept trips to university athletic events from direct-support organizations authorized to support the university, and must disclose such trips as gifts. CEO 91-46 is referenced.

QUESTION 1:

May a university of the State University System have a member of the Board of Regents or Chancellor fly with a sports team of that university or take other transportation paid for by the university so that the Regent or Chancellor may attend a sporting event and related activities involving the university?

Question 1 is answered in the affirmative.

In your letter of inquiry and in subsequent correspondence from both you and the Chancellor of the State University System, we are advised that members of the State University System's Board of Regents and the Chancellor are, on occasion, invited to fly with the sports team of a university or to use other transportation provided by the institution to attend a university sporting event and related activities. You question whether invitations of this nature would constitute gifts, and if so, whether they may be accepted by the Regents and the Chancellor pursuant to Section 112.3148, Florida Statutes.

Section 112.312(12), Florida Statutes, provides the following definition of a "gift":

'Gift,' for purposes of ethics in government and financial disclosure required by law, means that which is accepted by a donee or by another on the donee's behalf, or that which is paid or given to another for or on behalf of a donee, directly, indirectly, or in trust for his benefit or by any other means, for which equal or greater consideration is not given, including:

7. Transportation, lodging, or parking.

8. Food or beverage, other than that consumed at a single sitting or event.

10. Entrance fees, admission fees, or tickets to events, performances, or facilities.

'Gift' does not include:

1. Salary, benefits, services, fees, commissions, or expenses associated with the recipient's employment.

6. Food or beverage consumed at a single sitting or event.

In CEO 91-46, we opined that when a public officer travels on behalf of his public agency and there was a valid public purpose associated with the officer's travel, the officer had not received a gift when his agency paid for his travel. Here, we adopt the view that the Chancellor and members of the Board of Regents would be considered officers of each of the nine State universities. Further, as officers of each university, where they travel on behalf of the university and that travel is paid for by the university, they have not received a gift for purposes of Section 112.3148, Florida Statutes.

We adopt this view because of the unique system of governance and administration over nearly every aspect of the State University System which the Chancellor and Board of Regents exercise. As the Chancellor has advised, the Board of Regents and the Chancellor prepare the legislative budget requests, including fixed capital outlay requests, for the State's universities. The Board of Regents approves degree programs for all State universities, and terminates them as well. The Regents are responsible for granting tenure to faculty at the universities upon the recommendation of the Chancellor. The Regents hire and fire the university presidents, and the Chancellor is responsible for evaluating the presidents. The Board is responsible for establishing and maintaining system-wide personnel programs for all employees of the State University System. The Regents have the duty to adopt a system-wide master plan which covers each of the universities. The Board is the entity of the State University System which may sue and be sued, which we are advised means that the universities may not file suit unless approved by the Board of Regents. The Board is responsible for evaluating the instructional, research, and service functions of the universities. The Board must approve any contract the cost of which exceeds $500,000 by which the universities purchase property or services. You advise that the Board has responsibility for the development of the capital construction program for the universities, and the Chancellor has been given the duties of building program review and approval. The Board of Regents is the public employer pursuant to Chapter 447, Florida Statutes, for those faculty and staff members of the universities whose compensation and conditions of employment are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and the Chancellor is responsible for seeing that this statutory responsibility is carried out. Rules of the Board of Regents govern other aspects of employment for all university employees as well.

Further, we are advised that in the area of athletics, the Board of Regents requires by rule that the universities and their student athletes meet certain criteria so that those students may receive financial aid. The Board requires the universities to establish class attendance policies for student athletes, and by rule has mandated that those students must complete all final exams and must continue in satisfactory academic standing to remain eligible for post-season plan and future athletic competition. Also by Board rule, the universities' departments of athletics are subject to Board regulation and oversight, and major construction or remodeling of athletic facilities must receive the approval of the Regents.

Thus, because of the all-encompassing nature of university governance and administration exercised by the Chancellor and the Board of Regents, and because of the opportunities to meet with higher education officials from other states or jurisdictions where such opportunities exist in conjunction with sporting events, we are of the view that the Chancellor and members of the Board of Regents are officers of the State universities and have not received a gift for purposes of Section 112.3148, Florida Statutes, when they travel at the expense of a university to attend a university sporting event and related activities.

Question 1 is answered accordingly.

QUESTION 2:

May a member of the State University System's Board of Regents or the Chancellor accept travel to a university sporting event, where their travel is provided by the university's direct-support organization?

Question 2 is answered in the affirmative.

You question whether a direct-support organization (DSO) which has been authorized pursuant to Section 240.299, Florida Statutes, to support a university may provide transportation and related expenses to university sporting events for members of the Board of Regents or the Chancellor.

Initially, we note that we view trips of this nature as "gifts" pursuant to the statutory definition of a gift contained in Section 112.312(12), Florida Statutes, which was provided in our response to Question 1. As the "services" being rendered by the Chancellor and Board of Regents members through their presence at university athletic events are on behalf of the State University System, and the DSO, not the State University System, is paying for their travel, they have not given "equal or greater consideration" to the DSO, and we must conclude that trips of this nature are "gifts."

Section 112.3148(6), Florida Statutes, which governs gifts from direct-support organizations, provides as follows:

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (5), an entity of the legislative or judicial branch, a department or commission of the executive branch, a county, municipality, an airport authority, or a school board may give, either directly or indirectly, a gift having a value in excess of $100 to any reporting individual or procurement employee if a public purpose can be shown for the gift; and a direct-support organization specifically authorized by law to support a governmental entity may give such a gift to a reporting individual or procurement employee who is an officer or employee of such governmental entity.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4), a reporting individual or procurement employee may accept a gift having a value in excess of $100 from an entity of the legislative or judicial branch, a county, a municipality, an airport authority, or a school board if a public purpose can be shown for the gift; and a reporting individual or procurement employee who is an officer or employee of a governmental entity supported by a direct-support organization specifically authorized by law to support such governmental entity may accept such a gift from such direct-support organization.

In essence, this statute permits DSO's to provide gifts valued in excess of $100 to reporting individuals or procurement employees who are officers or employees of the governmental entity supported by the DSO. Both the Chancellor and the members of the Board of Regents are considered to be "reporting individuals" pursuant to Section 112.3148(2)(d), Florida Statutes.

The issue turns, then, on whether members of the Board of Regents or the Chancellor would be considered officers or employees of the university supported by the DSO. Obviously, neither would be considered "employees" of the university. However, consistent with the rationale contained in our response to Question 1, we are of the view that both the Chancellor and members of the Board of Regents are "officers" of the university for purposes of Section 112.3148(6), Florida Statutes.

Thus, we find that these trips, while gifts, may be given by the university's direct-support organization and accepted by the Chancellor and members of the Board of Regents. Pursuant to Section 112.3148(6)(c), Florida Statutes, the direct-support organization is required to provide an annual statement by March 1 of each year disclosing the gifts it has given to reporting individuals and procurement employees. The Chancellor and the Board of Regents members should disclose the receipt of these gifts in accordance with Section 112.3148(6)(d), Florida Statutes, which requires the filing of an annual statement by July 1 of each year. The Commission has promulgated CE Form 10 to be used for this purpose.

Question 2 is answered accordingly.