§8468 Board of Visitors

Summary

Each year a Board of Visitors for the Academy is formed to check on how the school is doing. The board includes specific members from Congress and the President: the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (or their designees); two other Senators chosen by the Senate Majority Leader (one must be on Senate Appropriations); two other Senators chosen by the Senate Minority Leader (one must be on Appropriations); the chair and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee (or their designees); two other House members chosen by the Speaker (one must be on House Appropriations); two other House members chosen by the House Minority Leader; and six people picked by the President. The six people the President names serve three-year terms, with two new presidential appointees each year. If a member leaves or their term ends, the same official who picked them names a replacement or the member stays until a successor is named. The board must visit the Academy every year and can make other visits if the Secretary of the Navy agrees. The board looks into morale, discipline, curriculum, teaching, facilities, finances, and other Academy matters it chooses. Within 60 days after the annual visit, the board must send a written report to the President and the Armed Services Committees of both chambers; other visit reports approved by a majority must also be sent within 60 days. With the Secretary’s OK, the board may bring in advisers. Members and advisers get travel pay under government rules while doing board work. A majority of members can call one official meeting each year, and members may attend in person or remotely.