(a) Functions and composition of board of commissioners.

(1) The commission shall be governed and all of its powers, duties, and functions shall be exercised by a board of commissioners. The board of commissioners shall be composed of the following public commissioners, to be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate: one public commissioner from each congressional district of the state who is and who remains during the term of his or her appointment a resident of the district being represented. The executive director of the commission, or president, if designated by such title by the board of commissioners, shall be an ex officio member of the board of commissioners. Neither the Governor nor any state official not designated in this paragraph shall be appointed as a commissioner. All public commissioner appointments made by the Governor when the Senate is not in session shall be effective ad interim.

(2) The board of commissioners provided for by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be the successor to and a continuation of, without interruption, the board of commissioners of the previously existing Georgia State Scholarship Commission. The board of commissioners of the previously existing Georgia State Scholarship Commission, excepting the chairperson of the board of regents, who shall not be a member of the board of commissioners, shall be the board of commissioners created by subsection (a) of Code Section 20-3-233; and each public commissioner shall continue to serve for the term of office to which he or she was appointed. Upon expiration of his or her respective term or in the event of a vacancy, his or her successor shall be appointed, or appointments to fill vacancies occurring shall be made, by executive order of the Governor as provided for in this Code section.

(b) Qualifications and terms of public commissioners. Public commissioners shall be appointed by executive order of the Governor to serve for a term of six years and until their successors are appointed and qualified and shall be eligible for reappointment to successive terms. Appointments made after the expiration of a term or to fill a vacancy occurring on the commission shall be made by the Governor in the same manner but only for the duration of the unexpired term. Public commissioners shall be at least 21 years of age, citizens of the United States, and residents of Georgia for at least two years at the time of their appointment. No public commissioner shall be currently employed or contracted by a public or private postsecondary institution in the State of Georgia. Public commissioners shall be subject to the code of ethics covering members of commissions, boards, directors, and authorities as set forth in Code Sections 45-10-3 and 45-10-4 and shall be subject to removal for violation thereof as provided for in such Code sections. No commissioner shall be eligible to become an officer or employee of the commission for a period of one year after expiration of the commissioner's period of service as a commissioner.

(c) Officers of board of commissioners. The officers of the board of commissioners shall consist of a chairperson and a vice chairperson, who shall serve as chairperson in the absence or incapacity of the chairperson, each of whom shall be elected from the public commissioners of the board to serve for a term of not more than two years and who shall be eligible for reelection to successive terms unless otherwise provided in the bylaws of the commission, and a secretary of the board of commissioners, who may be a commissioner or an employee of the commission.

(d) Meetings of board of commissioners. The board of commissioners shall provide for the holding of regular and special meetings. The board of commissioners shall hold at least one regular meeting during each fiscal year but may hold as many regular meetings during any fiscal year as may be deemed necessary. The chairperson is authorized to call at any time a special meeting of the board of commissioners, provided at least five days' advance notice is provided to each commissioner. A majority of the commissioners then in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business and for the exercise of any power, duty, or function of the board of commissioners; and no vacancy on the board of commissioners shall impair the right of a quorum of the commissioners then in office to transact any business or to exercise any power, duty, or function of the board of commissioners. The concurrence of a majority of commissioners present at any meeting of the board of commissioners at which a quorum is present shall be sufficient to constitute official action of the board of commissioners. All meetings of the board of commissioners shall be open to the public except as otherwise provided by state law. Meetings of the board of commissioners shall generally be held at the principal office or place of business of the commission but may be held elsewhere within the state when authorized by the board of commissioners.

(e) Executive committee. The board of commissioners is authorized to establish, elect, and provide for the organization and duties of an executive committee of the board of commissioners, to consist of not less than five commissioners, which may, in intervals between regular meetings of the board of commissioners, meet and transact any business and exercise any power, duty, or function of the board of commissioners unless otherwise restricted by the board of commissioners. The presence at a meeting of the executive committee of a majority of the members of such committee shall constitute a quorum. The concurrence of members of the executive committee equal to a majority of the membership of the executive committee shall be required to constitute official action of the executive committee. Any authorized official action taken by the executive committee shall be binding upon the board of commissioners and the commission until the next regular meeting of the board of commissioners. Meetings of the executive committee shall be open to the public except as otherwise provided by state law. Meetings of the executive committee shall generally be held at the principal office or place of business of the commission but may be held elsewhere within the state when authorized by the board of commissioners. Whenever the board of commissioners, at any regularly scheduled meeting of the board of commissioners, shall fail to have a quorum present, but a quorum of the executive committee of the board of commissioners is present, such meeting shall continue as an official meeting of the executive committee under this subsection for the purpose of taking any official action which the executive committee is otherwise authorized to take.

(f) Other committees. The board of commissioners is authorized to establish and provide for the organization and duties of such other interim or standing committees of the board of commissioners as it may deem necessary in the performance of its powers, duties, and functions. Such other committees may only be authorized to investigate or to consider, and to report their findings or recommendations to the board of commissioners, upon such matter or matters as the board of commissioners shall prescribe and may not be authorized to take any binding action for or on behalf of the board of commissioners.

(g) Compensation of commissioners. Public commissioners shall receive the sum provided by Code Section 45-7-21 for each day of actual attendance at meetings of the commission or for each day of travel, within or outside the state, as a member of the commission, which travel has been authorized by the chairperson or by action of the commission, plus reimbursement for actual transportation costs while traveling by public carrier or the legal mileage rate for the use of a personal automobile to and from the place of meeting. No member of the commission shall be authorized to receive the sums, expenses, and costs provided by this subsection for more than 18 days per year.

(h) Advisory councils. The board of commissioners is authorized to provide for the creation of one or more advisory councils pursuant to Code Section 50-4-4 as the board of commissioners may determine to be needful or helpful to the commission in the performance of its powers, duties, and functions under this part and to prescribe all matters relative thereto, including, without limitation, their membership, organization, duties, meetings, authorized travel, and the payment of per diem to and actual expenses incurred by advisory councilmembers while in the performance of duties prescribed by the board of commissioners.