The board of trustees is the governing body of the University of Puerto Rico. Its membership usually consists of private citizens who are supposed to represent the public interest, faculty members, student representatives, and may or may not include an exofficio political officeholder (typically the Secretary of Education of Puerto Rico). This inconsistency happens as the board's structure changes whenever a political party gains power, usually every 4–8 years. Once both the governor and the legislature of Puerto Rico belong to the same party, one of the earliest laws amended is the one governing the university in order to change the board's composition. Once the new board is settled in, one of the first acts enacted by the new board is to appoint a new university president. This constant back and forth effectively makes the university a highly politicized tool rather than a resource for the people of Puerto Rico, and, consequently, changes the vision, strategy, and plans of the university every 4–8 years according to the political party in power.