Ala. Code § 16-51-6
The board of trustees has the power to organize the university by appointing a president, whose salary shall be fixed by the board, and by employing a corps of instructors, who shall be nominated to the board in writing by the president and who shall be styled the faculty of the university and such other instructors and officers as the interests of the university may require; and to remove any instructors or other officers, and to fix their salaries or compensation and increase or reduce the same at their discretion; to delegate by resolution or bylaw to a committee of the board of trustees or to the president of the university the authority to establish and implement personnel rules, policies, and practices for hiring, promoting, demoting, and terminating instructors, officers, and employees or to take any other action authorized by this section; to regulate, alter, or modify the government of the university, as they may deem advisable; to prescribe courses of instruction, rates of tuition, and fees; to confer such academic and honorary degrees as are usually conferred by institutions of similar character; and to do whatever else they may deem best for promoting the interest of the university. In addition to other powers granted to the board of trustees, the board expressly may enter into and implement agreements with the governing board or boards of any other institution or institutions of higher education in Alabama for the purpose of merging those institutions into one successor institution without seeking or obtaining legislative or administrative approval. The merger provisions of this section shall not apply to Alabama A & M University or Alabama State University.
Ala. Code § 16-51-6 (1975)