Washington D.C. Office (0.75 linear feet, 1982-2001). During this time, Thomas Butts was again working directly for the University of Michigan, in Washington D.C. as the Vice President for Government Relations. It is divided into 7 sections.
"Office" includes records on the mission, staff, and budget of the Washington D.C. office. It also includes a list of University of Michigan alumni at Washington D.C. for 1985 to 1986.
"National Student Aid Coalition" (0.25 linear feet, 1981-1987). It is a descendent of the National Task Force. Records from the coalition as a whole include meeting minutes, reports, and correspondence. Also included are records from the Committee on Need Assessment and Delivery, of which Thomas Butts was chair from 1975 to 1977, that include meeting minutes, and a report on uniform methodology from 1987.
"Committees" (0.4 linear feet, 1993-2001) includes the Ad Hoc Tax Committee, the Coalition of Statue University Aid Administrators (COSUAA), and the Lobbying Disclosure Act Task Force, of which Thomas Butts was chair in 1996. The majority of the records pertain to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which was an independent committee created by Congress to advise on student aid policy. These include reports advising Congress on financial aid matters and a controversy involving conflicts of interest with the members of the committee that lead to the resignation of Thomas Butts.
"HACE Seminar" covers an annual seminar taught by Thomas Butts for the Higher and Continuing Education program of the University of Michigan. They were held from 1990 to 1994, taking place half in Ann Arbor and half at Washington D.C., and covering current issues in financial aid. These included the reauthorization of the higher education act and funding education under the Clinton Administration. The records include course descriptions and lists of the individuals visited at Washington D.C. by the class. There are also a few letters of praise from students in the correspondence file.
"Conferences" includes papers from three conferences that Thomas Butts was involved in. He gave a presentation to the Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators on politics in 1982, participated in a Roundtable on Distance Learning in 1998, and lectured on lobbying techniques at the Michigan Student Financial Aid Association (MSFAA) in 2001.
"Correspondence with UM Ann Arbor" consists of Thomas Butts communicating with the University of Michigan to explain issues from Washington D.C. These include both the implications of new bills and budgets, and the actions of specific senators. It also includes Ann Arbor administrators expressing their concerns to Washington D.C., and Thomas Butts providing assistance in searching for a professor from Turkey to come to the Ann Arbor campus.
"Thomas Butts' Activities" are records of Thomas Butts participating in the financial aid community. These include being a guest speaker, reviewing papers and financial aid programs for other universities, and receiving an award.
