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Board of Regents (University of Michigan) records, 1817-2016 (majority within 1899-2016)

286 linear feet — 3 oversize volumes — 20 oversize items — 298.4 MB (online) — 1 oversize folder

Online
The University of Michigan's highest governing body is the Board of Regents. The Regents deal with virtually every aspect of university policy and campus life. The records of the Regents reflect this broad range of interests and authority. This record group contains exhibits from meetings beginning in 1899. These exhibits are the most complete record of the actions of the Regents, supplementing and detailing the published minutes Proceedings of the Board of Regents. Additional documentation in this record group includes manuscript minutes, 1837-1870, correspondence, material by and about the Regents, photographs, audio recordings of meetings, 1977-2011, and material on recent presidential searches.

As the official governing body of the university, the Regents deal with virtually every aspect of university policy and life. The records of the Regents--which includes exhibits of Regents' meetings, topical files, correspondence files, audio and visual material, and archived web content--reflect this broad range of interests and authority. But while the documentation is wide-ranging, it is not continuous. Certain types of records are continually before the Regents, particularly information regarding salaries, leaves of absence, appointments to faculty positions, and formal approval of degrees conferred upon students. More often, however, the Regents are presented with a specific problem and asked to resolve it through the creation of policy. After the creation and successful implementation of a policy, the situation which caused the issue to arise is usually no longer a matter of Regental concern. The Regents' records reflect this pattern of action. Issues arise, are resolved, and then are supplanted by new concerns.

Folder

Exhibits of the Regents Meetings, 1899-2016

The Exhibits of Regents' Meetings series (1899-2016) includes various items: correspondence, reports, recommendations, and other documents presented to the Regents for consideration at their meetings. In addition to these files, the researcher should note that the Bentley Historical Library maintains a complete set of the Regents' printed official minutes. Proceedings of the Board of Regents began in 1837 and continues to the present. These proceedings are extensively indexed and may be located through the printed catalog. The published proceedings include many of the items within the Exhibit series. The majority of exhibits, however, are merely alluded to in the minutes. Thus, this series is the most complete record of the actions of the Board of Regents. To speed retrieval exhibits filed after August 1908 were identified by a letter. As the number of exhibits expanded beyond the letters of the alphabet, the practice became to label the exhibit following "Z" as "AA." Similarly, the exhibit following "ZZ" was designated "AAA." The practice of writing out all of the letters was abandoned in 1928 and supplanted by a shorthand notation. Exhibit "AA" was designated "A2," and "AAA" as "A3."

Exhibit letters do not appear in the official printed Regents' minutes. They are, however, included in the draft minutes and the agendas which precede each meeting's exhibits. Since the Secretary prepared both the agenda and the exhibits, exhibits usually were taken up sequentially, but exceptions to this rule are common.

Exhibits regarding trust funds were systematically removed from the files and placed in a special location. Such removals were noted by the insertion of a printed form. The trust fund file has not yet been transferred to the archives.

Note: More recent materials from the meetings (from March 1996 to present), including detailed agendas, exhibit material, and reports on finances, promotions, and degree confirmation, are available in the record group University of Michigan. Board of Regents Agendas.

Board of Regents (University of Michigan) records, 1817-2016 (majority within 1899-2016)
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