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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.

Also included in this collection are a number of documents from predecessor institutions. Of particular note is the Land Grant from the United States to the University of Michigan, 1824, which details the sections of land given to the Trustees of the University of Michigan by the power vested in Lewis Cass (as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Territory of Michigan) by section 16 of the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids (Treaty of Fort Meigs), 1817, and section 6 of the Treaty of Detroit, 1807. By treaty, the chiefs, sachems, and warriors of four Indeginous nations, the Ottawa (Odawa), Ojibwe (Ojibwa, Chippewa), Wyandotte (Wyandot), and Potawatomi (Bodéwadmi, Potawatomie, Patawatima) ceeded the land northwest of the Ohio river to the United States of America. In the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids, the chiefs, sachems, and warriors of the Wyandotte, Seneca (Onödowáʼga), Delaware (Lenape), Shawnee (sawanooki), Potawatomi, Ottawa and Ojibwe ceeded the rest of their lands within the Ohio territory to the United States. In return, among other promises, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes were promised six sections of land to be reserved for the rector of St. Ann Catholic church, for religious practice; and the college of Detroit, for the future education of their children.

Central academic administrative unit of the University of Michigan which functions as chief executive assistant to the president, responsible for appointments and promotions with oversight for schools, colleges, educational units and programs; including budget planning, legislative relations, institutional research, and affirmative action policies. Supplemental Files subgroup includes material on a number of subjects that was filed separately from the vice presidents' or staff's papers when the record group was received.

The Supplemental Files subgroup of the record group Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs consists of 155 linear feet (in 159 boxes) and spans the years from 1953 to 2013. This subgroup consists of material that was not interfiled with the vice presidents' or staff's papers when the record group was received. The records generally were not created or maintained by any one staff member in the Office of Academic Affairs, but rather are the result of the examination of a particular issue or topic over a period of time by a variety of people.

There are 14 series of varying sizes which comprise this subgroup. For an alphabetical list of the series in this subgroup, please consult the Summary Contents List in the Arrangement section of the finding aid.