Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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.

Central administrative office responsible for financial management of the University of Michigan and fiscal policy with oversight for the general fund and trust budget. Unit has undergone several name changes: Vice President in Charge of Business and Finance (1935-1966); Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (1966-1993); Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (1993- ). Includes administrative records reflecting oversight of the university's financial assets, preparation of annual budgets, fiscal policy, investments and expenditures, and various financial issues. Documentation includes topical files, university budgets, and trust fund records. Includes files of office holders Shirley Wheeler Smith, Robert P. Briggs, Wilbur K. Pierpont, James Brinkerhoff, and Farris Womack, Chandler Matthews, Robert Kasdin, and Timothy Slottow.

Measuring 227 linear feet, 1 oversize folder, 51 oversize volumes, and 283 GB (online), the records of the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer document the fiscal history of the university beginning from 1909. At least since the 1950s, the vice president has taken responsibility for the creation of university policy in areas requiring special fiscal knowledge as well as for the preparation of the university's general fund and trust budgets. Other activities, such as policing actual expenditures or the day to day operations of specific service units within the university reporting to the vice president, have been delegated to subordinate offices.

Reflecting this division of responsibility, the records of the vice president document major fiscal issues facing the university and the preparation of the university's annual budgets. Some of the records are office files. However, the office also retained many key bound financial documents including an official set of the university's annual budgets.

The records are organized into six series: Central Topical Files; Supplemental Files; Assistant to the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Associate Vice President for Finance; University Budgets, Accounts and Reports; and Photographs. Most series are further divided into several subseries, reflecting different accessions. There is considerable overlap in date span of the topical files of the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Files created by one Vice President were sometimes retained for use by his successor(s) and transferred at a much later date than the bulk of his records.

Records generated by administrators and offices charged with the financial activities of the University, including Secretary and Vice-President Shirley W. Smith and Controller and Assistant Secretary John C. Christensen; include general University financial records; records of land; trust fund records; proposed development and construction projects; operating records of buildings, divisions and other units.

The records of Financial Operations date from 1837 to 1982, primarily after 1910. The 27 linear feet of manuscript material, 52 oversized volumes and one reel of microfilm reflect not only the financial records normally associated with an accounting office, but also the broad range of subjects which became a concern under the leadership of Shirley Smith. What would eventually become Financial Operations may have served as a records storage office for many of the other units under Smith's control. In any event, Financial Operations became the guardian of a wide variety of records, documenting the University in a number of ways not normally expected of an accounting service.

Of particular note, the collection contains a variety of different record formats. Bound materials, in the form of books, are included in the boxes and when numbering more than one, are listed in the finding aid as multiple volumes. The collection also contains oversized volumes, in the form of large accounting books. These oversized volumes are numbered and stored separately. They are listed in the finding aid where intellectually appropriate, and designated by volume number. Enclosed in this finding aid is an index of the oversized volumes, organized by number, and their contents.

The collection is divided into six series: General University Financial Records; Trust Fund Records; Records of Land, Proposed Development and Construction; Operating Records of Buildings, Divisions and other Units; Miscellaneous Reports, Studies and Volumes; and Accounting Office Records.

Nuclear engineer, professor and eleventh president of the University of Michigan (1988-1996), leader in efforts to transform the University of Michigan, and higher education generally, into a culturally diverse, financially secure, and technologically advanced institution. Collection consists of both paper and digital documents, including speeches, presentations, writings and images. Portions of the collection are restricted. This collection represents the "personal papers" of president Duderstadt. Other material relating to his presidency is located in the record group "University of Michigan. President."

The James J. Duderstadt papers span the years from 1963 to the present, although the bulk of the material covers 1970 to 1996. The collection, consisting mainly of Speeches, Position Papers, and Presentations, effectively documents Duderstadt's vision, agenda, and planning process. There are two subgroups in the collection: Paper Documents and Digital Documents.

The Paper Documents subgroup is comprised of thirteen series: Biographical / Background Material, Speeches and Accompanying Material, Computer Printouts of Speeches, Position Papers, Publications, Presentations, Correspondence, Research, Topical Files (Pre-Presidency), Teaching, Presidential Transition Files, Strategic Planning, and Diaries and Notebooks. It includes a few papers from his years as engineering dean and his term as provost, along with a substantial amount of material from his years as professor of nuclear engineering and as president of the university.

A second subgroup, Digital Documents, is comprised of material created and maintained in electronic form (utilizing a number of software programs), and is particularly strong for representing Duderstadt's entire term as president of the university. The subgroup includes eight series: Speeches, Idea Files, Strategy, Position Papers, Presentations, Write Files and Legacy Files. The digital files of speeches and position papers frequently contain various and well-organized iterations of key documents. Of particular note are the Strategy Files, which hold substantial planning documents, many designed to encourage and promote vigorous response to change at many levels within the university. The subgroup also contains a series of Digital Images, most of which appeared in the 1996 publication Rebuilding the University: 1986-1996.

Executive office at the University of Michigan serving as liaison between the Board of Regents and the executive officers of the university. Coordinates and manages policy and governance matters for and facilitates communication between the two bodies. Responsible for coordinating the business affairs of the Board of Regents and maintaining official Board records. Includes records from Secretaries Richard L. Kennedy, Roberta Palmer, Lisa Tedesco, and Sally Churchill.

The Vice President and Secretary of the University records group (36.5 linear feet) dates from 1935-2007, with the majority of records dating from 1987-2007, and starts with Secretary Richard L. Kennedy. The majority of the records are from secretaries Kennedy and Lisa Tedesco. The collection includes records related to the performance of the various functions of the Secretary and consists of four major series: Functions and Roles of the Secretary, Board of Regents, Secretaries of the University, and Topical Files.

Correspondence and other files of University of Michigan Secretary Shirley W. Smith and of Controller and Assistant Secretary John C. Christensen. The files document university operations, relations with the state legislature, business and financial matters, buildings and grounds, and such university events as the graduation commencement. The files also relate to the university's struggles during the Depression to maintain its facilities and to provide employment for deserving students as seen in its relations with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the National Youth Administration. There are also earlier collected files of treasurers George S. Baker and James H. Wade.

The records of the University of Michigan Secretary, although including earlier materials from the mid-nineteenth century, are in fact the files of secretary Shirley Wheeler Smith and of controller and assistant secretary John C. Christensen and date primarily from 1908 to 1944.

The secretary was the official who performed much of the detail work involved in the administration of the university. The files of the secretary and of those individuals who worked under him pertain to matters of operations, relations with the state legislature, business and financial dealings, building and grounds, and management of university-wide events (particularly commencements). Within these files, the researcher will also find documentation of the university's struggles during the depression to maintain its facilities and to provide financial aid through employment to deserving students. This information will be found in a topical files series under the headings Federal Emergency Relief Administration and National Youth Administration.

The miscellaneous folders in this record group that fall before the period when Smith was secretary consist of collected materials accumulated by the university's treasurer and pertain to financial dealings of the university (land transactions, bequests, etc.)

Dean's files of R. A. Stevenson, 1944-1960, with some earlier files of deans Edmund E. Day and Clare E. Griffin; dean's files of Floyd A. Bond primarily 1960-1979, but including earlier and later materials; administrative records concerning faculty matters, alumni activities, students, course offerings, conferences, and programs sponsored by the school, and the operation and construction of the school's building; records relating to special bureaus within the school, particularly the Bureau of Business Research, the Bureau of Hospital Administration, and the Bureau of Industrial Relations; miscellaneous files of Stevenson, including University of Minnesota records, speeches, and board of directors materials from Lear, Incorporated; miscellaneous personal files of Floyd Bond concerning other organizational activities; audiovisual material including photographs and negatives of faculty, conferences and meetings, buildings, and school functions; dean's files of Gilbert A. Whitaker, 1925-1991; architectural records; the Ross School of Business website, 1996-ongoing; and records of Development and Alumni Relations, primarily created by Frank C. Wihelme, including committee meeting material, information related to capital campaigns, and records of the William Davison Institute.

The records of the Ross School of Business (1916-2017), measure 143.2 linear feet, 154.33 GB, 21 oversize items, and 1 archived website. Materials include papers from deans of the business school, committee documents, The records also include audiovisual materials including photographs, slides, videos and sound recordings.

The Ross School of Business (University of Michigan) records documents the administration and operation of the Business School; its organizational structure; news and events; people including deans, faculty, and staff; educational program; fundraising and development; and physical spaces. The records include administrative records of committees, correspondence, topical files, audiovisual material such as photographs and audiotapes, architectural drawings, and the School's website.

Records of University of Michigan office (and its predecessor administrative offices) responsible for external fund raising and development activities, including subject files of development officials Arthur Brandon, Lyle Nelson, and Michael Radock; staff files; and photographs.

The records of the Vice President for Development date from 1948 to the present and measure 39.5 linear feet. They reflect the basic concerns of the office for these four decades: preserving and improving the university's public image and planning major fundraising efforts. Unfortunately, both activities are incompletely documented. In the area of public relations the records tend to discuss how immediate problems will be dealt with, rather than overall conceptions of the university's image. The thought behind the innovative fundraising devices created or employed by the office is sometimes recorded through consultant reports, but in general is not well documented.

The manuscript records have been divided into two subgroups, one representing the records of the vice president (or senior staff person, for those years in which there was no vice presidency), the other containing records created by the development office. The Vice Presidents subgroup has been divided by the name of each person who has held the office: Arthur Brandon, Lyle Nelson, and Michael Radock. Researchers should note that since Nelson and Radock used their predecessor's files for some time before inaugurating their own records, the relationship between office tenure and file dates is not an exact one. The Development Office subgroup contains records of that office and its subsidiary units. Several accessions of Development Office records received in 1989 and 1990 have been grouped together as Development Office subgroup: 1989-1990 accessions.