The Personnel Office records comprise 31 linear feet and span the 1940s through the early 1990s. These records document the activities of the office prior to its 1994 consolidation with the Affirmative Action Office. The office is now part of the Office of University Human Resources, with many of its original responsibilities performed by its sub-unit, Academic Human Resources.
The records have been filed as received from the unit in periodic accessions. As such, there is considerable overlap in topics and dates of coverage within the various records series. Files relating to specific promotion and tenure cases are in a separate record group, University of Michigan Office of Academic Human Resources Promotion Casebooks. A finding aid for these records is available in the Bentley Library.
Records are divided into nine series: Topical Files of Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs: Charles Allmand; Topical Files of Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs-Personnel Administration: Colleen Dolan-Greene; Personnel Data Systems (PDS) Files; Graduate Student Assistants (GSA)/Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) Files; Memoranda to Deans, Directors, and Department Heads; Administrative Files, 1980 - 1992; Administrative Files, 1970 - 1994; Labor Relations, and Administrative Files, 1963 - 1994.
The origin of the Personnel Office dates back to the establishment of the Committee on Office Personnel by the Regents in January 1926. Charged with advising "in every case involving salaries, duties, titles, office hours, vacations, and hours of absence, and other conditions affecting or involved in the service of employees of the general classes mentioned", this committee consisted of the President, the Secretary, and the officer whose staff member was under consideration.
In 1929 – 1930, the Faculty Personnel Committee was formally established. Consisting of the President, the Dean of the Graduate School, and the dean of the school or college in which the proposed appointment to faculty was to be made, its duty was to review and make final recommendations to the Regents regarding all appointments, promotions, and changes in salary. In 1931, the Committee on Office Personnel was made permanent. Grace Van Cleaf was appointed secretary, a role she held until 1945.
Labor unions gained in membership during the Thirties and Forties. In 1941, the University published its neutrality policy, stating that "the University recognizes the freedom of individual employees to join or refrain from joining labor organizations. The University as a state agency cannot discriminate in terms of employment between union and nonunion workers, nor can it encourage or discourage membership in any organization by preferential terms of employment to either union or nonunion workers." Seeing increased activity among its staff, the University recognized the need for more formal human resource oversight. The committee was discontinued in January 1945 and its duties were absorbed by the newly established Personnel Office established at that time.
Headed by Alfred Ueker, the Personnel Office developed and implemented personnel policies, administered faculty promotion and tenure-granting policies, and negotiated and monitored contracts with unionized university employees. With the passing of the Hutchinson Act in 1947, unionization efforts became more pronounced, leading to multiple calls for collective bargaining rights. In 1962, President Kennedy signed Executive Order 10988, allowing federal employees to organize and bargain collectively with the government. The state of Michigan followed suit a few years later in 1965 when Governor George Romney signed the Public Employees Relations Act (PERA).
In 1968, the Michigan Labor Mediation Board recognized the University's service and maintenance employees as an appropriate collective bargaining unit. These employees soon elected AFSCME to represent them. The first union contract signed by the university became effective September 13, 1968. The complexities of these negotiations can be seen in the events of 1970 when graduate student assistants petitioned the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) for recognition of a collective bargaining unit. The university argued that if graduate students were to be considered employees, they did not compose a bargaining unit by themselves, but rather were a component part of several larger bargaining units. Without ruling on the employment issue, MERC dismissed the student petition based on the university's second argument.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the role of the office expanded to include the protection of handicapped individuals, people between the ages of 40 and 70, and veterans of the Vietnam War. In addition, non-discriminatory policies included religion, national origin, height, weight, marital status, and sexual orientation. Although the Affirmative Action Program (later, Office) coordinated many of the activities and programs meant to promote an equitable environment, the Personnel Office worked with it on issues of faculty and staff recruitment.
In 1994, the Personnel Office was combined with the Affirmative Action Office, Academic Human Resources, and the Benefits Office to form the Office of Human Resources and Affirmative Action.
Administrative Leadership
| Date |
Event |
| 1931 - 1945 | Grace Van Cleaf, Secretary of the Committee on Office Personnel |
| 1945 - 1959 | Alfred Ueker, Personnel Officer |
| 1959 - 1966 | Charles Allmand, Personnel Officer |
| 1966 - 1979 | Russell Reister, Personnel Officer |
| 1980 - 1994 | James R. Thiry, Assistant Vice President for Personnel |
