Collections

Project Community at the University of Michigan is one of the nation's oldest continuously-running community service-learning courses. Started by student activists in 1961, Project Community grew out of the Civil Rights movement to promote undergraduate students' service learning and social activism in education, criminal justice, public health, and social work. The collection includes project records, oral histories, scrapbooks, photographs, publications, and a program history.

The collection includes project records

The Project on Asian Studies in Education (PASE) was established at the University of Michigan in 1971 as an outreach resource center to assist secondary and college-level instructors of Asian studies in developing curricula. Records include budget reports; minutes of the Project on Asian Studies in Education (PASE)'s Executive Committee meetings; correspondence, memoranda, and related materials pertaining to PASE's identification of funding agencies; grant proposals, reports, and related materials; job descriptions; memoranda pertaining to PASE's general office organization and prospective administrative reorganization; personnel records; bibliographies of Asia-related materials; conference/workshop materials; materials pertaining to PASE's development of curriculum units; newsletter samples; note cards of PASE's organizational and informational contacts; service request forms and letters.

Records of the Project on Asian Studies in Education (PASE) date from 1972 to 1981 and measure 2 linear feet. The collection is divided into two series, Administrative Records and Outreach Activities, which document the project's activities within and outside the University.

Organization formed in opposition to the Voter's Choice Amendment, an amendment to the state constitution to roll back taxes to their 1980-1981 level. Scattered minutes, agendas, mailings, and collected material relating to the Committee's political activities.

The Promote Michigan Committee collection provides some insight into how a professionally organized, well-funded, broadly based campaign successfully opposed tax reduction. The records are arranged alphabetically by type of material. The agendas, minutes, and correspondence provide some sense of the day-to-day functioning of the committee, but they are neither detailed nor complete. The background materials and press releases discuss the issues involved in tax reduction and amply delineate various groups' arguments against Proposal C.

Of special interest is Ray Brennan's review of the Committee's actions, "Keep our Comeback Alive." This is a report on the campaign's context, strategy, literature, finances., and results, and it is helpful in capturing the essence of the 1984 campaign. To gain the broader historical perspective on efforts to combat tax reduction in Michigan, one should also consult the League of Women Voters records and the Charlotte Capp collection.

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. Central Files subgroup includes correspondence files of vice-presidents, associate and assistant vice-presidents, and other staff members within the vice-president's office.

The records of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs date from 1947 to 1997 and total more than 675 linear feet. The records are a rich source of information on the University of Michigan from the 1960s to the present. They contain a wide variety of material documenting the concerns of the administration and, to a lesser extent, the faculty and students regarding academic programs, student and faculty activities, and the administrative operations of the University of Michigan.

The records, which include the provost's files as well as the files of associate and assistant vice presidents, are arranged in three subgroups: Central Files, Staff Files, and Supplemental Files. The Central Files subgroup consists of the records maintained by the provost's office and is discussed in greater detail below. The Staff Files subgroup includes the records of assistant and associate vice presidents and of the assistants to the provost. The Supplemental Files subgroup contains material on specific topics to which a number of academic affairs staff contributed their efforts, including retreats, unit reviews, and searches. Each of the subgroups is fully described in a separate finding aid.

It should be noted that some of the records in the record group predate the founding of the Office of Academic Affairs. Such records were generally brought by vice presidents or staff members from previous positions or inherited from persons who formerly performed their duties.

The Central Files subgroup consists of 605 linear feet dating from the creation of the Office of Academic Affairs in the academic year 1961/1962 to 2012/2013. The records consist primarily of correspondence, minutes and other committee files, reports, and budget materials, reflecting the broad range of responsibilities and functions of the provost. Whereas the records of the Staff Files subgroup tend to document the process of policy formation and decision-making functions, the Central Files records more often contain finished products, such as reports and policy statements. For the researcher interested in the provost's views on a particular topic or issue, or the Office of Academic Affairs involvement in the academic and financial life of various schools and colleges, the Central Files subgroup is the single best starting point.

The records of the Central Files subgroup are broken into series by academic year, and each series consists of one or more of the following subseries: Alphabetical Files, Schools and Colleges Files, and Chronological Files. From 1961/1962 through 1973/1974 the series each consist of one subseries of Alphabetical Files. The Alphabetical Files are arranged alphabetically and include topical files as well as files regarding university academic, research, and service units.

From 1974/1975 to 1983/1984 the series are split into two subseries, Alphabetical Files and Schools and Colleges Files. The Alphabetical Files remain similar in content to previous years with the exception that files relating to academic units, namely schools, colleges, and their departments, now comprise the subseries Schools and Colleges Files. Records concerning centers, special libraries, museums, institutes, and interdisciplinary programs are filed in the Alphabetical Files subseries. The Schools and Colleges Files are arranged alphabetically by academic unit and contain materials relating to the annual budget requests, promotion and tenure decisions, internal and external reviews, dean evaluations, and changes in academic programs.

For the years 1974/1975 to 1981/1982, with the exception of 1976/1977, there is an "Index to Correspondence" located at the end of the Alphabetical Files which lists in chronological order the letters written by the vice president, the name of the recipient, the subject of the letter, and the heading under which it is filed.

From 1984/1985 to 1993/1994, 1998/1999-2008/2009 and 2010/2011-2011/2012 the series consist of three subseries: Alphabetical Files, Schools and Colleges Files, and Chronological Files. The Alphabetical Files and the Schools and Colleges Files, while becoming more voluminous over the years, remain similar in nature. The Chronological Files consist of all outgoing correspondence from the vice president and are arranged by month. The Chronological Files are useful if the researcher knows the date the vice president might have corresponded on a particular topic but is unsure of the heading used for filing in the Alphabetical Files.

The Alphabetical Files, as mentioned above, are a strong source of information on a variety of topics relating to the administration of a large university, including the university's relationship with state and federal governments, issues confronting institutions of higher education at various points in time (student unrest and affirmative action, for example), collaborative efforts with other Big Ten and area colleges and universities, and the creation and revision of university policies. The minutes of the Academic Affairs Advisory Council (AAAC) are an especially good source of information on the activities of the Office of Academic Affairs. The AAAC, composed of the deans of the schools and colleges, directors of institutes, centers, and special libraries, and the staff of the Office of Academic Affairs, was established to hold monthly meetings to discuss educational policy, planning for growth, and special studies.

Because folder titles on a particular subject may vary from year to year, researchers are advised to be imaginative in searching for information in the topical files. It should also be noted that information on any given subject can probably be found in various places in the collection.

The 2010 and 2011 series feature the addition of the Archived Website subseries. These were created to preserve the office's public website over time. The subseries document the mission, activities, policies, and individuals involved in the operation of the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs as they are presented on its public website. Content includes important news and announcements, publications (such as reports and administrative documents), and information about committees, initiatives, and events. This archived website will be captured on a regular, ongoing basis as part of the University of Michigan Web Archives, hosted at https://archive-it.org/organizations/934.

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. The Staff Files subgroup contains the files of individual of vice-presidents, associate and assistant vice-presidents, and other staff members within the vice-president's office.

The Staff Files subgroup of the record group Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs consists of 570 linear feet and spans the years from 1947 to 2013. The Staff Files subgroup is comprised of the records of the associate and assistant vice presidents for academic affairs. Whereas the records of the Central Files subgroup often contain finished products, such as reports and policy statements, the Staff Files subgroup tends to document the process of policy formation and other decision-making functions. Scattered through the associate and assistant vice presidents' papers, for example, are frank statements of opinion regarding various schools and programs, candidates for promotion, and the relationship between the branches of the university, as well as notes on meetings with faculty members, committee activities, and other subjects.

The Staff Files subgroup includes the records of the following past and current associate and assistant vice presidents, listed in the order in which their records first appear in the boxlist: Ernest R. Zimmermann, Carolyne K. Davis, Edward A. Dougherty, Richard A. English, Robert L. Williams, John H. Romani, Mary Ann Swain, Robert S. Holbrook, W. Allen Spivey, Robert B. Holmes, Niara Sudarkasa, Robin Jacoby, Robert Sauve, E. Kay Dawson, Susan Lipschutz, Paul Courant, Marilyn Knepp, Pamela A. Raymond, Katharine Soper, Karen Gibbons, John Godfrey, Nancy Cantor, A. Lawrence Fincher, Ralph P. Nichols, Valerie Castle, Glenda Haskell, Linda Gillum, Janet Weiss, Ben van der Plijm, Sharon Schmidt, Kathleen (Kati) Bauer, James Hilton, Stephanie Riegle, Catherine Shaw, Philip Hanlon, Teresa Sullivan, Anne Berens, Brian Konz, John King, Lester Monts, Martha E. Pollack, Lori Haskins, and Ron Fitzgerald. The records of an individual, while still in office, are received by the archives on an ongoing basis.

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.

Administrative files of provosts E. Blythe Stason and James P. Adams relating to annual budget, staffing, liaison with the Board of Regents, and the relationship of the University to the state, alumni, private foundations and the general public.

Professor of forestry in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan, active in conservation movement, first head of the Michigan Game Division and a popular writer on conservation topics; papers consist of correspondence (including Aldo Leopold and Gifford Pinchot and leading conservationists), reports, writings and photographs.

The collection consists of five linear feet of correspondence and articles, and other materials relating to Lovejoy's work on behalf of forest conservation, forestry in general, his work with various state and local organizations, and his career as a writer for different national magazines.

Though the collection dates from 1918 to 1941, it bulks largest (except for the Articles series) in the period beginning in 1931. This was after Lovejoy had left the University of Michigan and after his pioneering work in the 1920s.

Records, 1973-1982, of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing area in the University of Michigan School of Nursing. Include course materials and a small amount of miscellaneous materials.

The records of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Area date from 1973 to 1982 and measure one linear foot in volume. They consist almost exclusively of course material, arranged by course number. In addition, there are a few folders of miscellaneous material.

Public interest research group (formally known as Public Interest Research Group in Michigan) concerned with such issues as consumer rights, environmental policy, and world hunger.

The record group includes histories; minutes and correspondence; and posters, handbills and announcements; and papers relating to the dispute over how the organization should be funded.