Table Of Contents

Descriptive Summary

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Information

Arrangement of the Collection

Restrictions

Subject and Genre Headings

Administrative Information

Container List

Series 1: Administrative Files 1980-2000, Undated

Series 2: Subject Files 1982-2004, Undated

NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER COLLEGE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND POLICY, ASSISTANT TO THE PROVOST RECORDS, (UA-660.003), 1980-2004

Biographical Sketch

The Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs was established April 22, 1982, named to honor the contributions to New York State government of Governor Nelson Rockefeller who served from 1959-1973. The creation of the new college signified State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany President Vincent O’Leary’s (1977-1990) attempt to give additional academic and institutional weight to graduate programs of the University most closely tied to public policy in New York at a time when the University was reemphasizing its roots as a public policy institution. The new college initially brought together the School of Criminal Justice, the Graduate School of Public Affairs, and the School of Social Welfare under the umbrella of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs. Each of the individual schools retained its dean, but the Office of the Provost, and the new position of Provost of Rockefeller College, was created to lobby for and coordinate the activities of all three schools. In 1986, the School of Information Science and Policy was merged into Rockefeller College. The provost was also the designated director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, an independent think tank reporting to the SUNY chancellor, set up to study public policy problems in New York.

The Assistant to the Provost was responsible for overseeing use of the buildings on the Downtown Campus, organizing various events such as Commencement, Alumni Awards Dinners, and Dedications, and for overseeing the Rockefeller College Art Collection. Jerry Parker held the position from 1981-2000. From 2000 until his retirement in 2010, Parker continued to work as an administrator at the University at Albany organizing events on the Downtown Campus.

In 2000 Rockefeller College was restructured, each of the constituent schools (Criminal Justice, Public Affairs, Social Welfare and Information Science and Policy) once again became independent schools under their individual deans reporting to the new University at Albany position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the position of Provost of Rockefeller College was eliminated. The Graduate School of Public Affairs changed its name to The Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, thus preserving the honor to Nelson Rockefeller, if not the original intended function of the College.

See the records of the Graduate School of Public Affairs (UA-680) for a full description of the creation and growth of that school/college.

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Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of the administrative records of the Assistant to the Provost of Rockefeller College created or collected by Jerry Parker. The bulk of the records are budget reports, correspondence, meeting notes, and photographs and newspaper clippings related to college events. During processing, the archivist retained the original folder titles assigned by the records’ creator with the following exceptions: “Creation of Rockefeller College-administration and structure” was originally two separate folders named “Organization and History of Rockefeller College” and “Rockefeller College Memorabilia.” As the contents of the folders were similar (administrative correspondence from the early years of Rockefeller College) they were combined and given a new title that was more indicative of the contents. In Series Two, “Provost’s Office Inventory Account 83001” was renamed “Rockefeller College Art Collection Inventory” for clarification purposes.

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Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Both Series 1 and 2 are arranged alphabetically.

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Restrictions

Access

Access to this record group is unrestricted with the exception of a small number of select folders noted below.

Copyright

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, Assistant to the Provost Records, 1981-2004. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Rockefeller College, Assistant to the Provost Records).

Acquisition Information

Jerry Parker donated his records to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives in December 2010.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: Beth Rienti
Date: © 2012 By the University at Albany, SUNY. All rights reserved.
Revision history: -

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Container List

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