University Group 47
Records, 1959-1987
6.5 cubic feet
The records of the Bureau of Public Affairs Research were transferred to the University of Idaho library by the Bureau between June 1985 and March 1989. They were processed by Judith Nielsen in June and July of 1995.
The Bureau of Public Affairs Research was established at the University of Idaho in 1959 as a unit within the Department of Social Sciences. Its main purpose was to provide research, training, and consulting services for state and local government agencies in Idaho. It also worked closely with state agency personnel and city and county governmental associations in planning Bureau activities and identifying major problem areas for research and training.
In its first ten years of existence the Bureau completed seventeen major research studies: nine on city government, two on county government, two on the state legislature, and four compilations of election statistics. This level of activity continued until the retirement of Sidney Duncombe who directed the Bureau from 1973-1988.
The Bureau also published for elected city and county officials handbooks which contain descriptions of the responsibilities and duties of local officials in Idaho. Other publications reported the results of studies into specific problems in local government, such as municipal home rule for Idaho cities, centralized purchasing for local governments, and use of annexation and extraterritorial powers of cities in solving urban fringe problems.
In addition to its research function, the Bureau, using federal grant funds, sponsored training programs for state and local officials in Idaho. Among the institutes were those for mayors and councilmen, county commissioners and clerks, city clerks and treasurers, city fiscal officers, legislative budget staff, local law enforcement administrators, and tax assessors. The Bureau also provided consulting services to state and local agencies.
Regular state appropriations to the University paid for the director and other full-time staff members. The remaining income for the Bureau came from federal and foundation grants, consulting fees, and sale of publications.
Although still in existence, under the directorship of Florence Heffron, the Bureau no longer maintains its former level of activity.
The records of the Bureau of Public Affairs Research span the years 1959 to 1987, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1960 to 1980.
Included in the records are grant applications and reports; information concerning seminars, workshops and institutes conducted by the Bureau; correspondence and other material related to Bureau publications; and other material including general correspondence, financial records, and the County Night presentation.
Approximately one cubic foot of material in this record group was transferred from the personal papers of bureau director H. Sydney Duncombe which are located in Manuscript Group 341.
Although the bulk of the Bureau of Public Affairs Research records were in labeled folders, the received order did not lend itself to a series arrangement, therefore the folders, but not their contents, were rearranged during processing. Original folder headings were retained.
The Bureau of Public Affairs Research was, for the most part, a self supporting organization which depended on federal or state grants to support its activities. The first series, Grant Applications and Reports, 1959-1979, contains applications to such organizations as the Association for the Humanities in Idaho, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Law Enforcement Planning Commission, the National Science Foundation, and the Idaho State Commission for Higher Education Facilities which administered the Title I grants of the Higher Education Act of 1965. In addition to the applications, the folders also contain periodic reports, correspondence, and some financial accounts related to the grants.
The second series, Seminars, Workshops, etc., 1967-1981, contains information about the activities funded by the grants in Series I. The seminars, which were held at various locations throughout the state, included budget presentation institutes, programs for city clerk and county assessor certification, commissioners and clerks workshops, law enforcement institutes and an institute for newly elected city officials. Included in the seminar and workshop papers are programs, records of attendance, notes used in presentations, and summaries of evaluations. Also included in this series are notes and other classroom material for Political Science 400.
As part of its mission the bureau also issued a number of publications. Series III contains correspondence, financial accounting material, input from reviewers of chapters, and drafts of several bureau publications and handbooks. Also included are the situation and character sketches for the Idaho Tomorrow game, an innovation role-playing activity developed by Sydney Duncombe, director of the bureau from 1973 to 1988. The University of Idaho funded STAR 17 grant (Short Term Applied Research), was used to prepare a report to the Idaho Legislative Fiscal and Budget Committee on public assistance programs in Idaho. Each section contains a draft of the report, notes, and information supplied by the agency concerned.
The final series contains general bureau correspondence, financial records including grant ledgers and budgets, minutes of bureau research meetings, project plans and progress reports, results of a national survey investigating the use of volunteers in county government, and finally, the script, slides, and taped narrative of the 1987 County Night program, which described the origin, history, services, and functions of counties in the United States, using Latah and Nez Perce counties as examples.
Printed material from states other than Idaho collected by the Bureau was discarded. Other types of material not retained include printed legislative bills, telephone bills and other invoices, store room orders, out of state county or city newsletters, and duplicates of printed material. Also discarded were University BTRs (Budget Transaction Reports). This reduced the quantity of material by 6 cubic feet.
I. Grant Applications and Reports, 1959-1979 1 II. Seminars, Workshops, etc., 1967-1981 1-3 III. Publications, 1964-1987 3-4 IV. Other Papers, 1960-1987 5-6 + o.s.
Box Folder Description Items
1 1 Association for the Humanities in Idaho. Community Futures Program, 1973-1980 41 2 Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Environmental workshops, 1972-1973 29 3 Institutional development plan and fellowship program for public service education, 1977-1978 19 4 Law Enforcement Planning Commission. Minorities and the police in rural Idaho, 1972-1973 7 5 Proposal for evaluating statewide group homes, 1977 11 6 National Science Foundation. The impact of public land ownership, 1975 1 7 Governor's policy options for science and technology resources, 1977-1978 31 8 Title I. Community service and continuing education program, 1966-1975 36 9-15 Consulting services to state and local officials in Idaho, 1969-1975 162 16-18 Consulting and management training services to state and local officials in Idaho, 1975-1976 44 19-22 Consulting and training services to state and local officials in Idaho, 1976-1979 48 23 Idaho-WICHE "Impact internship program", 1973 1 24 Training program for city councilmen, 1966-1968 34 25 (Joint). Annual training academy for Idaho officials, 1976 16 26 Title I-A. Consulting and training services to state and local officials, 1978 2 27 Title I. State matching funds, 1969-1972 13 28 U.S. Civil Service Commission. Development of a training program for local government officials and employees, 1973 10 29 Comprehensive personnel management service for Idaho municipalities, 1974 8 30 IPA (Intergovernmental Personnel Act) grant reports, 1973-1974 6 31 University of Idaho. Research projects, 1959-1968 18
32 Administrative and legal problems, 1976 17 33 Administrative procedure act workshop, 1979 52 34 Administrative regulatory process institutes, 1977 19 35 Association of Idaho Cities. Contract, 1978 12 36 Convention file, n.d. 4 37 Basic municipal accounting, 1975 30 38 Benefit-cost analysis in program evaluation, 1981 6 39 Budget presentation institute, 1972 16 40 Bureau of Land Management May institute, 1983 21 41 Citizen involvement in the governmental process, 1978 4 42 City budgeting, 1975 7 43 City clerks certification, 1969-1974 64 44 City election administration workshops, 1977 17 2 45 Commissioners and clerks workshop, 1972-1973 52 46 County assessors school, 1974 20 47 County cooperation workshops, 1977 31 48-51 County officials seminars, 1972-1976 279 52-53 Environmental workshops, 1972-1973 32 54 Idaho county training needs survey, 1973-1978 14 55 Innovations in teaching, 1971-1973 18 56-62 Institute for city clerks and financial officers, 1971-1978 259 63 Intergovernmental Personnel Act. Grant program, 1972-1973 15 64 Basic county government seminar, 1974 19 65 Communications seminar, 1974 6 66 Interrelationship seminar, 1974 15 67 Performance review session, 1973 8 68-70 Training needs survey, 1973-1975 32 71 Intermediate municipal accounting, 1976 12 72 Local law enforcement institute, 1970 94 73-80 Newly elected city officials institute, 1967-1975 227 81 Police productivity workshops, 1977 19 82 Policy analysis, 1973 12 83 Political Science 400. Program implementation. Plans, outlines, 1979 9 84 Units 1 & 2, 1979 19 85 Games, 1979 16 86 Program assembly process, 1979 33 87 Policy design: Gas rationing, 1979 22 88 Policy design and implementation, 1979 8 89 Employment service. 1979 29 3 90 Procedure simplification, notes, 1975 5 91-92 Public Administration certification program, 1972 42 93 Public relations for county officials, 1977 29 94 Public relations in budgeting, 1980 25 95 Records management seminar, 1973-1974 23 96 Special district seminars, 1973 60 97 Tax assessor institute, 1970-1971 25 98 Teacher institute, notes and correspondence, 1968-1970 68 99 Title I projects, 1978 36
100-101 Book sales, 1970-1978 79 102 Distribution lists, 1974 9 103 Requests, 1979-1980 37 104 Games: Election game and book, 1970-1975 60 105 Games: Idaho Tomorrow, 1974 79 106 Masters, 1974 87 107 Association for the Humanities in Idaho grant, 1973-1975 14 108 Correspondence re: revised book, 1975 51 109 Masters, 1980 120 110 Characters, 1980 55 111 Situations, n.d. 8 112 County modernization, 1981 7 113 Draft and correspondence with reviewers, 1979-1980 30 114 Development of a training program for local government officials and employees in Idaho, 1974 1 115 The Coeur d'Alene tomorrow program: a new look at citizen input on community growth and development, 1981 17 116 Handbook for county officials: Correspondence, 1964-1966 100 117 Correspondence, 1971-1972 50 118 Draft, 1987 16 119 Correspondence with reviewers of chapters, 1987 31 120 Publishing information, 1987 8 121 Chapters 6-17, 1988 12 122 Handbook on public budgeting and financial management, 1980 8 123 Correspondence, 1979-1981 61 124 Page proofs, Chapter 13, 1982 4 125 Reviews of state legislature section, 1980 10 126 Idaho Fiscal Sourcebook (1971), Title I application, 1971 5 127 Notes, documents, reports, 1971 14 128 Replies from agencies, 1971 56 129 Original correspondence, 1971 98 130 Idaho Fiscal Sourcebook (1972): Original correspondence, 1972 90 131 Notes, documents, reports, 1972 20 4 132 Idaho Fiscal Sourcebook (1973): Notes, documents, reports, 1973 2 133 Cover letters and miscellaneous correspondence, 1973-1974 92 134 Replies from agencies, 1973 51 135 Financial records, 1972-1974 16 136 Innovative teaching newsletter, 1971-1972 19 137-142 Modern County Government: Correspondence and information for the book, 1976 311 143 Third draft notes, 1976 7 144 Personnel classification, compensation policy, review draft, 1976 3 145 Public works handbook, correspondence, 1979 8 146 Social and economic characteristics of Idaho precincts, Correspondence, 1973 54 147 Financial records, 1973 18 148 Reorganization, 1974 8 149 Special district governments, Correspondence, 1978 1 150 Special District Handbooks: General, 1972-1973 15 151 Auditorium districts, 1972 3 152 Cemetery districts, 1972 10 153 Drainage districts; Fair districts, 1972 2 154 Fire protection districts, 1972 12 155 Flood control districts; Highway districts, 1972 28 156 Hospital districts; Irrigation districts, 1972 9 157 Library districts; Recreation districts; Regional airport authorities, 1972 10 158 Soil conservation districts; Water and sewer districts; Watershed improvement districts, 1972 19 159 Taxing districts, 1972 43 160 STAR 17 (Short Term Applied Research): Public assistance programs in Idaho, 1968 30 161 Report to fiscal and budget committee of the Idaho legislature, Correspondence, 1968 11 162 Public assistance and procedures used in other states, 1968 1 163 Education, 1968 14 164 Effect of the work experience program, 1968 23 165 Federal programs, 1968 28 166 Health, 1968 9 167 Interdepartmental relations (Public assistance), 1968 31 168 New public assistance programs, 1968 15 169 Residency, 1968 25 170 Statistical report, 1968 11 171 Completed reports, 1968 25 172-173 State and local government in Idaho: Masters for overhead projector transparencies, 1972 2 174 Contributors, 1969-1970 6 175 Law enforcement and corrections, 1970 8 176 Interest group questionnaire, 1969 101 177 Correspondence, reviews, and replies, 1970 54
5 178-187 Correspondence, 1962-1980 824 188 Idaho Humanities Commission, 1979 45 189 League of cities, 1974 74 190 Letters from national interest groups, 1975 34 191 Letters on Bureau services, 1961 35 192 National Association of Counties, 1964-1978 40 o.s. 193-194 Financial: Ledgers, 1972-1980 2 5 195-204 Budgets and requisitions, 1969-1981 367 205 Bureau inventory, 1970-1972 8 206 Matching funds records, 1970-1973 32 207-209 Memos, 1973-1978 92 210 Monthly financial reports, 1971-1973 24 211 Association for the Humanities in Idaho, 1979 3 212 Association of Idaho Cities, 1974 8 213 Bureau Report, 1978-1979 1 214 Census data, 1970 7 215 City salary and sewer surveys, 1970 10 216 Consulting services, 1975-1976 6 217 County apportionment, 1967 7 218-219 Eyre, John. Community power structure study and development Institute, 1969 67 220 Idaho Association of Commissioners and Clerks, 1966-1972 25 221 Newsletter, 1965-1974 20 222 Idaho Survey Research Center. Statewide polling, 1972-1973 35 223 Idea file, 1973-1976 12 6 224 Instructional ideas, 1967 11 225 Interagency committee drafts, 1975 4 226 Personnel, 1971-1985 29 227 Personnel: Assistant director recruitment, 1974 7 228 Policy statements, 1960-1971 19 229 Proctor proposal, 1970 5 230 Project and progress reports, 1968-1975 20 231-232 Publicity and news releases, 1968-1979 70 233 Research meeting minutes, 1972-1974 5 234 Status of projects, 1972-1974 9 235 Survey of local party organization, 1980 102 236 Transportation survey, 1974 6 237-239 Volunteer surveys, n.d. 296 240 WICHE policy analysis, 1973 9 241 County Night: Narrative script drafts with comments, 1987 9 242 Cassette tapes of narrative, 1987 2 243-244 Slides used for presentation, 1987 264 245 Correspondence, memos, etc, 1986-1987 15 246 Information of photos used, 1987 30
| 