Office of the President: Board of Visitors Records

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

Copyright for materials authored or otherwise produced as official business of James Madison University is retained by James Madison University. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information, contact the Special Collections Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Office of the President: Board of Visitors, 1908-2025, UA 0010, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Summary

Extent:
11.89 cubic feet 36 boxes
Abstract:
The Office of the President: Board of Visitors Records document the activities of the James Madison University Board of Visitors and its predecessor, the Board of Trustees. Materials include meeting minutes, correspondence, financial documents, and president's reports.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Office of the President: Board of Visitors, 1908-2025, UA 0010, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

The Office of the President: Board of Visitors Records document the activities of the James Madison University Board of Visitors and its predecessor, the Board of Trustees. The collection is comprised primarily of meeting minutes and correspondence. Minutes from the Board of Visitors' first meeting on July 16, 1964 are included. Researchers should note that meeting minutes from the various iterations of university governing bodies between 1914 and 1963 are not included. The correspondence is chiefly official memoranda, letters concerning business and new board members, and contractual agreements granting faculty members temporary leaves of absence. The collection also includes annual reports and reports to the Board of Visitors, financial materials documenting lease agreements involving James Madison University, athletic program expenditure statements, and audit reports. Miscellaneous items include documents explaining the origins of buildings' names, a Board of Visitors manual, and a document of Board of Visitors Resolutions.

Biographical / historical:

James Madison University's Board of Visitors was created in 1964 with the prime directive of overseeing the effective government of the university, then Madison College. When the institution opened in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the governing body was its own Board of Trustees. The school changed its name to the State Normal School for Women at Harrisonburg in 1914 and governance was shifted to the Virginia Normal School Board, a state agency. The institution was renamed once again in 1924 to the State Teachers College at Harrisonburg. The governance also experienced change as control was transferred to the State Board of Education. In 1964, the final change occurred when the Virginia General Assembly established independent boards of visitors for each of the state's former teacher colleges.

The Governor of Virginia holds the power of appointing each member of the Board of Visitors. The first Board of Visitors was comprised of 11 members; its first rector was Burr P. Harrison. The Virginia General Assembly acted to have the board size increased to 15 members in 1989. Of the selected members, no more than two can be non-Virginians and board members include both JMU alumni and non-alumni. In addition to appointed members, a student representative and the speaker of the JMU Faculty Senate serve on the board. Terms of service do apply as board members are not eligible to serve more than two consecutive four-year terms. Officers of the board (rector, vice rector, and secretary) are elected annually by the board for one-year terms.

Acquisition information:
This collection was formed from the merger of several groups of materials received from Fred Hilton in JMU Media Relations (accessions 93-0107, 93-0210), Gail May in the President's Office (accessions 99-1122, 00-0215), and Machelle Rader in the President's Office (2005-0519). These accessions were combined under the collection number PR 99-1122. An additional accrual of BoV minutes, 2002-2025, was received in July 2025 and integrated into the collection in August 2025.
Processing information:

The collection was reprocessed in 2016 and contains all documents from the original accession (PR 99-1122) except for the Faculty Minutes, 1908-1998, which were removed to form a separate collection (UA 0011). A copy of the original finding aid is located in the collection control file. Old collection folders were reused during reprocessing and folder titles were retained when possible. Inserts found in the Board of Trustees Minute Book were removed and foldered separately. The inserts were subsequently photocopied and those copies are also foldered separately. The Board of Visitors meeting minutes and President's Reports were originally bound, but were disbound in 2016 during reprocessing.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into five series. Series 5 is arranged further into subseries. All series are arranged chronologically with the exception of subseries 5.1 which is arranged alphabetically and subseries 5.2 which is arranged topically.

  1. Meeting Minutes, 1908-2025
  2. Correspondence, 1964-1995
  3. Miscellaneous, 1981-1994
  4. President's Reports, 1909-1967
  5. Financial Documents, 1922-1989
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard