NTDUG047.xml Guide to the Bureau of Public Affairs Research Records1959-1987 Bureau of Public Affairs Research Records Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives ©1995 Encoded by ArchProteus2003 Finding aid is in English Overview of the Collection University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives UG047 Bureau of Public Affairs Research Bureau of Public Affairs Research Records 1959-1987 6.5 cubic feet Grant applications and reports, information concerning seminars, workshops and institutes, correspondence and other material relating to publications, general correspondence, financial records and other papers concerning the Bureau of Public Affairs Research, a division of the Department of Political Science at the University of Idaho. English

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.

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.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Idaho Colleges and Universities Government and Politics University of Idaho. Bureau of Public Affairs Research Detailed Description of the Collection Series I. Grant Applications and Reports 1959-1979 1/1 Association for the Humanities in Idaho. Community Futures Program 1973-1980 41 items 1/2 Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Environmental workshops 1972-1973 29 items 1/3 Institutional development plan and fellowship program for public service education 1977-1978 19 items 1/4 Law Enforcement Planning Commission. Minorities and the police in rural Idaho 1972-1973 7 items 1/5 Proposal for evaluating statewide group homes 1977 11 items 1/6 National Science Foundation. The impact of public land ownership 1975 1 item 1/7 Governor's policy options for science and technology resources 1977-1978 31 items 1/8 Title I. Community service and continuing education program 1966-1975 36 items 1/9-15 Consulting services to state and local officials in Idaho 1969-1975 162 items 1/16-18 Consulting and management training services to state and local officials in Idaho 1975-1976 44 items 1/19-22 Consulting and training services to state and local officials in Idaho 1976-1979 48 items 1/23 Idaho-WICHE "Impact internship program" 1973 1 item 1/24 Training program for city councilmen 1966-1968 34 items 1/25 (Joint). Annual training academy for Idaho officials 1976 16 items 1/26 Title I-A. Consulting and training services to state and local officials 1978 2 items 1/27 Title I. State matching funds 1969-1972 13 items 1/28 U.S. Civil Service Commission. Development of a training program for local government officials and employees 1973 10 items 1/29 Comprehensive personnel management service for Idaho municipalities 1974 8 items 1/30 IPA (Intergovernmental Personnel Act) grant reports 1973-1974 6 items 1/31 University of Idaho. Research projects 1959-1968 18 items Series II. Seminars, Workshops, etc. 1967-1981 1/32 Administrative and legal problems 1976 17 items 1/33 Administrative procedure act workshop 1979 52 items 1/34 Administrative regulatory process institutes 1977 19 items 1/35 Association of Idaho Cities. Contract 1978 12 items 1/36 Convention file undated 4 items 1/37 Basic municipal accounting 1975 30 items 1/38 Benefit-cost analysis in program evaluation 1981 6 items 1/39 Budget presentation institute 1972 16 items 1/40 Bureau of Land Management May institute 1983 21 items 1/41 Citizen involvement in the governmental process 1978 4 items 1/42 City budgeting 1975 7 items 1/43 City clerks certification 1969-1974 64 items 1/44 City election administration workshops 1977 17 items 2/45 Commissioners and clerks workshop 1972-1973 52 items 2/46 County assessors school 1974 20 items 2/47 County cooperation workshops 1977 31 items 2/48-51 County officials seminars 1972-1976 279 items 2/52-53 Environmental workshops 1972-1973 32 items 2/54 Idaho county training needs survey 1973-1978 14 items 2/55 Innovations in teaching 1971-1973 18 items 2/56-62 Institute for city clerks and financial officers 1971-1978 259 items 2/63 Intergovernmental Personnel Act. Grant program 1972-1973 15 items 2/64 Basic county government seminar 1974 19 items 2/65 Communications seminar 1974 6 items 2/66 Interrelationship seminar 1974 15 items 2/67 Performance review session 1973 8 items 2/68-70 Training needs survey 1973-1975 32 items 2/71 Intermediate municipal accounting 1976 12 items 2/72 Local law enforcement institute 1970 94 items 2/73-80 Newly elected city officials institute 1967-1975 227 items 2/81 Police productivity workshops 1977 19 items 2/82 Policy analysis 1973 12 items 2/83 Political Science 400. Program implementation. Plans, outlines 1979 9 items 2/84 Units 1 & 2 1979 19 items 2/85 Games 1979 16 items 2/86 Program assembly process 1979 33 items 2/87 Policy design: Gas rationing 1979 22 items 2/88 Policy design and implementation 1979 8 items 2/89 Employment service 1979 29 items 3/90 Procedure simplification, notes 1975 5 items 3/91-92 Public Administration certification program 1972 42 items 3/93 Public relations for county officials 1977 29 items 3/94 Public relations in budgeting 1980 25 items 3/95 Records management seminar 1973-1974 23 items 3/96 Special district seminars 1973 60 items 3/97 Tax assessor institute 1970-1971 25 items 3/98 Teacher institute, notes and correspondence 1968-1970 68 items 3/99 Title I projects 1978 36 items Series III. Publications 1964-1987 3/100-101 Book sales 1970-1978 79 items 3/102 Distribution lists 1974 9 items 3/103 Requests 1979-1980 37 items 3/104 Games: Election game and book 1970-1975 60 items 3/105 Games: Idaho Tomorrow 1974 79 items 3/106 Masters 1974 87 items 3/107 Association for the Humanities in Idaho grant 1973-1975 14 items 3/108 Correspondence re: revised book 1975 51 items 3/109 Masters 1980 120 items 3/110 Characters 1980 55 items 3/111 Situations undated 8 items 3/112 County modernization 1981 7 items 3/113 Draft and correspondence with reviewers 1979-1980 30 items 3/114 Development of a training program for local government officials and employees in Idaho 1974 1 item 3/115 The Coeur d'Alene tomorrow program: a new look at citizen input on community growth and development 1981 17 items 3/116 Handbook for county officials: Correspondence 1964-1966 100 items 3/117 Correspondence 1971-1972 50 items 3/118 Draft 1987 16 items 3/119 Correspondence with reviewers of chapters 1987 31 items 3/120 Publishing information 1987 8 items 3/121 Chapters 6-17 1988 12 items 3/122 Handbook on public budgeting and financial management 1980 8 items 3/123 Correspondence 1979-1981 61 items 3/124 Page proofs, Chapter 13 1982 4 items 3/125 Reviews of state legislature section 1980 10 items 3/126 Idaho Fiscal Sourcebook (1971), Title I application 1971 5 items 3/127 Notes, documents, reports 1971 14 items 3/128 Replies from agencies 1971 56 items 3/129 Original correspondence 1971 98 items 3/130 Idaho Fiscal Sourcebook (1972): Original correspondence 1972 90 items 3/131 Notes, documents, reports 1972 20 items 4/132 Idaho Fiscal Sourcebook (1973): Notes, documents, reports 1973 2 items 4/133 Cover letters and miscellaneous correspondence 1973-1974 92 items 4/134 Replies from agencies 1973 51 items 4/135 Financial Records 1972-1974 16 items 4/136 Innovative teaching newsletter 1971-1972 19 items 4/137-142 Modern County Government: Correspondence and information for the book 1976 311 items 4/143 Third draft notes 1976 7 items 4/144 Personnel classification, compensation policy, review draft 1976 3 items 4/145 Public works handbook, correspondence 1979 8 items 4/146 Social and economic characteristics of Idaho precincts, Correspondence 1973 54 items 4/147 Financial Records 1973 18 items 4/148 Reorganization 1974 8 items 4/149 Special district governments, Correspondence 1978 1 item 4/150 Special District Handbooks: General 1972-1973 15 items 4/151 Auditorium districts 1972 3 items 4/152 Cemetery districts 1972 10 items 4/153 Drainage districts; Fair districts 1972 2 items 4/154 Fire protection districts 1972 12 items 4/155 Flood control districts; Highway districts 1972 28 items 4/156 Hospital districts; Irrigation districts 1972 9 items 4/157 Library districts; Recreation districts; Regional airport authorities 1972 10 items 4/158 Soil conservation districts; Water and sewer districts; Watershed improvement districts 1972 19 items 4/159 Taxing districts 1972 43 items 4/160 STAR 17 (Short Term Applied Research): Public assistance programs in Idaho 1968 30 items 4/161 Report to fiscal and budget committee of the Idaho legislature, Correspondence 1968 11 items 4/162 Public assistance and procedures used in other states 1968 1 item 4/163 Education 1968 14 items 4/164 Effect of the work experience program 1968 23 items 4/165 Federal programs 1968 28 items 4/166 Health 1968 9 items 4/167 Interdepartmental relations (Public assistance) 1968 31 items 4/168 New public assistance programs 1968 15 items 4/169 Residency 1968 25 items 4/170 Statistical report 1968 11 items 4/171 Completed reports 1968 25 items 4/172-173 State and local government in Idaho: Masters for overhead projector transparencies 1972 2 items 4/174 Contributors 1969-1970 6 items 4/175 Law enforcement and corrections 1970 8 items 4/176 Interest group questionnaire 1969 101 items 4/177 Correspondence, reviews, and replies 1970 54 items Series IV. Other Papers 1960-1987 5/178-187 Correspondence 1962-1980 824 items 5/188 Idaho Humanities Commission 1979 45 items 5/189 League of cities 1974 74 items 5/190 Letters from national interest groups 1975 34 items 5/191 Letters on Bureau services 1961 35 items 5/192 National Association of Counties 1964-1978 40 items os/193-194 Financial: Ledgers 1972-1980 2 items 5/195-204 Budgets and requisitions 1969-1981 367 items 5/205 Bureau inventory 1970-1972 8 items 5/206 Matching funds Records 1970-1973 32 items 5/207-209 Memos 1973-1978 92 items 5/210 Monthly financial reports 1971-1973 24 items 5/211 Association for the Humanities in Idaho 1979 3 items 5/212 Association of Idaho Cities 1974 8 items 5/213 Bureau Report 1978-1979 1 item 5/214 Census data 1970 7 items 5/215 City salary and sewer surveys 1970 10 items 5/216 Consulting services 1975-1976 6 items 5/217 County apportionment 1967 7 items 5/218-219 Eyre, John. Community power structure study and development Institute 1969 67 items 5/220 Idaho Association of Commissioners and Clerks 1966-1972 25 items 5/221 Newsletter 1965-1974 20 items 5/222 Idaho Survey Research Center. Statewide polling 1972-1973 35 items 5/223 Idea file 1973-1976 12 items 6/224 Instructional ideas 1967 11 items 6/225 Interagency committee drafts 1975 4 items 6/226 Personnel 1971-1985 29 items 6/227 Personnel: Assistant director recruitment 1974 7 items 6/228 Policy statements 1960-1971 19 items 6/229 Proctor proposal 1970 5 items 6/230 Project and progress reports 1968-1975 20 items 6/231-232 Publicity and news releases 1968-1979 70 items 6/233 Research meeting minutes 1972-1974 5 items 6/234 Status of projects 1972-1974 9 items 6/235 Survey of local party organization 1980 102 items 6/236 Transportation survey 1974 6 items 6/237-239 Volunteer surveys undated 296 items 6/240 WICHE policy analysis 1973 9 items 6/241 County Night: Narrative script drafts with comments 1987 9 items 6/242 Cassette tapes of narrative 1987 2 items 6/243-244 Slides used for presentation 1987 264 items 6/245 Correspondence, memos, etc 1986-1987 15 items 6/246 Information of photos used 1987 30 items