THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

 

TO:	The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents  Cultural Education Committee
FROM:	Carole F. Huxley
SUBJECT:	Archives Partnership Trust – private funds to support the State Archives
DATE:	April 22, 2005
STRATEGIC GOAL:	5
AUTHORIZATION(S):

Executive Summary

 

 

Issue for Discussion

 

Status of the Archives Partnership Trust fundraising for endowment and project support.  SED will be requesting a transfer of funds from the CE Account to support operations of the Trust in 2006-2007.

 

Proposed Handling

 

John Hanna, partner in the Albany law firm of Whiteman, Osterman and Hanna, and Chair of the Trust Board, will provide a brief overview of the Trust and its current activities.  Mr. Hanna will describe some of the Trust’s current priorities and fundraising efforts, including an educational program that will feature a teacher-in-residence and will make use of the new state-of-the-art learning center on the eleventh floor of the CEC.  The Trust has recently raised funds to support several projects that make archival materials available to teachers through our website including information on how to use historical records in the classroom to improve student achievement.

 

After Mr. Hanna’s presentation, the Committee will have an opportunity to discuss the Trust and its applicability as a model for private fundraising and public/private partnerships.

 

Procedural History

 

After twelve years of operating on $300,000, the Trust has reached the ceiling on its use for three staff and the associated benefits and indirect fees that are required.  Next year, the Department will put forward legislation that will make $500,000 available from the CE Account for the Trust’s operating expenses (in addition to staff, operating funds also include expenses of running the office and support for meetings of the Board, committees and all fundraising activities of the Board and staff including the Trust’s annual appeal fundraiser).  Any amount of funds not used to support Trust operations will be available to the Trust to deposit in the endowment account.  That action is in accordance with statutory intent, which recommended the State contribute to the endowment, matching funds raised from private sources up to $5 million.  To date, the State has contributed approximately $500,000 of that amount.

 

Background Information

 

The Archives Partnership Trust, established by statute in 1992, is a non-profit public benefit corporation whose sole purpose is to raise funds to support preserving and expanding access to the treasures in the New York State Archives and, by extension, the archival treasures in local governments and repositories across the state.  Since its inception, the Trust’s mission has focused on not only preservation and access, but on improving student achievement through the use of historical records in education and raising visibility of archives in New York State.  Since 1992, the Trust has raised a $2.8 million endowment and has secured funding for a variety of projects from matching three prestigious Save America’s Treasures grants for the conservation of New York’s archival treasures; to supporting public events that featured Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss, veteran foreign correspondent Garrick Utley, actor Richard Dreyfus and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer and, this fall, C-SPAN creator Brian Lamb.  Private funds raised also support scholarly and other research in the Archives through the Larry J. Hackman Research Residency program, the student research awards program, the Regents Student Award of Distinction in Research and internships for high school, college and graduate students.

 

Recommendation

 

The Regents will support the transfer of $500,000 from the Cultural Education Fund to the Archives Partnership Trust Operations Account.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

Proposal will be prepared during 2006-07 budget preparation and submitted to the Legislature between the date on which the executive budget is presented and the date on which the Legislature passes the NYS budget.