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Office of the Controller Records
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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Established in 1920, the Office of the Controller is responsible for the preparation of the University's annual audited financial statements, as well as financial and tax reports to several government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service. The office also assists the University Treasurer in the administration of the University's debt program, and provides analytic support to the budget office. Additionally, the Office of the Controller is responsible for the integrity of the general ledger and the monthly reports to departments, and provides assistance to departments with their financial statements. The Office of the Controller also processes Interdepartmental Invoices and Journal Vouchers, distributes Accounts Payable checks, processes stop payment orders and replacement checks, and reconciles the University's numerous bank accounts.
Controllers of the university have been:
George C. Wintringer: 1920-1941
Gail A. Mills: 1941-1961
Wilbur M. Young: 1961-1975
Raymond J. Clark: 1975-1987
Henry Murphy: 1991-2004
Kenneth Molinaro: 2004-present
The records produced by the Office of the Controller document University financial matters. Included among these materials are yearly university budgets and financial reports, indirect cost calculations, tax returns, payroll registers, and financial statements of various University organizations. Since the Controller has financial oversight of the entire University, the records provide information on costs and income as related to personnel, operations, facilities, campus organizations, and administration.
Periodic transfers from the Office of the Controller. Includes accessions AR.2006.054, AR.2009.109, and AR.2016.092, among others.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
Finding aid created 2007. Revised 2016 and 2020 by Phoebe Nobles.
Some financial worksheets have been separated from the records. Ledgers containing transactional records were removed from the records according to the records retention schedule and in consultation with University Controller Kenneth Molinaro in 2018.
People
Organization
Subject
- Universities and colleges -- Accounting -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Universities and colleges -- Auditing -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Universities and colleges -- Business management -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Universities and colleges -- Finance -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- University investments -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Publisher
- University Archives
- Finding Aid Date
- Published in 2007, revised 2020.
- Access Restrictions
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Series 1 is open for research. Series 2 through 8 are closed for a period of 30 years from the date of their creation. Materials older than 30 years that do not pertain to student academic performance, trustee issues, or faculty personnel matters are open. For more informaton, see the Access Policy For University Archives Collections.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. The Trustees of Princeton University hold copyright to all materials generated by Princeton University employees in the course of their work. For instances beyond Fair Use, if copyright is held by Princeton University, researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of materials from the Princeton University Archives.
For instances beyond Fair Use where the copyright is not held by the University, while permission from the Library is not required, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Ledgers include general ledgers, cash books, journals, and various ledgers for department accounts, income, appropriations, restricted funds, dining halls, invested funds, special funds, student loans, construction funds, capital stock certificates and shareholder information, a salary log book, and name and address indexes.
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. For quotations that are fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. The Trustees of Princeton University hold copyright to all materials generated by Princeton University employees in the course of their work. If copyright is held by Princeton University, researchers will not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with non-commercial use of materials from the Mudd Library. For materials where the copyright is not held by the University, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold the copyright and obtaining approval from them. If you have a question about who owns the copyright for an item, you may request clarification by contacting us through the Ask Us! form.
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
The series of financial statements and reports includes both university-wide financial statements and statements for various organizations within the university. They cover a period from 1963 to 2004.
Physical Description25 boxes
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
One box contains bound volumes of budget schedules from 1957 to 1966.
Physical Description1 box
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
This series includes 12 boxes of tax returns from the years 1971 to 1997, as well as 3 boxes of 990 forms and financial statement workpapers for the Founding Fathers Papers, the Stanley Seeger Hellenic Fund and the Helen B. Seeger Fund, as well as correspondence and material from an audit of the Princeton University Press.
Physical Description15 boxes
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
The MTDC material reflects the decision-making process to change the method of computing indirect costs at Princeton between 1972 and 1974. These include modeling worksheets, indirect costs studies from other universities, financial worksheets, handwritten notes and typed memos, as well as documents on the breakdown of faculty time spent on non-instructional activities between 1976 and 1977.
Physical Description8 boxes
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
These files reflect Wilbur M. Young's tenure as Controller from 1961 to 1975. At least three of the four boxes appear to retain the filing system used in Young's office. The files include budgets, correspondence and materials relating to capital expenditures and campaigns, operations, buildings and construction, depreciation, payroll and personnel, benefits, housing for faculty and graduate students, research administration, non-instructional faculty activities, financial reports on investments and securities, implementation of the Buckley Act and other U.S. Department of Education requirements (including an Affirmative Action Plan for 1975), the university's indirect costs, taxes and social security, security clearance for Princeton employees, student fellowships and loans, and costs of the Computer Center and Administrative Systems and Data Processing.
Sensitive material includes lists of employee salaries.
Physical Description4 boxes
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
These boxes include some of the papers of Raymond Clark, who was University Controller between 1975 and 1987, and later became Treasurer (1987 to 2001).
Box 28 contains correspondence that reflects the work of the Controller's Office, including operations and buildings and indirect costs, between circa 1969 and 1985.
Boxes 29 and 30 contain files relating to internal audits of various units of the university, as well as employee benefits, between 1968 and 1985.
One box that contained information exclusively pertaining to the administration and costs of the Springdale Golf Club during the years 1985-1987, when Clark was President of Springdale Golf Club, was removed from the collection.
Physical Description3 boxes
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Includes Robertson Foundation tax workpapers from the period 2003 to 2009, which makes up nearly the full nine boxes of this series. Also includes Forrestal Center Corporation tax workpapers from the period 1994 to 1999, which comprise a portion of one box.
Physical Description9 boxes
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