Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1914 [PAGE 770]

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768

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

[June 9 r

On motion of Mr. Hoit, the President of the University was authorized to appoint Dr. D. M. Schoemaker Associate Professor of Anatomy in t h e College of Medicine as recommended. MEETING OF T H E COMMITTEE ON BUILDINGS A N D GROUNDS. President Abbott presented the following minutes of a meeting of t h e Committee on Buildings and Grounds, which were received for record: A meeting of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds was held on May 2, 1914. Present: President Abbott, Mrs. Busey, Mrs. Evans, Mr. Hoit, and Mr. Moore. The Supervising Architect presented for approval matters pertaining to boilerhouse equipment which were referred to the committee with power at the meeting on March 10. Contracts were authorized with the Buffalo Scale Company for a track scale to cost $800 and with the Babcock and "Wilcox Boiler Company for 1,000 H.P. of boilers at a contract price of $10,000. The Illinois Traction Company's proposition to construct the new coaling track at cost was approved and $3,500 was authorized as the maximum expenditure. LEGALITY OF DELEGATING SIGNATURE OF WARRANTS. President Abbott presented also the following communication from Judge O. A. Harker, Legal Counsel, concerning the delegation of the signing of the name of the President of the Board to University warrants: June 9, 1914. Hon. W. L. Abbott; President Board of Trustees, University of Illinois. DEAR SIR: Your letter of June 6th concerning the authority of the comptroller and the assistant comptroller to sign your name to University warrants came to my office yesterday while I was in Chicago. This is the first opportunity I have had to comply with your request. I have looked into the legal phase of the proposition and am pleased to give you the following: OPINION. (1) There* is no law prohibiting the Board of Trustees authorizing its president to direct the comptroller and the assistant comptroller to sign his name to warrants. (2) The authority given could not extend beyond the president's term of office. In other words, the authority was limited to the. term to which you were elected as president. If your term expired on the second Tuesday in March, then neither the comptroller nor the assistant comptroller would have authority to sign your name without a new authorization. (3) It seems from your letter that on the 22d of last April, the hoard granted a continuation of the authority, hut there was no authority given for the period intervening the expiration of your term as president and the 22d of April. The signatures during that period are not, therefore, regular. I would suggest that a resolution ratifying the act of the comptroller and the assistant comptroller for that period of time be passed. Respectfully, Lepal Counsel. On motion of Dr. Montgomery, the following preamble and resolutions were adopted: ' WHEREAS, The Board of Trustees on the 11th day of March, 1913 (see page 199), authorized its president, W. L. Abbott, to direct the comptroller and assistant comptroller to attach his signature to University warrants issuing from the office of the comptroller, and WHEREAS, The comptroller and assistant comptroller acting under such directions each did from time to time between the 10th of March and the 22d of April, 1914, attach the signature of said W. L. Abbott to divers and sundry University warrants, without further authority than that contained under t h e order of the 11th day of March, 1913; be it Resolved, That the acts of the comptroller and assistant comptroller wherein they or either of them attached to University warrants the signature of W. L. Abbott as president, between the dates of March 10 and April 22, .1914, are hereby approved and ratified. APPOINTMENTS MADE BY PRESIDENT JAMES. The secretary presented for record the following list of appointments made by the President of the University: Allen, O. W., Temporary Assistant in the Modern Language Seminar, beginning June 1, 1914, and continuing until August 15, 1914, at a salary of sixty-five dollars ($65) a month. (May 26, 1914,*) * The date in parentheses is the date on which the appointment .was made by the President of the University.

O. A. HARKER,