Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1942 [PAGE 898]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1942]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

895

and should be called upon to render. This letter has been shown to the President of the University and he has authorized me to send it. Yours very truly,

SVEINBJORN JOHNSON

University

Counsel

MEMORANDUM IN RE UNIVERSITY COUNSEL (May 9, 1042) I. "University Counsel" What the Attorney General refuses to recognize is that the functions of the University Counsel, as a member of our staff, are not those of an assistant to the Attorney General. H e seems to look at the word "Counsel" and to accept it in only one of its numerous definitions. The functions of the Counsel were fully explained to Mr. Barrett on April 30, 1941, in a conference between him and the Attorney General, and were, on May 6, 1941, put in the form of a letter. A copy of this letter is attached. On this letter Mr. Barrett never offered any comment, adverse or otherwise. A reading of the document shows that the Board has always regarded and does regard the Attorney General as its legal adviser; but upon literally countless matters of internal policy and administration, the advice of a person trained in the law, as well as in other directions, is often extremely valuable because it enables the University to steer a course which will avoid trouble, whereas otherwise it might find itself in embarrassing and troublesome situations. To make use of a man legally trained and on its teaching staff for this purpose has always been deemed good sense, and never before has it been regarded as trespassing upon the preserves of the Attorney General. On the contrary, it seems that previous Attorneys General welcomed the arrangement as a help to them. The University makes use of its specially trained persons in very many situations. Even without such a title or any title, the University would often need the services of a staff member of the exact nature of those performed by the University Counsel. The present incumbent has sometimes carried a full teaching schedule in the College of Law and served as Counsel in addition, depending upon conditions from time to time. II. Student Loan Funds: Mr. N. D. Hodges, and the University Counsel As of June 30, 1941, the University administered $359,805.68 of loan funds of various kinds. On the same date the sum of $267,104.86 was outstanding in loans to students. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941, the sum of $103,319.56 was collected on outstanding student loans. It will be observed that this is a sizeable loan business, but much out of the usual routine because of the large numbers of small loans to persons of an economic status either insecure or not well established. T o keep these small loans at all adequately serviced requires constant attention and many hundreds of personal contacts each year. Some years ago the Business Office employed Mr. Hodges to service those loans. H e was then a recent graduate of the College of Law of the University. He had no office but was assigned a desk in the Bursar's quarters. The inconvenience of this arrangement, as the business grew, and especially the lack of status imparting some dignity, was soon felt by Mr. Hodges, especially in dealing with recalcitrant, dishonest, or evasive debtors. Various plans were considered, including a letterhead for him with an address that would impress obstreperous debtors that legal proceedings were in the offing if some adjustment were not made. It was finally decided to give him his present title and, as soon as convenient, to give him space in the quarters of the University Counsel. This arrangement seemed the most logical, in view of the fact that the Board of Trustees had, many years before, made it the duty of the University Counsel to take suitable steps to collect "delinquent notes" evidencing loans from these student loan funds. Mr. Hodges has been very successful in this work, without being harsh or unfair to honest student borrowers who have been unable to meet their payments on time.