Report of Regents Cultural Education Committee to The Board of Regents

Your Committee on Cultural Education had its scheduled meeting on February 12, 2018. Regent Roger Tilles, Chair of the Cultural Education Committee, submitted the following written report. In attendance were committee members: Regent Tilles, Chair, Regent Cea, Regent Cottrell, Regent Chin, Regent Johnson, Regent Ouderkirk and Regent Mead. Regents, in addition to CE Committee Members, in attendance were: Chancellor Rosa, Vice Chancellor Brown, and Regent Reyes. Also in attendance were Commissioner Elia, Executive Deputy Commissioner Berlin, and Counsel and Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs Alison Bianchi.

ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION

Chair’s Remarks: Regent Tilles welcomed everyone and introduced Deputy Commissioner Mark Schaming. Deputy Commissioner Schaming provided a brief report on Office of Cultural Education news and activities including:  The State Archives received 144 applications requesting a total of $7.5 million for the local government records management improvement grants.  These applications will be reviewed in the coming months and projects that are awarded funding will begin in July.  The projects include; 25 shared services applications requesting just over $2 million, 11 applications from New York City mayoral agencies requesting $913,564, and 108 individual applications requesting $4.6 million.  In addition, the State Archives received 14 applications requesting a total of $174,576 for the Documentary Heritage Program grants.  This past weekend the New York State Museum hosted an event titled Women of Science honoring woman working in a variety of scientific disciplines at the museum. Visitors enjoyed a day of scientific hands-on activities, mini lectures and “Ask the Scientist” sessions, and opportunities to speak with scientists about their work and research.  

New Netherland Institute and Dutch Collections in Office of Cultural Education [CE (D) 1] - The collecting institutions within the Office of Cultural Education (OCE); the State Archives, State Library and State Museum together hold the largest, most comprehensive collections that document New Netherland, among the oldest European settlements in the United States. Along with the associated research, these collections help describe the earliest and continuous European settlement in what is now New York State. The presentation will explore collections, research, and plans for upcoming exhibitions, education initiatives and collections access.