Search

The correspondence subseries is slight and is comprised partly of traditional correspondence, as well as printouts of electronic mail. There is also a file of e-mail printouts in the Topical Files subseries, reflecting the early use ITD staff made of the technology for internal and external communication. The Topical Files subseries, arranged alphabetically, reflects ITD's involvement in community generated activities, national initiatives, internal and external projects, and long-range planning. Van Houweling's participation in the deliberation of policy at the national level is evident in files including the Council on Competitiveness, Vision 2010, the Democratic Issues Group, the National Information Infrastructure and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Speeches files hold transcripts of several of Van Houweling Washington, D.C. testimonials. Also of significance are several folders documenting the phasing out of MTS (Michigan Terminal System) and ITD's efforts to manage controversy during the transition to distributed computing. Included is a 1994 document entitled, "Moving from an MTS Centered Computing Environment to Distributed Computing Environment," which was designed to clarify issues and answer questions. Other files of significance include records documenting reorganizations in 1990/1991 and 1994/1995. Changes in 1991 involved major cuts and reallocations in an era of cost restraints; 1995 brought dramatic restructuring and significant downsizing with a movement toward highly service focused technical staffing. The series also contains several reports, including "Priority Services Review: Perceived Value Study Report," 1991 and "Special Task Force on Statistical Support at the University of Michigan," 1989.