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Office files

Office files, 2006-2009, 2011-2014, 3.63 MB (66 files)(digital)

Restrictions on Access
Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions including, but not limited to, home addresses and home phone numbers of government officials or employees (Texas Government Code, Section 552.117 and 1175); and email addresses (Texas Government Code, Section 552.137), an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 552). Refer to the overall restriction statement for instructions on requesting access through the Texas Attorney General.

Scope and Content
The Texas governor appoints a large number of state officials (with the consent of the Texas Senate) and fills vacancies in state and district offices (except vacancies in the legislature). The Appointments Office is responsible for naming individuals to serve on state boards and commissions, and also for arranging training of those appointees. These records consist of files concerning three different activities of Governor Rick Perry’s Appointments Office: the annual training seminar (designed to acquaint newly appointed board and commission members with the roles and responsibilities of their positions, as well as the governor’s philosophy and priorities); the annual student regent training seminar (with the same goal but for a much smaller group); and the annual leadership work conference of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) (with a Texas delegation of five state representatives and five state senators appointed by the governor). These electronic records date 2006-2009, 2011-2014.

For each of six annual training seminars, dating 2006-2009, 2011-2012, there is a template for the invitation letter plus an invitation list (in spreadsheet format). Data included in the invitation list spreadsheet includes the following: RSVP, name, board, email, title, best address, work phone, home phone, cellular phone, appointment date, confirmation date, expiration date, and training date. As explained in the first invitation letter (2006), the training (coordinated by the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin) was “specifically designed for volunteer board members the governor has appointed. The purpose of these seminars is to acquaint newly appointed board and commission members with the roles and responsibilities of their positions, as well as, the governor’s philosophy and priorities. Our office has intentionally refrained from inviting full time, paid appointees to participate simply because the information presented is geared toward those with less interaction with state government.” Furthermore, the training was mandatory: “It is the policy of the Governor’s Office that all appointees attend a Governor’s Training Seminar. During this seminar, I will discuss my expectations of you as a board member and address some of the special challenges associated with public service.” The full-day training session was followed by a reception hosted by Governor and Mrs. Perry at the Governor’s Mansion.

A second type of training session documented in these records – however minimally – is the Student Regent Training Seminar, 2012-2014. These records consist of the template letter of invitation for newly appointed student regents, as well as outgoing student regents, who were invited to attend as “a beneficial tool for the future success of new regents.” There are no invitation lists for these student regents (either incoming our outgoing), but there are letters to each of the university presidents or chairmen of the boards of regents inviting them to attend the lunch. The institutions included Texas A&M University System, Midwestern State University, Stephen F. Austin University, Texas State University, Texas Tech University, Texas Women’s University, University of Houston, University of North Texas, University of Texas System, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

The SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) files consist of 5 letters from Governor Rick Perry to the President of SREB, naming Texas legislators invited by Governor Rick Perry to attend SREB’s annual Legislative Work Conference, dating 2009-2012, 2014. Each state customarily appoints a delegation of five key legislators from the State House and five from the State Senate to the Legislative Work Conference, including the state’s representatives on the SREB Legislative Advisory Council. Most of the files also contain a letter from the governor of the host state to Governor Perry, outlining the focus of that year’s conference.

Formats of the original electronic files include word processing or plain text files (.doc, .pdf ), and spreadsheets (.xls and .xlsx). Digital files presented for public use will generally be PDF for text documents or spreadsheets. Files in their original format are available on request; restrictions may apply.


Arrangement
These records are arranged by type of seminar/conference, as received from Governor Perry’s office.

Preferred Citation
(Identify the item), Office files, Texas Governor Rick Perry Appointments Office records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Technical Requirements
None


Inventory of Board and nominees spreadsheets

Texas-Digital-Archive
E2015/117 Appointee Seminar, 2006-2009, 2011-2014 [3.25 MB, 61 files]:
Seminar, 2006-2009, 2011-2012 [2.06 MB, 16 files, in 7 folders] (RESTRICTED)
[Note: Invitation lists (spreadsheets) contain possibly excepted information: home addresses, home phone numbers, personal email addresses.]
Student Regent, 2012-2014 [1.27 MB, 45 files, in 3 folders]
SREB (Southern Regional Education Board), 2009-2012, 2014 [388 KB, 5 files]
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