Office of Controller Records

Records concerning Oberlin College's fiscal activities reflect the frequent upset in functional responsibilities and administrative relationships between the offices of the bursar, controller, and treasurer. Changes in custodianship of these files have further contributed to the varied collection. From the beginning until the present day, financial matters of the College have been governed under guidelines established by the board of trustees and/or a trustee committee appointed to oversee investments. Between 1833 and 1899, the treasurer also served as the official secretary of the corporation. These duties were divided in 1899, when a secretary's office was created.

Under the 1904 Constitution and By-Laws the college treasurer held responsibility for "funds, securities, investments, muniments of title, indicia of ownership, assets, property, choses in action, accounts and items of credit and things receivable by or belonging to the College." This officer maintained account books of assets and liabilities, receipts and expenditures, financial and property transactions, and trust funds, and prepared the annual balance sheet and financial report for the board of trustees. He also estimated the upcoming year's receipts in order to plan the budget, and determined each department's share in the general expenses of the institution. (In 1995, many of these financial duties belonged to the controller's office.)

On the recommendation of the Investment Committee, the board voted in 1915 to assign management of investments to the Cleveland Trust Company or any legally constituted trust company in the state. From 1933 until 1942, an investment executive (also called investment officer) took the responsibilities of managing the College's investments and endowment away from the Treasurer's Office. The treasurer and the investment executive each reported directly to the president until 1942, when the board of trustees voted to unify the two offices.

The next significant step in the evolution of the financial management of the college occurred in 1955 with the creation of the position of business manager. Lewis R. Tower, in office from 1955 to 1971, was the first and only person to bear the title of business manager. This office was renamed as the vice president for business and finance during Dayton Livingston's tenure between 1971 and 1988. As Oberlin College's chief financial officers during their subsequent reigns, Tower and Livingston each reported directly to the president.

The controller's position was created in 1958, charged by President William E. Stevenson with the responsibility for general accounting procedures, including paying bills, reviewing proposed budgetary changes and transfers, preparing and distributing periodic departmental operating statements, and reconciling accounts with departmental records. The first controller, Arthur L. Cotton (previously an assistant to Lewis R. Tower), reported directly to the president during his tenure between 1958 and 1975. During this era, the treasurer was responsible for collecting tuition and fees, administering student loans, maintaining student account records, supervising finances for student organizations, and receiving gifts and donations. Cotton's successors, Richard B. Comstock (controller between 1975 and 1993) and Ronald Watts (beginning in 1994) reported in turn to the president, the vice president for business and finance (through 1988), the provost (through 1995), and the vice president of finance (1995- ).

When Roger Cooper retired as treasurer in 1984, an office of the bursar was created to report to the controller.  Assigned to this office were the former duties of the treasurer (namely, receiving tuition, fees, gifts and donations, overseeing student accounts and loans, and supervising the finances of student organizations). Barbara A. Pitts, who had been the assistant treasurer until Cooper's retirement, became the bursar. Upon Pitts' retirement in 1991, David K. Laczko became bursar. Subsequently, in 1992, the office's title was changed to the Student Accounts Office.  This office reports to the controller.

Between 1984 and 1989, Controller Comstock treated the treasurer's office as a "sub-department." In 1989, with the appointment of Charles Tharp, the position of the treasurer was once again redefined as a senior executive officer reporting to the president. The principal functions were providing staff support to the Trustee Investment Committee, evaluating and initiating investment policy, monitoring the performance of investment managers, supervising the investment of unitrusts and separately invested funds, and maintaining custodian and commercial bank relationships. The treasurer also was responsible for preparing budget projections of endowment income and recommending appropriate endowment payout policies, monitoring the activities of the Capital Ventures Office (now separate from the Development Office) in relation to policy guidelines established by the Investment Committee, negotiating lines of credit, and preparing materials and reports on these operations for the Trustee Investment Committee and the College administration. Charles Tharp resigned in August 1995. The treasurer's duties were reassigned to the new vice president of finance.