General counsel becomes vice president post

In a move intended to recognize the intricacy and importance of the University's legal affairs, the Board of Regents decided last month to make the general counsel post into a vice presidency position.

Though the title change will not alter the job requirements of the position, it will ensure that the general counsel will report directly to the president. In the past, the University's head attorney reported to the chief financial officer.

The current interim co-general counsels have been reporting to the president since last February to prepare for the change.

The regents' decision came under the recommendation of University President Lee Bollinger. Bollinger said the title modification is not related to the two recent lawsuits challenging the University's use of affirmative action in its admissions policies, which have received a great deal of national attention.

"I feel the general counsel is so important to the University ... I want to make sure it has the stature of a vice president," Bollinger said. "There are few positions that are more important than the position of general counsel. It's something I believed long before I became president."

Bollinger has made a point of bringing greater attention to the position since the beginning of his presidency. Earlier this year, Bollinger invited Interim General Counsel Elizabeth Barry to join the regents and executive officers at the regents' table during the board's monthly meetings.

"I'm sitting at the table because he asked me to and because he wanted me to," Barry said. "I think it's the same general idea behind (the title change). It's a kind of recognition that the legal affairs at the University are significantly complicated and important. It is an appropriate step to make."

Barry said the recent recognition is the appropriate organizational move.

"For how I do my job, having a seat at the table doesn't really change the way I work," Barry said. "The change comes in the way the office is perceived. To have a seat at the table is a symbolic gesture signifying how the office is involved."

Bollinger said the change is consistent with the policies of most of the University's peer institutions.

"The structure at Michigan has been atypical," Barry said. "If you look at any major university, or actually any university, it is pretty typical that it is a vice president position."

Regent Laurence Deitch (D-Ann Arbor) said the University's dependence on the services of the general counsel merit the position's new title.

"So much of the business of the University involves complex legal issues, so elevating that position is consistent with what the practices and policies would be in a large institution and major corporation," Deitch said.

- Daily Staff Reporter Janet Adamy contributed to this report.

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