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[[underlined]]Report of the Executive Committee[[/underlined]]

The Executive Committee of the Board of Regents met on April 14 to review the proposed agenda for the May 11 meeting of the Board. 

[[underlined]]Report of the Audit and Review Committee[[/underlined]]

Discussing the report summarized below, the Regents expressed their disappointment at the apparent lack of progress in increasing the representation of minorities and women in the professional ranks. While it was recognized that well-intentioned and thorough searches have failed in the past to locate minorities qualified for certain positions (particularly in the sciences), it was suggested that the Smithsonian should increase its efforts to build pools of excellent minority scholars by means of more aggressive pre- and post-doctoral fellowship programs. The Secretary acknowledged the need for this and added that he is exporing the possibilities for more creative recruiting in nontraditional Smithsonian disciplines where the pools of potential candidates may be larger.

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The Audit and Review Committee met on March 12. Coopers and Lybrand reviewed their Report to Management for fiscal year 1986, highlighting the several recommendations relating to the accounting of magazine receipts, the effectiveness of internal controls at remote Smithsonian bureaus, and the need for improved automation in the Institution's property management system. They also presented the financial statements for Smithsonian appropriated and trust funds for fiscal year 1986, pointing out that there were no significant differences from prior years' statements, and that Coopers and Lybrand had issued an unqualified "clean" opinion for the 1986 figures.

Mr. Stanton reviewed the annual report of the Office of Audits and Investigations for 1986, highlighting internal audits, contract audits and investigations of fraud and misuse of property or position. He reported specifically that some Smithsonian organizations had not performed continuing inventory operations as required by the Institution's directive because of a lack of resources and that the audits of contracts had saved the Smithsonian $260,000 in the last year.

Mr. Jameson introduced the report, "Status of the Smithsonian's Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs," pointing out that while the gains in the hiring and promotions of minorities and women had been disappointing, there had been appreciable progress in infrastructure development and external networking. After describing such activities as special recruitment efforts, the work of the Committee for a Wider Audience, and the recent establishment of the Cultural Education Committee, he noted that the major difficulties continue to be in hiring minoriries in research and curatorial positions, particularly in the sciences. In general discussion it was noted that attempts at quick fixes are unrealistic and that, over time, the situation is generally improving. While museums were once perceived as elitist, their image is now increasingly open and pluralistic. As images have some relation to the employment picture, Smithsonian efforts to bring in selected young professionals, or more established minority scientists on an exchange or visiting basis,