The Saskatchewan Universities Commission was established on 1 July 1974, coinciding with the division of a single university system operating on two campuses, into two autonomous universities: the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, and the University of Regina. The Commission's responsibilities included advising the government of the sums necessary to support the universities; reviewing the budgets and rationalizing funds allocations to the universities; and assisting in planning and development. Acting as an intermediary between the government and the institutions, the Commission was empowered to review and authorize capital project expenditures, as well as to review and rationalize graduate and undergraduate program proposals. One of nine members of the Commission staff, R.R. Buckley served as Physical Planner, responsible for reviewing the capital budgets of the universities and integrating them into multi-year forecast needs, and assessing immediate and long-term physical plant needs.