What is "board of control"

Control \Con*trol"\, n. [F. contr[^o]le a counter register, contr. fr. contr-r[^o]le; contre (L. contra) + r[^o]le roll, catalogue. See Counter and Roll, and cf. Counterroll.]

1. A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register; a counter register. [Obs.]
   --Johnson.

2. That which serves to check, restrain, or hinder; restraint. ``Speak without control.''
   --Dryden.

3. Power or authority to check or restrain; restraining or regulating influence; superintendence; government; as, children should be under parental control.

   The House of Commons should exercise a control over all the departments of the executive administration.
   --Macaulay.

4. (Mach.) The complete apparatus used to control a mechanism or machine in operation, as a flying machine in flight; specifically (A["e]ronautics), the mechanism controlling the rudders and ailerons.

5. (Climatology) Any of the physical factors determining the climate of any particular place, as latitude,distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation.

6. (Technology) in research, an object or subject used in an experimental procedure, which is treated identically to the primary subject of the experiment, except for the omission of the specific treatment or conditions whose effect is being investigated. If the control is a group of living organisms, as is common in medical research, it is called the

   control group.

   Note: For most experimental procedures, the results are not considered valid and reliable unless a proper control experiment is performed. There are various types of control used in experimental science, and often several groups of subjects serve as controls, being subjected to different variations of the experimental procedure, or controlling for several variables being tested. When the effects caused by an experimental treatment are not consistent and obvious, statistical analysis of the results is typically used to determine if there are any significant differences between the effects of different experimental conditions.

7. (Technology) the part of an experimental procedure in which the controls[6] are subjected to the experimental conditions.

8. the group of technical specialists exercising control by remote communications over a distant operation, such as a space flight; as, the American Mission Control for manned flights is located in Houston.

   Board of control. See under Board.

Board \Board\ (b[=o]rd), n. [OE. bord, AS. bord board, shipboard; akin to bred plank, Icel. bor[eth] board, side of a ship, Goth. f[=o]tu-baurd footstool, D. bord board, G. brett, bort. See def. 8. [root]92.]

1. A piece of timber sawed thin, and of considerable length and breadth as compared with the thickness, -- used for building, etc.

   Note: When sawed thick, as over one and a half or two inches, it is usually called a plank.

2. A table to put food upon.

   Note: The term board answers to the modern table, but it was often movable, and placed on trestles.
   --Halliwell.

   Fruit of all kinds . . . She gathers, tribute large, and on the board Heaps with unsparing hand.
   --Milton.

3. Hence: What is served on a table as food; stated meals; provision; entertainment; -- usually as furnished for pay; as, to work for one's board; the price of board.

4. A table at which a council or court is held. Hence: A council, convened for business, or any authorized assembly or meeting, public or private; a number of persons appointed or elected to sit in council for the management or direction of some public or private business or trust; as, the Board of Admiralty; a board of trade; a board of directors, trustees, commissioners, etc.

   Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat then at that board.
   --Clarendon.

   We may judge from their letters to the board.
   --Porteus.

5. A square or oblong piece of thin wood or other material used for some special purpose, as, a molding board; a board or surface painted or arranged for a game; as, a chessboard; a backgammon board.

6. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers, etc.; pasteboard; as, to bind a book in boards.

7. pl. The stage in a theater; as, to go upon the boards, to enter upon the theatrical profession.

8. [In this use originally perh. a different word meaning border, margin; cf. D. boord, G. bord, shipboard, and G. borte trimming; also F. bord (fr. G.) the side of a ship. Cf. Border.] The border or side of anything. (Naut.)

   1. The side of a ship. ``Now board to board the rival vessels row.''
      --Dryden. See On board, below.

   2. The stretch which a ship makes in one tack. Note: Board is much used adjectively or as the last part of a compound; as, fir board, clapboard, floor board, shipboard, sideboard, ironing board, chessboard, cardboard, pasteboard, seaboard; board measure. The American Board, a shortened form of ``The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions'' (the foreign missionary society of the American Congregational churches). Bed and board. See under Bed. Board and board (Naut.), side by side. Board of control, six privy councilors formerly appointed to superintend the affairs of the British East Indies. --Stormonth. Board rule, a figured scale for finding without calculation the number of square feet in a board. --Haldeman. Board of trade, in England, a committee of the privy council appointed to superintend matters relating to trade. In the United States, a body of men appointed for the advancement and protection of their business interests; a chamber of commerce. Board wages.

      1. Food and lodging supplied as compensation for services; as, to work hard, and get only board wages.

      2. Money wages which are barely sufficient to buy food and lodging.

   3. A separate or special allowance of wages for the procurement of food, or food and lodging. --Dryden. By the board, over the board, or side. ``The mast went by the board.'' --Totten. Hence (Fig.), To go by the board, to suffer complete destruction or overthrow. To enter on the boards, to have one's name inscribed on a board or tablet in a college as a student. [Cambridge, England.] ``Having been entered on the boards of Trinity college.'' --Hallam. To make a good board (Naut.), to sail in a straight line when close-hauled; to lose little to leeward. To make short boards, to tack frequently. On board.

      1. On shipboard; in a ship or a boat; on board of; as, I came on board early; to be on board ship.

      2. In or into a railway car or train. [Colloq. U. S.]

         Returning board, a board empowered to canvass and make an official statement of the votes cast at an election.

n. A small executive body in municipal government, usually dealing with financial and administrative matters.

In municipal government a Board of Control is an executive body that usually deals with financial and administrative matters. The idea is that a small body of four or five people is better able to make certain decisions than a large, unwieldy city council. Boards of Control were introduced in many North American municipalities in the early 20th century as a product of the municipal reform movement. They proved unpopular with many as they tended to centralize power in a small body while disempowering city councils.

Boards of Control typically consist of the mayor and several Controllers who are elected on a city-wide basis as opposed to aldermen who were elected on a ward basis. As a result, Boards of Control tended to be less representative of the diverse opinions and communities with majority views among the population being overrepresented. As well, since they were elected by a larger electorate running for a seat on the Board of Control would be prohibitively expensive for many municipal politicians resulting in wealthier politicians being more likely to run for the body. Lastly, Boards of Control tended to meet in camera rather than in open session in the manner of city councils making them less accountable to the public.

Because of these problems, many municipalities abolished Boards of Control in the years following World War II. They were maintained in several municipalities in suburban Toronto, Canada, into the late 1980s, including North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke. The City of London, Ontario was one of the few remaining municipalities in North America to retain a Board of Control. It was abolished after the 2010 municipal elections.

Board of Control can mean:

• Right Honourable Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, commonly known as the India Board or Board of Control that oversaw the activities of the British East India Company from late 18th to the mid 19th centuries
• Board of Control (municipal government)
• Toronto Board of Control the city of Toronto's elected executive body from 1904 until 1969
• Board of Control for Cricket in India
• Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency
• British Boxing Board of Control
• Florida Board of Control, a former statewide governing body for the State University System of Florida
• Sri Lanka Cricket, formerly known as the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka