Appraisal of the records occurred in Winston Van Horne's Mitchell Hall Office from November 2012-January 2013, during which time staff from the UWM Libraries Collection and Resource Management division accessioned a large number of books and finished publications under separate cover. Many of the files in Van Horne's office had little or no record value and were not accessioned.

A number of files relating to Van Horne's University service were separated from the collection and moved to the records of the Department of Africology, the Institute on Race and Ethnicity, and the Campus Committees Collection.