After resigning from the College, Williams was elected to Michigan's legislature, and thereafter, elevated to lieutenant governor. He helped pass the Reorganization Act of 1861. That new law mandated that the College have a four-year curriculum and the power to grant degrees comparable to those of the University of Michigan – that is, master's degrees (and, much later, doctoral degrees). Under the act, a newly created body known as the State Board of Agriculture took over from the State Board of Education in running the institution. At that time, the legislature adopted the more pronounceable name of State Agricultural College.