Faculty records, 1911-1986

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Summary

Creator:
Duke University. Faculty
Abstract:
The responsibilities of faculty members, in addition to planning classes and providing instruction, included enacting regulations necessary to carry out instruction, advance the standards of work, and develop the scholarly aims of the school. The Faculty also recommended degree candidates and persons worthy of receiving academic distinction to the trustees. The records document administrative and academic concerns of university faculty members and officers from 1911-1986. They consist of bound volumes of minutes, reports, memoranda, agendas, and correspondence. The records also include a few invitations, proposals, announcements, newsletters, and newspaper clippings.
Extent:
4.5 Linear Feet
about 4,000 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
UA.28.01.0009
University Archives Record Group:
28 -- Faculty and Staff Organizations
28 -- Faculty and Staff Organizations > 01 -- General Organizations

Background

Scope and content:

Members of various faculty councils, committees, and governing bodies of Trinity College and Duke University created these records between 1911 and 1986. The records document administrative and academic concerns of university faculty members and officers during this period of time. The records consist of bound volumes of minutes of the General Faculty (also referred to as the Faculty and later renamed the University Faculty), General Faculty Council, and the Council on Undergraduate Teaching (also called the Council on Undergraduate Instruction), along with folders of other material. The bulk consists of minutes, reports, memoranda, agendas, and correspondence.

These records reflect the actions of the following university bodies: the Commission on Faculty Reorganization, the Council on Undergraduate Teaching, the (General) Faculty Council, Faculty Meetings, the Faculty Organizational Committee, the Faculty Standing Committee on the Curricula, and University Faculty Minutes. These records contain the same types of documents as those found in the bound volumes; however, they also contain a few invitations, proposals, announcements, newsletters, and newspaper clippings.

Biographical / historical:

In its meeting of January 8, 1892, the Board of Trustees of Trinity College appointed a committee to "to collect and prepare a system of Rules, regulations and by-laws for the government of the College." In this first set of bylaws, the Faculty of Trinity College was defined to consist of "Professors, Assistant Professor and Instructors." The Faculty was to assist the President "in the work of instruction, administration, and discipline." Ten years later, the Trustees requested President John C. Kilgo to draw up new bylaws for the school. In the Constitution and Bylaws of 1903, the Faculty was defined to consist of all professors, adjunct professors, and instructors elected by the Board of Trustees or its Executive Committee.

The responsibilities of faculty members, in addition to planning classes and providing instruction, included enacting regulations necessary to carry out instruction, advance the standards of work, and develop the scholarly aims of the school. The Faculty also recommended degree candidates and persons worthy of receiving academic distinction to the trustees. The president nominated all members of the faculty, represented them at public meetings of the university, and called and presided at faculty meetings. The president had to approve all actions of the Faculty, and could veto any action by it, but had to submit his reasons to them in writing. When Duke University was founded in 1924, the trustees amended the University's Bylaws only slightly. The Faculty then consisted of all professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and instructors elected by the Board of Trustees or its Executive Committee. All other definitions and responsibilities of faculty members remained the same. Beginning in 1936 the term "General Faculty" is used in the Bylaws. Members of the General Faculty were responsible for both instruction and research. Each of the colleges, graduate and professional schools had their own faculties with deans elected by the trustees. Each faculty had authority to carry out any educational functions within its field. In the Bylaws of 1952 the General Faculty is defined as the president, secretary of the university, officers whom the president designated as primarily responsible for instruction and research, full instructors or above engaged in work for which university degrees were awarded, and faculty emeriti.

President Few renamed the Undergraduate Council the General Faculty Council at a meeting held on October 28, 1937. According to the 1952 Bylaws, the General Faculty Council consisted of the deans and assistant deans of Trinity College and the Woman's College, the dean of the Graduate School, and the secretary of the General Faculty. Membership also included the chairman and director of undergraduate studies in each department offering instruction in the undergraduate colleges of liberal arts and sciences, as well as one member elected by each department that had five or more teachers giving instruction in arts and sciences. The General Faculty Council met once per month. They discussed curriculum in arts and sciences as well as concerns about education and policies.

Although the goals, responsibilities, and membership of the General Faculty remained constant throughout the years, by 1952 the term "University Faculty" had come into use instead. In addition to the definitions and responsibilities of the Faculty from previous years, in the 1952 bylaws the Faculty was also expected to promote faculty and student welfare; consult with and advise the president on matters of general university policy; and receive information about the affairs of the university. The President served as chairman of the Faculty and the Secretary of the University served as Faculty secretary. The Faculty met regularly in October and February as well as before the June commencement. They also met by request of the president, of the vice-president in the division of education, or of twenty members of the Faculty.

As stated in the 1952 Bylaws, the Council on Undergraduate Teaching consisted of deans and assistant deans of Trinity College, the Woman's College, the College of Engineering, other officers and appointed members, and teachers of all ranks who devoted fifty percent or more of their time to undergraduate instruction. The Council's goals involved improving the quality and efficiency of teaching. The Council had the right to take any action necessary to secure these goals. The Council on Undergraduate Teaching is interchangeably referred to as the Council on Undergraduate Instruction. The origin of the Council dates back to at least 1934.

Only a few minor changes affecting the definition of the Faculty have occurred in the Bylaws since then. In the Bylaws of 1962, the provost, vice presidents, secretary, registrar, and university librarian were included in the University Faculty. Other changes in the bylaws over the years have provided for the carrying out of the Faculty's functions through appropriate councils, committees, and other bodies. These have included a Faculty Council (to oversee educational matters beyond the purview of the individual school's faculties), a Council on Undergraduate Teaching, a Council on the Instruction of Freshmen, and other committees.

Governance and Advisory Councils: As the institution developed President William Preston Few prevailed upon the trustees to organize into committees so that Board members could become more knowledgeable about and involved. Still, during Few's administration he, Vice President and Treasurer Robert Lee Flowers and Dean of the University William H. Wannamaker made decisions on matters of general university policy subject to board approval. This pattern continued after Few's death, despite several formal and informal requests from faculty for more involvement in governance. During and after World War II, some faculty began to actively seek a greater role. In 1946 and again in 1948, our AAUP chapter petitioned the trustees for permission to form a faculty senate that would exercise legislative power. The Board tabled these requests.

Then, in 1950, the newly appointed President, Arthur Hollis Edens, convened a committee to study the organization of the faculty. This "General Faculty's Commission on Faculty Reorganization" submitted its report in 1952, and the Trustees revised the University Bylaws to incorporate some of its recommendations. In the revisions, the organization and responsibilities of the faculty were laid out in specific detail. The 1952 Bylaws also created a faculty-administrative liaison committee called the University Council (q.v.) as a standing committee of the General Faculty. The University Council acted as an advisory body on matters of general University policy and interest. The revisions also created an Undergraduate Faculty Council and an Engineering Faculty Council to oversee undergraduate instruction.

In the 1962 revision of the University Bylaws, the Board of Trustees gave the faculty authority to organize itself as it wished, thereby doing away with the very formal structures of 1952. A report in March 1962 by the University Faculty's Committee on Faculty Organization recommended formation of the Academic Council. The University Policy Advisory Committee was also formed as a successor to the University Council. For additional information about the history, structure and function of the Academic Council, see Professor Don Fluke's history, in the Council's records here.

Acquisition information:
The Faculty Records were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1955-1989.
Processing information:

Processed by Jane Veronica Charles, Summer 2000

Encoded by Kimberly Sims, January 2008

Accessions A48-2256, A60-203, A73-152, A73-154, A73-155, A74-4, A75-58, A77-180, A79-27, A79-76, A80-71, A88-30, and A89-89 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

Excepting publicly distributed material, for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the origin of the records, permission in writing from the director of the office of record and the University Archivist is required for use.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Faculty Records, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.