| Creator: | Indiana University |
| Title: | Indiana University faculty minutes |
| Collection No.: | C236 |
| Dates: | 1835-1964, bulk 1835-1947 |
| Quantity: | Quantity: 18 Boxes |
| Quantity: | Quantity: 7 Boxes |
| Quantity: | Quantity: 18 Boxes |
| Quantity: | Quantity: 7 Boxes |
| Abstract: | General meetings of the Indiana University faculty began in 1835, to discuss the industriousness of its students, calling student rolls, and hearing reports on the work and standing of each of the students. Disciplinary measures, dismissals, and exams for students were also discussed during many of the meetings throughout the nineteenth century. By the 1920s, the faculty had grown to such a point that it was necessary to create a representative body of the faculty, but the faculty as a whole continued to meet with some regularity. Today the faculty body rarely meet, but may be convened by the IU president, the Secretary of the University Faculty Council, or on petition signed by voting faculty members numbering no less than 5% of all voting faculty members. |
| Language: | Materials are in English . |
| Repository: | Indiana University Archives Herman B Wells Library E460 1320 East Tenth Street Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7000 Business Number: 812-855-1127 archives@indiana.edu URL: https://libraries.indiana.edu/university-archives |
The University Archives' holdings of the Indiana University general faculty meetings and minutes begin in 1835, when Indiana University was known as Indiana College. At early faculty meetings, which were held weekly, the faculty focused on the industriousness of its students, calling student rolls, and hearing reports on the work and standing of each of the students. Disciplinary measures, dismissals, and exams for students were also discussed during many of the meetings throughout the nineteenth century.
In these early days of the University, faculty members were assembled into standing sub-committees, each of which would oversee various aspects of the University's functions, such as Athletics, Libraries, and Student Affairs. The Student Affairs Committee addressed issues of admissions, academic integrity, student conduct and discipline, and social functions.
By the 1920s the faculty had grown to approximately 300 members, making the creation of a representative body advantageous to the completion of important faculty business. Thus, in 1929 the University Council was formed. This smaller group represented the interests of the broader faculty, and it investigated questions presented to it by the administration, the faculty as a whole, or any individual member of the faculty. It would submit its findings and conclusions to the faculty. Recommendations and reports put forth by the University Council required formal approval from the general faculty in order to be presented to the Board of Trustees for action.
The general faculty on the Bloomington Campus met regularly through 1947, thereafter meeting biannually as the University Council was disbanded and replaced with the Faculty Council, which became the leading representative body of the faculty after the drafting of a Faculty Constitution in 1947. In the 1960s, under President Elvis J. Stahr, the University faced a major reorganization, and the Faculty Council itself was restructured. The goal of the University reorganization was to divide the University into three autonomous units: Bloomington, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, and the remaining regional campuses. In January 1969 the proposed amendments to the Faculty Council Constitution were presented and debated. The Faculty Constitution, which had provided the guidelines for University-wide faculty, would become exclusively the constitution of the Bloomington Faculty. Other faculties were given the option of creating their own faculty constitutions. Thus, the Faculty Council ceased to operate in its original form and was divided into the Bloomington Faculty Council and the University Faculty Council, a body for the governing of system-wide faculty issues.
Today, meetings of the faculty rarely happen but may be convened by the President or by the Secretary of the University Faculty Council on request of the University Faculty Council or on petition signed by voting faculty members numbering no less than 5% of all voting faculty members.
This collection consists of two series, General and Student Affairs Committee. The minutes in each series are organized chronologically in bound volumes. The General series covers the period from 1835 to 1964. There is at least one set of minutes for every year in this period, except for the years 1838, 1845, 1849-51, 1955, and 1958. The Student Affairs Committee series consists of two bound volumes containing minutes from 1911 to 1921.
In addition to the official record, this collection includes unofficial meeting notes from 1860 recorded in a notebook.
Regular topics discussed within the General minutes were curriculum matters, deaths of faculty members, the organization of a University Council, the drafting of the faculty constitution and the State of the University Addresses presented by the president of the University. Also included is an account of the fire in the new College Building on 12 July 1883. For the most part, any handouts distributed at meetings are included within the set of minutes for that particular meeting; there were, however, a handful of reports and letters found tucked into the minute books.
Topics discussed in the Student Affairs Committee minutes include admissions, academic integrity, student conduct and discipline, and social functions on campus.
The faculty occasionally met more than once on the same day. These meetings are represented by a duplicate date in the folder list.
Collection is organized into two series: General and Student Affairs Committee. Each series is arranged chronologically.
This collection is open for research.
Advance notice is required.
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[Item], Indiana University faculty minutes, Collection C236, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Accessions 0543 and 1100
Processed by Nicole Mares.
Completed in 2007 .
Updated by Tyler Davis in 2018 to include Student Affairs Committee series (Accession 0543).
General: Incorrectly recorded in original minutes as 1849
General: (Incorrectly dated in minutes as 9 April 1864)
General: Unofficial meeting notes.
General: (Actually 17 June 1869?)
General: Recorded as 1875
General: Recorded as 1875