Guide to the Brown University Corporation Survey Committee files , 1929-1930

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	Brown University Corporation Survey Committee files
Date range:	1929-1930
Creator:	Brown University. Corporation.
Extent:	2.0 Linear feet
Abstract:	The Brown University Corporation Survey Committee files contain materials prepared by a committee appointed in 1930 to survey the policies of the University and make recommendations on its future. Members of the Committee were Samuel P. Capen, Luther P. Eisenhart, and Guy S. Ford. Most of the material consists of reports, proposals, assessments and financial documents.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	OF.1B.2

Scope & content

The Brown University Corporation Survey Committee files of 1930 are organized into eighteen series. The material represents the findings and recommendations of the committee which was formed to assess the state of Brown University.

Series I, Special study, contains a detailed comparison of the records of Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth and Williams' graduates in subsequent study at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, and Yale.

Series II, General printed and mimeographed material, includes the history, charter and governance of Brown University and Pembroke College, along with the Survey Committee's report.

Series III, Graduate School, contains overview material dealing with administration and financial aid to graduate students.

Series IV, Department Material, contains a series of reports arranged alphabetically by University department.

Series V, Educational Advice and Direction, includes reports on various psychological tests administered at Brown.

Series VI, Dealing with Finances, includes files on Brown's endowment, annuities, tuition, salaries, loans and pensions.

Series VII, University Health: Aims and Plans.

Series VIII, Religious and Moral Welfare, includes material on the Brown Christian Association.

Series IX, Libraries, comprises material on the John Hay and John Carter Brown Libraries. Included are histories, annual reports, special collections (Harris, McLellan Lincoln) and administrative documents. Also included are journal articles about research and libraries.

Series X, Relations of Brown University to the Community, includes a general statement of the relationship, along with consideration of several academic departments.

Series XI, Student Council.

Series XII, Men Undergraduates, includes historical material on the registration and academic standing of undergraduate students.

Series XIII, Committee on Loans, includes reports from 1928 and 1929.

Series XIV, Faculty, includes files on active and retired faculty, along with historical information on courseloads.

Series XV, Pembroke College, includes demographic information on students, along with a comparative study of graduate work at Radcliffe College.

Series XVI, Extension.

Series XVII, Honors Work

Series XVIII, Richardson's Letter and index.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Pembroke College (Brown University).
• Brown University--Administration.

Subject Topics

• Universities and colleges--Administration
• Universities and colleges--Evaluation
• Universities and colleges--Finance
• Universities and colleges--Planning

Document Types

• Administrative records
• Annual reports
• Budgets
• Organizational charts
• Photographs
• Reports

Subject Topics

• Education

Arrangement

Administrative history

During the first year of Clarence A. Barbour's presidency a committee composed of Chancellor Samuel P. Capen of the University of Buffalo, Dean Luther P. Eisenhart of Princeton University, and Dean Guy S. Ford of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota, surveyed all departments to determine the state of the University. Among their conclusions: that Brown had ceased to be a typical New England college and become a University; that Rhode Island depended on Brown as the chief educational institution in the State; that administrative development had failed to keep pace with the growth of the University; that entering students were found by various psychological tests to be above average freshmen, with the women scoring slightly higher than the men; that the Honors courses adopted in 1920 had not been effective as hoped, as the achievement of Brown graduates in professional schools lagged behind that of graduates of comparable schools; that Pembroke should be given more independence in her organization and offerings; that the Graduate School was providing Brown with nation-wide clientele from which to build her its staff; that there was need for reorganization of the curriculum and methods of instruction to stimulate students. This, then, was the state of the University when Barbour took charge. The Survey Committee presented its report to the Corporation, which hoped to begin an endowment campaign. All such plans came to an end with the advent of the Great Depression.

The above excerpt appears in Encyclopedia Brunoniana by Martha Mitchell, copyright 1993 by the Brown University Library.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Corporation records are restricted for 50 years from the date of the record's creation. Exceptions will be granted to those individuals who have received permission in writing from the Vice President and Secretary of the University and who have presented this written permission to the University Archives.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Brown University Corporation Survey Committee Files, OF.1B.2.SRVY, Brown University Archives.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Brown University Library staff.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013 January 16
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Inventory

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