Rhode Island School of Design. Faculty records (10.1)

Historical note

The Rhode Island School of Design Executive Committee hired Eleazer B. Homer in 1901 as the first Director of the school and organized RISD around five departments.: Freehand drawing and painting; Decorative design; Architecture; Mechanical engineering; Modeling and sculpture; and Children's Dept. The Director and the Dept. Heads constituted the "faculty" with the registrar as Secretary of the Faculty. The faculty was instructed to "prepare and present [to the Executive Committee]...a system of rules and regulations for the administration and discipline of the school" and "to submit...plans for the revision of the various courses of instruction." All other members of the teaching staff were considered instructors.

The faculty served as an advisory body as the Executive Committee retained the authority for approving all policy recommendations forwarded to them. Standing Committees of the Faculty were: Nominations; Petitions; Special Students and Scholarships; Catalogue; Library; and Graduation Exercises. The faculty discussed the academic structure and policies of RISD including curriculum development, class schedules, student discipline and probation, graduation eligibility, and the grading system.

The structure of the faculty was modified in 1934 at the request of Faculty personnel. All members of the teaching staff became faculty members and "Department Heads and such members of the school as the Executive Committee of the school may appoint," became members of the Faculty Council, 1934-1946, with responsibilities identical to the former faculty. President John R. Frazier and the Executive Committee instituted academic rank in 1956 creating the positions of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Instructor.

The faculty organized as a duly constituted body during the 1959-60 academic year creating several faculty committees: Educational Policy; Admissions Policy; Faculty Responsibilities; Student Affairs; Library; Exhibitions and Publications; and an Academic Council composed of an Executive Secretary, Chairmen of the Standing Committees and a Recording Secretary. Efforts to merge Faculty and Administrative committees began in 1961 culminating in a new Administration/Faculty organization for the 1962-63 academic year.

In 1978 the Faculty organized a union, the Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association, signing the first contract in 1979. The Part-Time Faculty Association negotiated its first contract in 1982.