Records of the President, William R. Ferrante

Series 1. Subject Series
This series contains over eighty percent of the total volume of records in the record group and covers all aspects of the administration, organization, and operation of the University during Ferrante's tenure. Included are correspondence, memos, reports, budget data, program development documents, and a host of other materials which flow through the president's office. The files relate to such matters as faculty collective bargaining, the University's affirmative action program, honorary degree nominees, salaries and tenure, and the energy crisis of the mid-seventies.

Among the more interesting files are those dealing with the American Association of University Professors. Faculty collective bargaining was still a relatively new phenomenon at the University of Rhode Island in the summer of 1973. The AAUP had won the right to represent the faculty for collective bargaining purposes in a very close election in December, 1971. Consequently, as is clear from the AAUP files in this series, both the administration and the faculty were still in the process of developing the parameters of their new labor- management relationship. The uncertainties surrounding this new relationship are also evident in the folders labeled "collective bargaining".

Other materials of interest include those in the files labeled "Classification System and Salary Program Survey". The Salary Program Survey was a long-needed study by the consulting firm of Cresap, McCormick, and Paget. The consultants reviewed the job classifications and salaries for every non- faculty position at the University and recommended the reclassification of dozens of those positions in order to bring the classifications and salaries more in line with the actual duties performed by the incumbent. Because implementation of many of the reports recommendations meant increases in salary for some and decreases for others, it generated considerable controversy throughout the University and resulted in the filing of a number of union grievances.

The series is arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 2. Committee Series
The Committee Series represents the all-university committees which were in operation during Ferrante's tenure as acting president at the University of Rhode Island. Some are standing or permanent committees, others are ad hoc committees created for a specific purpose or to deal with a specific issue or problem in a limited period of time. The files for both kinds of committees include the president's copies of correspondence, memos, agendas, minutes of committee meetings, and draft and final reports issued by the committee in question.

Among the ad hoc committees represented are the Ad Hoc Committee on the Modified Calendar System and Energy Crisis Committee. The Committee to Modify the Calendar was created by the president's office to study possible options to the existing academic calendar which had classes commencing in mid- September and ending in early June, with first semester final exams coming after Christmas. After considering a number of options, the committee recommended a calendar which had classes commencing in early September and ending in early May, with the first semester ending before Christmas and the second semester beginning in mid-January. The committee's recommendation was adopted and the calendar it recommended is the one under which the University currently operates.

The Energy Crisis Committee is an example of a committee created to contend with a particular problem, in this instance the severe oil shortage created by the Arab oil embargo of 1973. The University was faced with the problem of attempting to offer the same level of service and to keep its physical plant operating while coping with a significantly reduced supply of oil. The Energy Crisis Committee files detail the ways in which the University responded to the nationwide emergency. Steps included reducing daytime temperatures in all buildings to sixty-five degrees, shutting down the back-up boiler, cutting off hot water supplies to non-residential buildings, and mothballing a percentage of the University's vehicle fleet.

An example of a major standing committee would be the Joint Educational Policy Committee (JEPC),a joint administrative/Faculty Senate committee involved in long range academic planning.

The series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the committee and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 3. Chronological File
The Chronological File consists of carbon and photo copies of letters written by Ferrante during his tenure as acting president. Much of the material in this series is also contained in the appropriate folders of the Subject Series.

The series is arranged chronologically by month and chronologically by date within folders.