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Academic Senate records (University of California, Irvine)
AS.005  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Processing Note
  • Processing History
  • Organizational History
  • Collection Scope and Content Summary
  • Arrangement

  • Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
    Title: University of California, Irvine, Academic Senate records
    Creator: University of California, Irvine. Academic Senate
    Identifier/Call Number: AS.005
    Physical Description: 79.5 Linear Feet (85 boxes) and 4.75 unprocessed Linear Feet
    Date (inclusive): 1964-2014
    Abstract: This collection comprises minutes and supplementary material, agendas, and administrative files of the Academic Senate. The administrative files include minutes and correspondence predating the establishment of the Irvine Division of the Academic Senate (1963-1966), bylaws, membership lists, and material pertaining to standing and special committees, including minutes and agendas of the Executive Committee and Graduate Council.
    Language of Material: English .

    Access

    Processed components of the collection are open for research. Unprocessed additions may contain restricted materials. Please contact the Department of Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access. Access to files covered by California personnel records legislation is restricted for 50 years from the latest date of the materials in those files. Special Collections and Archives policy places access restrictions on material with privacy issues for a specific time period from its date of creation. Restrictions are noted at the file level.
    Five business days advanced notice is required for access because the bulk of the materials are stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access.

    Publication Rights

    Property rights reside with the University of California. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the University Archivist.

    Preferred Citation

    University of California, Irvine, Academic Senate records. AS-005. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
    For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

    Acquisition Information

    These records were acquired through transfers from various Senate members and the Academic Senate Office, beginning in 1978 to present. Accruals are expected.

    Processing Note

    In order to facilitate access, the collection was minimally processed. Most dates are approximate. Most of the materials are in their original folders or were taken out of binders and placed in new folders. To facilitate access, folders were numbered during processing so numbers written in pencil on folders match those in the guide. During processing, the collection was not completely re-arranged, so materials in the same filing unit may not be consecutively numbered or housed. Researchers will find that navigating the materials in this collection will be facilitated by keeping a copy of the contents listing with them during their research.

    Processing History

    Initial processing by Lee Johnson 1997. Processing completed by Mary Ellen Goddard in 2000. Additions and revisions by Cyndi Shein in 2007-2008, Dawn Schmitz in 2009, and Joanna Lamb in 2010. Minimally processed by Audra Eagle Yun and Special Collections and Archives student assistants in 2012. The 2015 accretion of Graduate Council meeting minutes added by Laura Uglean Jackson in 2015. The 2011 accretion was added by Sarah Glover in 2020.

    Organizational History

    The Irvine Division of the Academic Senate, established December 1, 1965, is the faculty governing body of the University of California, Irvine. The UC-wide Academic Senate is empowered by UC's governing body, the Board of Regents, to exercise direct control, subject to the board's approval, over academic matters of central importance to the University. These include matters of educational policy and approval of programs, courses, and grades. The UC Academic Council acts as the executive arm to carry Senate business forward to the President and the Board of Regents.
    In 1963, UC President Clark Kerr formed advisory committees for each of the new UC campuses, the members of which were drawn from the older campuses. Among other duties, these advisors recommended salary levels for incoming faculty, made final appointments of academic administrators, and organized the academic programs on the new campus. The Irvine Campus Academic Advisory Committee was led by John Galbraith of UCLA until 1964, when H.T. Swedenberg assumed his place. The committee held its last meeting in May, 1965.
    By the fall of 1964, 86 faculty members were eligible for Senate membership at UCI. A committee, composed of Abraham Melden (Chair of Philosophy); Jack Peltason (Academic Vice Chancellor), and Edward Steinhaus (Dean of Biological Sciences) developed the bylaws and part of the Senate's constitution. By May 1965 a draft of these documents was ready. In fall 1965 three more members were elected to the committee and on June 7, 1966, a final draft was approved. Melden was the first chair of the Senate.
    In 1968, department members of the School of Humanities voted three assistant professors-- George Kent, Donald Brannan, and Stephen Shapiro--off the faculty. The young professors were all popular among students, and there was uproar among both students (calling themselves the KBS Committee after the names of the three professors) and junior members of the faculty. The issues of tenure and review fall under the jurisdiction of the Academic Senate, and an emergency meeting was called on February 20, 1969 to address a call for a retroactive moratorium on dismissals, until tenure policies could be reviewed. The moratorium was voted down and the dismissals were appealed individually. Only Kent was eventually granted tenure.
    Every regular faculty member at UC Irvine is a member of the Senate and until 1976, all UCI faculty were eligible to participate in all Senate meetings. In November 1975, because of increasing numbers of faculty, the Senate voted to specify the number of representatives from each school or college to serve on a voluntary basis through appointment in the Divisional Senate Assembly.
    The Chair of the Academic Senate is advised by the Senate Cabinet, standing committees, and special committees. Following are some of the most important Academic Senate standing committees : Educational Policy (CEP), Academic Personnel (CAP, previously called the Budget Committee), Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs (CCGA), Planning and Budget, Privilege and Tenure, and Admissions and Relations with Schools.
    The Special Committee on the Nixon Library was appointed by the Chair in 1983 to research and develop recommendations relating to the possibility of the Nixon Presidential Library being located on the UCI campus. The Committee recommended several conditions that the Nixon Archives Foundation felt were overbearing. As a result, UCI was not chosen as the site for the Nixon Presidential Library.

    Collection Scope and Content Summary

    The collection is comprised of minutes and supplementary material, agendas, and administrative files of the Academic Senate. The administrative files include minutes and correspondence predating the establishment of the Irvine Division of the Academic Senate (1963-1966), bylaws, membership lists, and material pertaining to standing and special committees, including minutes and agendas of the Executive Committee and Graduate Council.

    Arrangement

    These records are arranged in 3 series:
    • Series 1. Minutes and agendas
    • Series 2. Reports and related documents
    • Series 3. Committees, task forces, and councils
    This collection also contains two unprocessed additions: Accession 2016-010. Unprocessed addition, 1987-2014. 4.5 linear feet Accession 2020-007. Unprocessed addition, 2008-2011. 0.25 linear feet

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    University of California, Irvine. Academic Senate -- Archives
    University of California, Irvine -- Faculty -- Archives
    University of California, Irvine -- Archives