MS 973 - University Student Affairs National Vice Presidents' Group

The University Student Affairs National Vice Presidents' Group donated their archives to the Center for Archival Collections on July 30, 2002 to be part of the National Student Affairs Archives. Additional donations of records occur annually, dating from its establishment in 1967 to the present. The collection is comprised of correspondence, reports, resumes, conference files, and newsletters. Restrictions exist for use of the newsletters. Permission must be granted by the author of the article prior to quoting or using the article publicly. The collection was arranged and finding aid written by W. Alex Smith, archival assistant, in July 2006.

The history of the National Vice Presidents' Group dates back to the first meeting in June 1967 when a small group of student administrators met on the Pennsylvania State University campus. There were 15 charter members. Not all attending the Penn State meeting were Vice Presidents for Student Affairs. In attendance as well were Dr. Miriam Sheldon, who was at the time the Dean of Women at the University of Illinois and Dr. Thomas Magoon, who was the Director of the Counseling Center at the University of Maryland.

The Group's purpose for meeting came about because several of them were new to their professional positions as Vice Presidents. William Butler had assumed the newly created position of Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Miami in 1965. Dr. Charles Lewis had been appointed the new Vice President at Penn State in 1964. Dr. Bob Ross was the new Executive Dean for Student Affairs at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Bob Callis was the new Vice President at the University of Missouri. All of them were close friends and were very active in the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). Eventually, all of them became Presidents of ACPA. As they met informally from time to time, they often would discuss the common issues on their campuses. They all felt the need to focus their attention on appropriate administrative tables of organization and how one should go about administering a newly created Division of Student Affairs in large public and private research universities. They agreed to hold a meeting in 1967 to discuss these, as well as other topics affecting students. Dr. Lewis agreed to host the first meeting of the Group on the Penn State campus, June 20-22, 1967.

The Vice Presidents' Group is a self-perpetuating one with current Vice Presidents' deciding upon the Group's future membership. Individuals of a proven "track record" in higher education are invited to membership, and the proposed member's institutional reputation as a major research university is also considered by the members. Over the years, there has been a good balance of VP representation from both the large public and private research universities. The Group's membership grew from 15 members to 20, and then to 25. The Group had remained small enough so that it can engage in meaningful conversations and discussions, with each VP in attendance being given an opportunity to discuss openly a topic or campus issue, which may be considered troublesome or timely to that person.

Initially, the Groups' membership was dominated by past and future presidents of APCA. Then, as time went by, the Group became more influenced by past and future leaders of NASPA. But, by and large, these national affiliations were put aside, even when it came to the selections of future members. Once a member stepped down from his/her current position as Vice President, that person would automatically retire from the Vice Presidents' Group. If a person moved from administration to the faculty ranks, retired, or died, that person and his or her university would lose membership in the group.

The Group meets twice a year and has done so since its founding. Only on one occasion did it meet three times and that was in 1970 when a special meeting was called after the students were killed at Kent State. Starting in 1967, the Group published a newsletter as another means of communicating with members. The Group has proved invaluable to its members through the meetings, conference calls, networking and the friendships developed.

(History courtesy of William R. Butler)

Record Group: Proceedings

Box 1

1. General Administration, 1968-1971
2. General Administration, 1972-1975
3. General Administration, 1976-1979
4. General Administration, 1980-1982
5. General Administration, 1983-1985/86
6. General Administration, 1986-1988
7. General Administration, 1989

Box 2

1. General Administration, 1990
2. General Administration, 1991
3. General Administration, 1992
4. General Administration, 1993
5. General Administration, 1994

Box 3

1. General Administration, 1995
2. General Administration, 1996
3. General Administration, 1997-1999
4. Former Members' Resumes, A-B
5. Former Members' Resumes, D-K
6. Former Members' Resumes, L-W

Record Group: Conferences

Box 4

1. Summer Conference, 1970-1977
2. Summer Conference, 1978-1983
3. Summer Conference, 1984-1990
4. Summer Conference, 1991-1995
5. Summer Conference, 1996-1999

Box 5

1. Winter Conference, 1970-1975
2. Winter Conference, 1977-1986
3. Winter Conference, 1987-1991
4. Winter Conference, 1992-1999

Record Group: Publications

Box 6: Newsletters

1. Listing of missing issues
2. Volume 4 - Volume 5, September 1972-April 1974
3. Volume 6 - Volume 8, October 1974-May 1977
4. Volume 9 - Volume 11, September 1977-May 1980
5. Volume 12 - Volume 15, October 1980-May 1984

Box 7 Newsletters

1. Volume 16, September 1984-May 1985
2. Volume 17, October 1985-May 1986
3. Volume 18, March 1987-June 1987
4. Volume 19, September 1987-June 1988
5. Volume 20, October 1988-May 1989
6. Volume 21, October 1989-May 1990
7. Volume 22, October 1990-May 1991
8. Volume 23, October 1991-May 1992
9. Volume 24, October 1992-March 1993
10. Volume 25, October 1993-May 1994
11. Volume 26, September 1994-May 1995
12. Volume 27, September 1995-May 1996
13. Volume 28, October 1996-May 1997
14. Volume 29, September 1997-May 1998
15. Volume 30, September 1998-May 1999
16. Volume 31, September 1999-May 2000
17. Volume 32, September 2000-May 2001
18. Volume 33, September 2001-Feb.2002
19. Volume 1-Volume 6, Winter 2006-Winter 2011

Box 8 (Oversize)

1. Photograph Album, 1970-1994
2. Photograph Album, 1995-1999
3. Photograph Album-loose sheets, 2000-2002
4. Photographs-individual, 1988-2000, n.d.