Records of the President's Executive Council

The President's Executive Council was in existence by January of 1979 and comprised of 26 members to include the University President, vice presidents, deans, and directors from Colorado State University (CSU). The council met to discuss and make decisions related to lead CSU topics, assigned issues from the State Board of Agriculture, and shared issues with the city of Fort Collins to include capital improvements, sales tax, programs, and relations.

The President's Executive Council was active through the significant changes occurring at the university. As of July 1969, A. R. Chamberlain became the ninth president of CSU. From 1971 to 1979, eight buildings were constructed on campus. Chamberlain was heavily involved with the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and was elected president of the organization in 1979. He also was actively involved with more than ten other organizations as either an active member, chairman, consultant, or commissioner. In February 1979, Chamberlain's oldest son died. Chamberlain announced his resignation as president of CSU in October 1979, to be in effect at the end of 1980, and was granted professional leave for most of 1980.

In 1969, Charles Neidt, professor and chairman of the Psychology Department, was appointed academic vice president by Ray Chamberlain. Neidt became acting president in 1979 upon Chamberlain's resignation while CSU sought a new president.

Ralph Christoffersen became the tenth president at Colorado State University in March 1981 from the University of Kansas. At the time, Colorado was dealing with an economic downturn which led to shrinking education budgets. This resulted in the Colorado Commission on Higher Education mandating a comprehensive accountability exercise for the state's colleges and universities. Reduction of expenditures proposed by Christoffersen were highly unpopular with the CSU community. Due to the dissatisfaction with his budgetary decisions, a general lack of faculty support, and disunity among members of the governing board, Christoffersen resigned by January 1983. (Democracy's University: A History of Colorado State University, 1970-2003, by James E. Hansen II)

In 1977, Robert Phemister became Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and held that position until 1985. By 1982, Christoffersen asked Phemister to be the interim academic vice president and agreed with the understanding that he would return to the College of Veterinary Medicine. When the president and executive vice president, George Dennison, were suddenly no longer in that role in the beginning of 1983, Phemister became interim president of CSU. (Robert Phemister Interview, Society of Senior Scholars Oral History Project, 2010) In this capacity, he carried forward the Colorado Department of Higher Education's mandated planning process and conceived an undergraduate studies program that significantly enhanced the quality of general education for CSU students.

Philip Austin became the eleventh president for CSU in 1984 from Bernard Baruch College in New York City. He was the Chancellor of the Colorado State University System that included the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo and Fort Lewis College in Durango. He held the academic rank of professor in the Department of Economics and the Department of Finance.

From 1979 through 1983, Myra L. Altfest, whose last name changed to Powers by December of 1983, was the administrative assistant to the president and generated much of the communication for the President's Executive Council. The frequency of meetings for the President's Executive Council dropped during 1983 and the last noted meeting was in October of that year.