Records of the Graduate School History Project

Collection

Identifier: UGSH

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Records of the Graduate School History Project consists of documents dated 1974-1980. History Department graduate student Becky Haglund gathered these materials in order to write A History of Graduate Education at Colorado State University (1981) under the direction of Dr. James E. Hansen. Subjects include the history of graduate education at CSU and the individual experiences of faculty, administrators, and graduate students at the institution. Materials consist of oral histories and questionnaires.

Dates

Creation: 1974-1980

Creator

Haglund, Becky (Person)

Restrictions on Access

Due to the presence of graded student work, the file "Oral History Interviews" is open only to the student in question and to Colorado State University employees. Access to others will be granted upon having written consent from the student or providing written proof that the student is deceased. Media use of the Thomas Borden oral history interview is prohibited.

Restrictions on Use

Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.

History

Graduate education at Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University) began in the 1890s. Colorado Agricultural College conferred the first advanced degree in the school's history to Burt C. Buffman in 1893 and formally established the Committee on Advanced Degrees in 1897 to oversee graduate work.

In 1941, Colorado A and M discontinued the Committee on Advanced Degrees and formed the Graduate School with Dr. I. E. Newsom serving as the school's first dean. Adrian Ray Chamberlain earned Colorado A and M's first Ph.D. in Irrigation Engineering in 1955. Colorado A and M became Colorado State University in 1957, and the university relied heavily on contracts and federal grants to develop and fund its graduate programs, which grew rapidly through the 1960s. In 1966, a Graduate Student Council was established. In 1974, CSU achieved accredidation as a "mature" institution by the North Central Assocation of Colleges and Secondary Schools. At the same time, the university confronted a dearth of funding, which slowed growth of graduate programs. Today, more than 4,000 students at CSU are enrolled in the Graduate School's over one hundred disciplinary and interdisciplinary doctoral, master's, and professional degree programs.

Becky Haglund obtained a Master of Arts degree in History with a focus on Archives & Records Administration in 1981. While at CSU, she served as the Interning Assistant University Archivist and wrote a history of the Graduate School.

Extent

1.5 linear feet (1 record carton)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Graduate education at Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University) began in the 1890s, and the Graduate School at CSU now supports more than 4,000 students in over one hundred disciplinary and interdisciplinary doctoral, master's, and professional degree programs. This collection contains oral histories and questionnaires collected in 1980 by Becky Haglund, a graduate student in CSU's History Department, and used to write A History of Graduate Education at Colorado State University (1981).

Arrangement

The collection consists of 2 series in 1 record carton:

Series 1: Questionnaires

Series 2: Oral histories

Acquisition

Records of the Graduate School History Project was transferred from the Records of the Graduate School in October 2018.

Online Materials

Some materials have been scanned and are available through the Colorado State University Libraries website. In the electronic version of this document, direct links appear in context.

Related Collections

Records of the Graduate School contains Graduate Council meeting minutes. The Papers of James E. Hansen II contains the folder "2.3 Graduate School Project," which holds an outline of A History of Graduate Education at Colorado State University and data Haglund compiled from returned questionnaires. The Oral History Tapes collection contains the original audio recordings for several oral histories represented with notes and indices in Records of the Graduate School History Project.