Records of the Financial Administration

At the inception of Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University), the State Board of Agriculture (SBA) handled all financial matters, and Board Secretary Harris Stratton kept the insitution's books. Later, the board elected a local treasurer, Charles H. Sheldon, and hired bookkeepers to discharge the daily business of the college. The need for financial record keeping and management of a growing campus increased in the following years, which eventually led to the creation of the Business Office. The office underwent several organizational and name changes in subsequent years. Today, financial administration and facilites management is overseen by the CSU Vice President for Operations.

Joseph M. Whalley was the long-time Business Manager of Colorado State University. His career at CSU spanned thirty years, and during that time he oversaw the growth of CSU's budgets and facilities. Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts hired Joseph M. Whalley as an instructor in Economics in the Department of Economics, Sociology and History on November 4, 1939. Two years later, on January 24, 1941, the SBA appointed him Assistant Treasurer. Whalley was elected full-time Treasurer of the State Board of Agriculture and appointed Purchasing Agent for the college in 1944 and Chief Financial Officer in 1945. The SBA changed his title to Business Manager for Colorado A & M in 1947, a position he maintained until 1966, when he was appointed Colorado State University's Business Manager, Department of Auxiliary Enterprises. In 1968 he became Manager of Construction Controls and Reports for Facilities Planning. Whalley served on the SBA as Treasurer from 1944 until 1969, when he retired from the SBA and Colorado State University.