College Park Campus Senate records
Collection
0025-UA
The College Park Campus Senate, established in 1971, was a legislative body created to consider matters of concern to the University of Maryland campus community. The Campus Senate consisted of elected representatives of the administration, faculty, staff, and students. In 1993 the body was re-named the College Park Senate. The College Park Campus Senate collection contains minutes and agenda of meetings; bylaws; plans of organization; mission statements; correspondence; annual reports; committee reports; materials documenting changes in programs, curricula, and courses; task force records; and membership rosters.
This collection is open for research.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
23.00 Linear Feet
The College Park Campus Senate records consist of material generated by the Campus Senate in carrying out its duties. The records include agendas, minutes, correspondence, reports, bylaws, and newspaper clippings.
The legislative powers of the College Park campus system of governance are vested in the College Park Campus Senate. This body is an integral part of the system of governance on the College Park campus, which is composed of the Senate, the Board of Regents, the President, and the Chancellor. Senate membership is composed of elected representatives from all four segments of the campus community: administration, faculty, staff, and students.
The role of the Campus Senate is to consider any matter of concern to the campus, including education, budget, personnel, campus-community relations, long-range plans, facilities, faculty, staff and student affairs. The Senate then advises the other three governing bodies as necessary.
The primary forerunner of the College Park Campus Senate was the University Senate, which operated from September 23, 1955 until November 12, 1970. The University Senate began meeting as early as 1919, but was not officially recognized until 1955. The University Senate worked in conjunction with various administrative bodies, such as the General Administrative Board, the University Council, the General Council, and the Council of Administration.
In the fall of 1970, efforts were made to improve the system of campus government, resulting in the reorganization of every campus of the University of Maryland system. On October 29, 1970, the University Senate passed an amendment to the existing Plan of Organization which established an Interim Senate to function until a permanent governing body was created. The Interim Senate functioned from November 19, 1970 throughout the summer of 1971 when the revised Plan of Organization mandated the creation of the College Park Campus Senate. This body first met on September 23, 1971 and continued in operation until September 1993 when its name changed to the College Park Senate.
This collection is organized as six series:
The College Park Campus Senate records were initially transferred to the University of Maryland College Park libraries in 1972, with transfers of additional material in 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1988.
The records of the College Park Campus Senate have been divided into six series and arranged based upon the original order in which they were received. Some bound material was removed from its binding and integrated into the foldered collection. All duplicates that were not annotated were discarded. Paper clips were replaced with plastic clips and rubber bands were removed. All materials were refoldered into acid-free folders and boxed into acid-free containers. Lastly, the guide was written.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives