By Finding aid prepared by Karl McCreary.
Title: International Students of Oregon State University (ISOSU) Records, 1970-2016
Predominant Dates: 1985-2016
ID: RG 247
Primary Creator: International Students of Oregon State University
Extent: 4.5 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The International Students of OSU (ISOSU) Records are made up of 21 series: 1. Correspondence, 1982-2014; 2. Meeting Minutes, 1970-2014; 3. Budget Requests and Information, 1975-2013; 4. Constitutions, 1978-2005; 5. Handbooks, 1986-2016; 6. Student Associations, 1976-2016; 7. Event Files, 1973-2015; 8. Publications, 1975-2010; 9. Surveys and Questionnaires, 2000-2014; 10. Flyers and Posters, 1981-2016; 11. Photographs, 1985-2012; 12. Certificates, 1994-2016; 13. Newspaper Clippings, 1971-2011; 14. Officer and Committee Member Lists, 1972-2003; 15. International Student Directories, 1982-circa 2010; 16. Business Cards, circa 1995-2016; 17. Guestbook, 2010-2015; 18. Officer Notebooks and Log, 1984-2011; 19. Scrapbooks, 1992-circa 2010; 20. Moving Images, 1993-2008; and 21. Plaque, 1997.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The International Students of Oregon State University (ISOSU) Records document the administration, membership, and event programming of this organization and its affiliated student associations. The collection includes administrative records, promotional materials, photographs, scrapbooks, and video recordings. ISOSU was established in 1965 as the Foreign Students Association.
Access to International Student Directories in Series 15 is restricted due to the presence of confidential information. For more information about access to restricted materials, please see our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
The entirety of Series 4, Constitutions, has been digitized and is available upon request. The contents of box-folders 1.6, 1.10, 2.11, 2.12, 3.17, and 4.3 have also been digitized. Reference access to the digital files in this collection is available upon patron request.
The International Students of Oregon State University (ISOSU) Records document the administration, membership, and event programming of the organization and its affiliated student associations. The records consist of materials generated and assembled by ISOSU and include: budget requests, certificates, constitutions, digital files, flyers, a guestbook, handbooks, meeting minutes, moving images, newsletters, newspaper clippings, officer lists, photographs, posters, publications, scrapbooks, survey materials, and VHS videotapes.
Administrative activities reflected in these records primarily focus on budgetary management and event planning. There are budget requests and related documentation generated by both ISOSU, as a body receiving annual funding from the Educational Activities Committee and later the Memorial Union Board, and the student associations, which in turn, receive annual support from ISOSU. There are also separate sets of constitutions reflecting the individual student associations and ISOSU.
The coordination and publicity of events, the central activity of ISOSU and its affiliates, is reflected in photographs, flyers, posters, budgetary records, scrapbooks, moving images, handbooks, and questionnaires for post-event evaluation. Some of these events are annual dinner and performance shows organized by the affiliates to showcase their particular culture(s) (i.e. China Night, European Night, etc.). Much of the documentation generated by the affiliates reflect the organization and publicity of these shows. Other events reflected in these records, such as the International Cultural Exhibit, the International Spring Festival, and annual fashion shows, were organized by ISOSU to highlight all of the affiliate cultures in a single showcase. Traditionally, ISOSU coordinates 2-3 of these kind of events a year. Occasional ISOSU sponsored lecture series, forums, and workshops are also represented in these records.
Born digital materials in this collection are in a variety of file formats: Word documents, PDFs, GIFs, JPegs, Bitmap images, and HTML documents. These files contain meeting minutes, posters, flyers, digital photographs, officer lists, newsletters, and moving images. The bulk of these files (13866 out of a total of 13991) are made up of digital images. Reference access is available upon patron request.
The entirety of Series 4, Constitutions, has been digitized and is available upon request. The contents of box-folders 1.6, 1.10, 2.11, 2.12, 3.17, and 4.3 have also been digitized.
Established in 1965 as the Foreign Students Association, the International Students of OSU (ISOSU) oversees organizations of international students with administrative and budgetary support. These organizations, referred to as affiliates, identify themselves by a particular nation, geographic, or cultural region. Examples of these affiliates represented in this collection include: the African Students Association, the Association of Latin American Students, Chinese Students of OSU, the European Students Association, the Indian Students Associaton, Permias (the Indonesian Student Associaton), and the Vietnamese Students Association.
The mission of ISOSU is to facilitate cross-cultural engagement by hosting events and programs that provide social interaction and learning opportunities for international students and faculty as well as members of the Oregon State and Corvallis communities. Any recognized student organization at Oregon State that identifies itself as an international student organization or association can apply to become an affiliate organization of ISOSU. The organization also manages the International Resource Center (IRC) which was formed in 2009 to serve as a public space where international students, their visiting families, and culturally curious locals could gather together informally and for events. From 1977 to 1987, ISOSU was known as the International Student Organization.
Accruals: Additions to the collection are expected.
More Extent Information: 1395 photographs; 9 VHS videotapes; 6 boxes, including 1 oversize, and 1 map folder. 2.65 Gbytes and 13991 files.
Statement on Access: Access to International Student Directories in Series 15 is restricted due to the presence of confidential information. All other materials in this collection are open for research. For more information about access to restricted materials, please see our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
Acquisition Note: These materials were transferred to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center between 2012 and 2017.
Related Materials:
Other collections that document international students at Oregon State include: Associated Students of Oregon State University (ASOSU) Records (RG 011), English Language Institute Records (RG 234), and the International Education Records (RG 164).
Photographs of international students, including views of ISOSU events and officers, can be found in Harriet's Photograph Collection (P HC), the News and Communication Services Photograph Collection (P 057), the Gwil Evans Photograph Collection (P 082), and the University Publications Photographs (P 094).
Collections reflecting other OSU international student organizations include the Chatter Club/Friendship Internationale Scrapbook (MSS ChatterClub), the Association of Latin American Students Records (MSS ALAS), the Asian & Pacific Cultural Center Records (RG 245) and the Asia University America Program Photographs (P 209). The OSU Yearbook also contains information on international student clubs and activities.
Interviews with international students that were conducted in 2015 by the OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center as a part of the OSU Sesquicentennial Oral History Project can be accessed here.
Preferred Citation: International Students of Oregon State University (ISOSU) Records (RG 247), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Finding Aid Revision History: The preliminary guide for this collection that was created in 2013 has been updated to reflect full processing and to incoporate additions received in 2015-2017.
International Students of Oregon State University
Oregon State University. Foreign Student Association
Oregon State University. International Student Organization
Clubs--Oregon--Corvallis.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
International Students of Oregon State University
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Oregon State University--Students.
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
Students, Foreign--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History
Born digital.
Digital images.
Photographic prints.
Scrapbooks.
Video recordings (physical artifacts)