Office of New Student Programs Records, 1943-1980

Collection Overview

Title: Office of New Student Programs Records, 1943-1980

Predominant Dates: 1965-1980

ID: RG 279

Primary Creator: Oregon State University. Office of New Student Programs.

Extent: 3.5 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Office of New Student Programs Records are arranged into 7 series: 1. Annual Reports, 1976-1980; 2. Correspondence, 1963-1979; 3. Committees, 1961-1976; 4. Programs, 1943-1980; 5. Dad's and Mom's Club Records, 1967-1980; 6. Prospective Student Visitation Statistics, 1977-1980; and 7. Sound Recording, 1969.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

Scope and Content Notes

The Office of New Student Programs Records document the coordination of annual orientation events and tours for prospective students and incoming freshmen to OSU. The records consist of materials generated and collected by the Office of New Student Programs and include: annual reports, brochures, correspondence, meeting minutes, newsletters, newspaper clippings, photographs, posters, a sound recording, and survey materials.

These records primarily relate to the planning and publicity of the orientation programs. They reflect the employment of OSU faculty and students as advisory staff at the orientation events, the interaction between the office and those seeking to register, the distribution of information about the programs, the compilation of statistics regarding attendance, budgetary details, and the evaluation of the programs through registrant surveys.

The committee records document the administration of structural decisions about orientation programming and the policies guiding them. The work of these committees is illustrated at both a state level with the Oregon State System of Higher Education (the High School-College Relations Committee) and the campus level (the OSU New Student Programs Committee).

Biographical / Historical Notes

Orientation programming at OSU for prospective students and incoming freshmen dates back to the launch of Freshmen Week in September 1924. This week-long program of tours, presentations, and other activities was coordinated by a committee of faculty headed by the University Registrar and included the Dean of Women and Dean of Men. When OSU started Freshmen Week, it was among the first orientation programs of its kind in the U.S. collegiate community.

Administratively, policies made by the High School-College Relations Committee of the Oregon State System of Higher Education guided orientation program planning on the campuses. The committee formed in 1934 and OSU was represented by faculty chiefly responsible for developing orientation programs. From 1934 through 1972, the faculty who sat on the committee were Registrar E. B. Lemon, Director of Admissions Dallas Norton, and Dean of Men Dan Poling.

In the 1940s, the university created another annual orientation event structured as a three-day, and later, a two-day program, called the Beaver Preview. This new program operated concurrently with the traditional 5-day Freshman Week (then known as New Student Week) program. A decision by the High School-College Relations Committee in 1963 to pare down orientation programs to one day events further changed orientation programming. That year, the university transformed the Beaver Preview into a single day activity and renamed it the Beaver Open House.

In 1969, to address the needs of an increasing enrollment, the university began to develop a new model of orientation programs scheduled for each term, the first of these, the Summer Orientation and Advising Program (SOAP) was established that year. The formation of Winter, Fall, and Spring programs soon followed the launch of SOAP. The Beaver Open House continued to be organized as a separate event.

In 1970, an administrative reorganization that dissolved the Office of the Dean of Men also created the first position of New Student Programs director. Dan Poling served as director of this new office until retiring in 1973. J. Franz Haun served as New Student Programs director from 1973 to 1980.

Currently, the Office of New Student Programs and Family Outreach coordinates orientation programming at OSU and organizes the annual START and Welcome Week programs.

Author: Karl McCreary

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 2 photographs; 1 sound recording; 5 boxes including 1 oversize box;

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These materials were transferred to the University Archives from 1977 through 1991. They were initially described as part of the Office of Student Affairs Records until 2017 when they were separated and processed as a new record group.

Related Materials:

Other collections that document student orientation activities at OSU include: the Office of Admissions Records (RG 163); the Dean of Men Records (RG 134); the Office of Multicultural Affairs Records (RG 225); and the OSU Memorabilia Collection. There is also documentation of the statewide planning by OSSHE of new student recruitment in the Committee on High School Relations Records (RG 006).

There are also collections documenting the OSU Mother's Club and the OSU Dad's Club.

Preferred Citation: Office of New Student Programs Records (RG 279), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Box and Folder Listing

Series 1: Annual Reports, 1976-1980

Series 1 is made up of annual reports prepared by the Office of New Student Programs.

Box-Folder 1.1: Annual Reports, 1976-1980

Series 2: Correspondence, 1963-1979

Series 2 consists of correspondence and memoranda sent and received by New Student Program Directors Dan Poling and J. Franz Haun. Topics addressed in this series include: research of other universities' summer orientation programs, policies for the recruitment of minority and women students, and the OSU Retirees Group.

Box-Folder 1.2: Correspondence, 1963-1979

Series 3: Committees, 1961-1976

Series 3 documents the work of two committees: the High School-College Relations Committee and the New Student Programs Committee. In addition to meeting minutes and agendas, this series contains annual reports, bylaws, constitutions, correspondence, handbooks, activity logs for event preparation, membership rosters, newsletters, newspaper clippings, notes, survey materials.

Box-Folder 1.3: High School-College Relations Committee, 1961-1964
Box-Folder 1.4: High School-College Relations Committee, 1964-1966
Box-Folder 1.5: High School-College Relations Committee, 1967-1968
Box-Folder 5.1: High School-College Relations Committee, 1963-1967
Box-Folder 1.6: High School-College Relations Committee, 1968-1969
Box-Folder 1.7: High School-College Relations Committee, 1968-1969
Box-Folder 1.8: High School-College Relations Committee, 1969-1970
Box-Folder 1.9: High School-College Relations Committee, 1969-1970
Box-Folder 1.01: High School-College Relations Committee, 1970-1971
Box-Folder 1.11: High School-College Relations Committee, 1971-1972
Box-Folder 1.12: High School-College Relations Committee, 1971-1972
Box-Folder 1.13: High School-College Relations Committee, 1973-1976
Box-Folder 1.14: New Student Programs Committee, 1963-1967
Box-Folder 1.15: New Student Programs Committee, 1967-1969
Box-Folder 1.16: New Student Programs Committee, 1969-1970
Box-Folder 1.17: New Student Programs Committee, 1971-1972

Series 4: Programs, 1943-1980

Series 4 contains documentation of programs, tours, and other orientation activities organized for new students and their parents. These materials reflect program planning, interaction with registrants, event publicity, and statistical compilation. Among the records included in this series are brochures, correspondence, financial statements, flyers, notes, photographs, summary reports. The photographs consists of two prints. One depicts a group of students at one of the 1969 Summer Orientation and Advising Program tours and the other is a stock image of students playing frisbee. The latter one was used for the 1973 Beaver Open House brochure.

Box-Folder 1.18: Beaver Preview and Open House, 1953-1967: The Beaver Open House materials date from 1963 to 1967.
Box-Folder 1.19: Beaver Open House, 1968-1969
Box-Folder 2.1: Beaver Open House, 1970
Box-Folder 2.2: Beaver Open House, 1970
Box-Folder 2.3: Beaver Open House, 1971
Box-Folder 2.4: Beaver Open House, 1971
Box-Folder 2.5: Beaver Open House, 1972
Box-Folder 2.6: Beaver Open House, 1972
Box-Folder 5.2: Beaver Open House, 1972
Box-Folder 2.7: Beaver Open House, 1973
Box-Folder 2.8: Beaver Open House, 1973: This folder contains a photograph.
Box-Folder 2.9: Beaver Open House, 1974
Box-Folder 2.10: Beaver Open House, 1975
Box-Folder 2.11: Beaver Open House, 1975
Box-Folder 2.12: Beaver Open House, 1976-1978
Box-Folder 2.13: Beaver Open House, 1979-1980
Box-Folder 2.14: Fall Orientation Program, 1970-1979
Box-Folder 2.15: New Student Week, 1943-1969
Box-Folder 2.16: Procedures For Program and Event Planning, 1971-1972
Box-Folder 2.17: Spring Orientation Program, 1971-1980
Box-Folder 2.18: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1969
Box-Folder 2.19: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1969
Box-Folder 2.20: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1969: This folder contains a photograph.
Box-Folder 3.1: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1969
Box-Folder 3.2: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1970
Box-Folder 3.3: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1970
Box-Folder 3.4: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1970-1971
Box-Folder 3.5: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1971
Box-Folder 3.6: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1971
Box-Folder 3.7: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1971
Box-Folder 3.8: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1971
Box-Folder 3.9: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1972
Box-Folder 3.10: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1972
Box-Folder 3.11: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1972
Box-Folder 3.12: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1973
Box-Folder 3.13: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1973
Box-Folder 3.14: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1974
Box-Folder 3.15: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1975
Box-Folder 3.16: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1975
Box-Folder 3.17: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1976
Box-Folder 4.1: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1977
Box-Folder 4.2: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1978
Box-Folder 4.3: Summer Orientation and Advising Program, 1979
Box-Folder 4.4: Tutorial Program, 1971-1972
Box-Folder 4.5: Winter Orientation Program, 1969-1980
Box-Folder 5.3: Winter Orientation Program, 1971-1972
Box-Folder 5.4: Posters, 1955-1980

Series 5: OSU Dad's and Mom's Clubs, 1967-1980

Series 5 reflects the involvement of New Student Programs Directors on the OSU Dad's and Mom's Clubs. Primarily pertaining to the dispersal of student scholarships offered by the clubs, this series is made up of annual reports, brochures, correspondence, financial reports, flyers, meeting minutes, membership rosters, newspaper clippings, and lists of scholarship winners.

Box-Folder 4.6: OSU Dad's and Mom's Clubs, 1967-1973
Box-Folder 4.7: OSU Dad's and Mom's Clubs, 1973-1980

Series 6: Prospective Student Visitation Statistics, 1977-1980

Series 6 consists of statistics compiled by the New Student Programs Office that reflect visits to campus by prospective students. Organized by month, the data includes the total number of students who contacted the New Student Programs Office, the number of visitors as a part of groups, and the geographic areas represented by visitors.

Box-Folder 4.8: Prospective Student Visitation Statistics, 1977-1980

Series 7: Sound Recording, 1969

Series 7 is made up of a reel-to-reel sound recording documenting an evaluation of the 1969 Summer Orientation and Advising Program by student advisors involved in the orientation sessions. The length of the recording is not described.

Box-Folder 4.9: Sound Recording, 1969