Technological Institute Curriculum Committee Records

The records of the Technological Institute Curriculum Committee fill four boxes of materials spanning the years 1957–1985. They consist of minutes and reports, course proposals, curriculum changes, correspondence, petitions by students, and material relating to the work of subcommittees. The bulk of the records are from Brazelton's involvement in the committee during the academic years 1959–60 through 1974–75. The records are arranged chronologically by date and by academic year, and within each year by type of record, in the order described below.

Minutes and reports are arranged chronologically by date within each folder. Most years have both minutes and an annual report, although both are absent in 1964–65, and minutes are lacking for the years 1971–72 through 1974–75, with only a few scattered minutes after that. Scattered quarterly reports can also be found from 1971–72 on.

Course proposals are arranged by catalog number, that is, first the department number and then the course number within each department. In some years proposals for new courses and proposals for course changes are interfiled in one folder, but in other years they are filed separately, sometimes even separating proposals for description changes from proposals for more substantive changes. In 1972–73 and 1973–74 there are also folders for Re-Submitted Courses, that is, courses that were at risk of being dropped from the catalog because they had not been offered for several years.

The proposals are submitted on forms supplied by the Curriculum Committee of the Graduate School of Northwestern. Information requested on these forms include the department offering the course, the title and catalog number of the course, the number of credit hours, the catalog description, any prerequisites, what grade level of students are eligible, the instructor's name, whether the course has been offered before, and what other courses of similar content are offered at Northwestern. New forms were introduced in October 1972, with the addition of such information as statistics on previous enrollment in similar courses or estimates of anticipated enrollment in new courses, and whether the course will be required of any particular groups of students. New and substantially modified courses have course outlines attached, which may include bibliographies and schedules.

Curriculum changes as a separate category occurred in years 1962–63, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71, and 1972–73 through 1974–75; with materials arranged in chronological order by date within each folder. These are mostly inter-departmental correspondence dealing with matters such as changes in the courses required for a particular program, scheduling of courses in order to enable students to meet the requirements of their program, and discussions of possible new interdisciplinary programs. In other years this kind of information is filed in Correspondence. In 1968–69 there is a tab-bound manual entitled New Curriculum.

Correspondence is arranged chronologically in each folder, and covers the academic years 1964–65 through 1974–75, with the exception of 1966–67. Most of this material is inter-departmental in nature, but there are a few letters from outside correspondents along with copies of Brazelton's replies.

Petitions as a separate category occurred only in 1973–74 and 1974–75. They are arranged alphabetically by the students' last names, and comprise the form on which the student's request is written, usually with attached supporting material. They are mostly concerned with permission to have a non-standard course or activity count toward the degree, or to be exempted from some other requirement. In these and other years petitions can also be found in Correspondence, and occasionally appended to reports.

Subcommittees are represented in three years. The folder for the committee for the Study of Graduate Programs in 1962–63 contains materials from the different Technological Institute departments, arranged alphabetically by department name, including brochures and handbooks for students in the program which provide information on program requirements, facilities, financial aid, faculty, recent graduates and theses, research programs, and recent publications. The folder for the committee on Statistics courses in 1971–72 contains memos and reports from the departments regarding what courses were being taught that covered statistics. The folder for the committee on Grading in 1972–73 contains minutes of this committee as well as computer printouts analyzing grades given in the Technological Institute.