School of Law Records of the Dean

Description: Boxes 1-40

The records of the School of Law Dean's Office fill forty cartons and span the years 1955 through 1998. The bulk of the material covers the tenures in office of Deans David Ruder and Robert Bennett, 1977-1995, although records from the deanships of James Rahl, John Ritchie, and David Van Zandt are also represented.

The records are arranged into broad subject categories, with subcategories when appropriate. The categories of arrangement reflect major administrative duties and concerns of the deans. Nearly every category and subcategory begins with a file of general material. The original order of materials within each folder was maintained; for the most part items within each folder are arranged in reverse chronological order. Several forms of records are represented in the series, but correspondence from and to the deans is the most common type.

The series begins with nearly two cartons of admissions-related files, including information on recruiting and tuition. Following a small amount of records pertaining to affirmative action, three cartons on alumni and development detail several of the School of Law's development and fundraising campaigns. The one carton of material on the bar examination includes, among other materials, students' results from many years. Filling nearly five cartons, one of the largest categories covered in the collection is buildings and facilities. This section includes files on the construction of the Rubloff Building addition to the School of Law physical plant, the remodeling of portions of Levy Mayer Hall and of McCormick Hall, and more mundane issues, such as parking, facilities management, and administrative support activities.

The committees files are divided into three groups: School of Law faculty committees, Northwestern (university-wide) committees, and School of Law visiting committees. The correspondence section comprises the relatively small volume of the deans' correspondence that was filed by name of recipient, not by topical or subject heading. The faculty files, which include general memoranda and evaluations among other records, and the financial aid files each fill approximately one box. A few folders on a proposed Japan / Northwestern University Legal Studies Center are filed next.

Another major category of the series relates to lectures, conferences and seminars sponsored by the School of Law, held at the School or attended by School faculty or administrators. Considerable records on the School's Corporate Counsel Center, Rosenthal Lectures, Short Courses, and Thayer Conference are included in this section. Records relating to the School of Law's Legal Clinic, in which students and faculty worked together on real cases, fill approximately two boxes. They are followed by one box of records on the School's library and a small volume of material pertaining to students' participation in moot court competitions.

The next category, Northwestern University, includes files relating to university-wide bodies. Subcategories of records on matters such as program review or pertaining to the Board of Trustees, to university centers, schools and programs may be found here.

The organizations category contains files relating to School of Law associations with external, non-Northwestern groups and institutions. One of the most important of these organizations was the American Bar Association (ABA). Records relating to the ABA and its relationship with the School of Law are voluminous and principally include documents on the ABA's annual accreditation questionnaires and reports. The American Bar Foundation and the Association of American Law Schools are among other major organizations represented in this section of the series.

The personnel files fill just over one carton and focus on the routine administrative aspects of running the School of Law and include job postings, performance and salary reviews, and some individual employment records. The records of the school's Placement Office concentrate on efforts to secure employment for students in law firms or in judicial clerkships. A small volume of records concerning the School's public relations efforts follows.

The next category, publications, relates to both externally and internally produced publications. A significant volume of records on three student journals of the School of Law, the Northwestern University Law Review, the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, and the Journal of International Law and Business are filed within this category. The Dean was involved to a small degree in the business and editorial sides of these publications; the records reflect both. Files relating to the School of Law registrar fill the next three cartons, and largely include faculty evaluations, enrollment and grade records, and registration information pertaining to special seminars. Student life records include files on a number of School of Law student organizations including the Black Law Students Association and the Student Bar Association. The final carton of the series includes records relating to summer research and documents faculty grants, projects, and proposals.