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Office of New Student Programs Records, 1943-1980

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oregon State University. Office of New Student Programs.
Title
Office of New Student Programs Records
Dates
1943-1980 (inclusive)
1965-1980 (bulk)
Quantity
3.50 cubic feet, including 2 photographs and 1 sound recording, (5 boxes, including 1 oversize box)
Collection Number
RG 279
Summary
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 collection includes brochures, correspondence, meeting minutes, posters, reports, and a sound recording.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

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.

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Content Description

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).

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

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

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Administrative Information

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.

Acquisition Information

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.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Series 1: Annual Reports, 1976-1980

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • College student orientation--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • College students--Recruiting--Oregon.

Personal Names

  • Poling, Dan Williams.

Corporate Names

  • Oregon State College--Students.
  • Oregon State University--Students.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographic prints.
  • Posters.
  • Sound recordings.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Haun, James Franz. (creator)
    • Poling, Dan Williams. (creator)

Finding Aid Authors: Karl McCreary.
2017

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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