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Summer Session Records, 1913-2018

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oregon State University. Summer Session.
Title
Summer Session Records
Dates
1913-2018 (inclusive)
1995-2015 (bulk)
Quantity
6.50 cubic feet, including 76 photographs, (11 boxes including 1 oversize box)
1 microfilm reel
Collection Number
RG 270
Summary
The Summer Session Records document the operation and administration for courses and special programs and activities offered at Oregon State during the summer beginning in the 1910s. The records specifically pertain to academic courses and special programs and activities; enrollment and demographics for summer students; finances; and promotion and marketing. Summer courses were first offered at Oregon State in 1908.
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.   Two folders in Series 7 may have information pertaining to specific students that is confidential.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Summer Session was established at Oregon Agricultural College in 1908 and continues more than 110 years later.

Oregon Agricultural College offered its first summer session for teachers in 1908 and special summer field courses (for example, in mining engineering) were offered as early as 1908.  The first Summer School Announcement was published in 1909 and described the primary purpose of Summer School for Teachers as: “to provide opportunity for the teachers of the State to obtain some training in Industrial Pedagogy and related subjects”.  The preliminary announcement for the 1910 session indicated that it would be focused on public school teachers; however the final announcement issued several months later indicated that the first term of the 1910 session would be primarily for teachers and the second term would offer regular college courses.

From these early years Summer Session was intended for enrolled Oregon State students to make progress toward degrees; for high school students seeking advanced courses or preparatory courses to prepare for admission; and for continuing education, especially for teachers in the early years.  There were no admission requirements for the summer term and all students paid the same tuition (no out-of-state tuition once that was established for the regular academic year).

Beginning in the mid-1910s, special programs and tours were offered during the summer and this continues to the present; during the 1960s and 1970s, visiting faculty and lecturers were hosted on campus by the Summer Session.  The Corvallis campus was promoted as a welcoming, beautiful location to spend the summer evidenced by a 1928 promotion booklet for Summer Session that was titled Summer Study in a Vacation Setting.

Beginning in the mid-20th century, Summer Session was financially self-supporting; consequently, substantial effort was invested in marketing and promotion of Summer Session on campus and throughout the state of Oregon.  Summer offerings were referred to as “Summer Term” during the 1960s and 1970s; however, it has been primarily known as Summer Session from the 1910s through 2010s.

Summer Session had a long-time affiliation with continuing education at Oregon State and became a unit of Extended Campus (Ecampus) in 2004.  In 2018, responsibility for the management and administration of Summer Session shifted to the Office of the Registrar for the 2019 and following summer terms.

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Content Description

The Summer Session Records document the operation and administration for courses and special programs and activities offered at Oregon State during the summer beginning in the 1910s.  The records specifically pertain to academic courses and special programs and activities; enrollment and demographics for summer students; finances; and promotion and marketing.  The records reflect the evolution of summer session during a period when it became more like other academic terms and on-line course offerings reduced the necessity for students to attend on-campus courses during the summer.

Academic courses and curriculum are primarily documented in the Summer Session catalogs (Series 1), which begin with the Summer 1913 issue in this collection.  Detailed records of the Natural Resources Leadership Academy (NRLA), which offered continuing education opportunities for natural resource professionals as well as academic opportunities for Oregon State students and the long-running and popular Noon Concert Series are part of Series 5.  Summer session enrollment from the 1930s through 2000s is detailed in the reports held in Series 2.  Demographics of summer students were gathered in several surveys conducted in the 1960s and 1970s; reports of these series are also part of Series 2.  The financial operations of Summer Session are primarily represented in revenue distribution reports for the 1990s-2010s with details of funds distributed to OSU academic colleges based on enrollment and other factors.

A substantial component of these records document the extensive promotion and marketing conducted by the Summer Session administrators and staff; these include preliminary announcements, advance schedules, brochures, posters, advertisements, and other marketing materials.  Events to promote Summer Session – such as the Advisor’s Luncheon and Warm Up to Summer campus events – are documented in Series 5.  The photographs that comprise Series 6 were assembled for the purposes of promoting visiting faculty, musicians and other performers, and visiting lecturers during summer session.

Poetry written by Oregon State faculty Richard Dankleff and Roger Weaver is included in Series 7 with other submissions of poetry to be considered for publication in the 1974 Summer Session catalog.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Summer Session Records (RG 270), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Summer Session Records are arranged in 7 series: 1. Summer Session Catalogs, 1913-2013; 2. Reports and Surveys, 1934-2018; 3. Financial, 1986-2013; 4. Promotional Materials, 1916-2015; 5. Correspondence and Subject Files, 1952-2018; 6. Summer Term Office Photographs, 1968-1974; and 7. Microfilmed Records, 1964-1975.

Acquisition Information

The bulk of the materials in this collection were transferred to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center from the Summer Session Office in 2016 thru 2020; other materials were received by the former University Archives in multiple accessions between the 1970s and 2004.

Processing Note

In 2019, Summer Session  materials that were part of several other collections were transferred to this collection.  These include paper records and 1 microfilm reel that were part of the Continuing Higher Education and Summer Term Records (RG 179); photographs assembled by the Summer Term Office that were previously described as the Summer Term Office Photographs (P 165); and the Summer Session Bulletins (PUB 003-22a) and the Summer Session News (PUB 010-21b) that were described as separate University publications.  All of these materials are now described as part of the Summer Session Records (RG 270).

Related Materials

The Registrar's Office Records (RG 053 - SG 1) include summer registration statistics for 1910-1970.   A full run of the Summer Session News is available in the History of OSU Collection (LH1 078).  The Memorabilia Collection (MC-Summer Session) includes a broad and representative selection of brochures, preliminary announcements, and other ephemeral items documenting summer offerings at Oregon State.  Some college and department records held by the Special Collections and Archives Research Center include materials documenting courses and/or special programs offered by those units during the summer.  The Carolyn Schelling Scrapbook (MSS Schelling) includes photographs and memorabilia documenting Schelling's attendance at the 1916 Summer Session.  The College Bulletins (HistOSU LD 4337 .A2) include Summer Session announcements and catalogs from 1909 through 1932.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Concerts--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • Summer schools--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • Universities and colleges--Curricula--Oregon--Catalogs.

Corporate Names

  • Oregon Agricultural College. Summer Session.
  • Oregon State Agricultural College. Summer Session.
  • Oregon State College. Summer Session.
  • Oregon State University--Finance.
  • Oregon State University--Graduate students.
  • Oregon State University. Summer Session.
  • Oregon State University. Summer Term Office.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Film negatives.
  • Photographic prints.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Dankleff, Richard. (creator)
    • Weaver, Roger. (creator)

    Corporate Names

    • Oregon Agricultural College. Summer Session. (creator)
    • Oregon State Agricultural College. Summer Session. (creator)
    • Oregon State College. Summer Session. (creator)
    • Oregon State University. Summer Term Office. (creator)

Finding Aid Authors: Genevieve Connolly and Elizabeth Nielsen.
2020

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

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