RIT Long Range Planning Committee records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: RITArc-0073

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The RIT Long Range Planning Committee records consist of materials related to the group's activities during the 1960s and 1970s. A large part of the collection includes research compiled by the committee in preparing reports on the Institute's future. For instance, there are estimated budget materials and other financial records; annual reports from the various colleges of the university; results from surveys conducted during the late 1960s and early 1970s; and committee proposals and meeting minutes. Final reports of the committee are also included in the collection such as "RIT in the 1970's: A Master Plan" (Report No. 5), published in 1972. The collection also includes correspondence related to the committee's research and projects.

Dates

Creation: 1942-1980
Creation: Majority of material found within 1960 - 1972

Creator

Rochester Institute of Technology. Office of the Provost (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researchers.

Biographical / Historical

When Dr. Paul A. Miller became president of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1969, the university was in a period of growth and transition. The school had just moved from downtown Rochester to the suburbs of Henrietta to accommodate an increasing number of programs and students. Seeing a need to provide direction for the university, Miller devised a "master plan" for RIT, which he presented to the RIT community. The five basic goals of the plan were:

To maintain constant fiscal solvency

To remain private

To be demonstrably unique among institutions of higher learning

To make all students technically competent in some chosen field

To prepare all students for the civic, personal, and social areas of life

The first provost for the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) was appointed in March 1970. RIT had recently relocated from the city of Rochester to the suburbs of Henrietta. The school already had eight colleges including the newly-formed National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and was quickly growing. Unable to properly address the academic needs of the expanding campus on his own, President Dr. Paul A. Miller appointed Dr. Todd Hupp Bullard as RIT's first provost.

Provosts were becoming more popular on college campuses, partially as a result of the growing number of applicants under the G.I. Bill following World War II. College administrators could no longer handle the increasingly complex nature of a school's administration. Although other individuals had filled the role of the provost at RIT, such as Dr. Leo F. Smith who served as the Dean of Instruction during the 1950s and 1960s, Bullard was the university's first official provost. In this position, Bullard was charged with overseeing the development and strengthening of RIT's academic curriculum. By 1973, a ninth college was added, Institute College, as a place for emerging programs to develop. Adding to the challenge was the fact that President Miller was also enacting new budgeting procedures for the college. Thus, Bullard needed to help the school grow, while keeping a balanced budget.

The Office of the Provost remains an important part of RIT's administrative structure. As of 2011, the office included eight members of the Provost's Leadership Team including the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President for Research, Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education, Senior Associate Provost, Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs, Director of CIMS & Golisano Sustainability Institute, Assistant Vice President, and the Associate Provost for Faculty Success.

Extent

5.8 Linear Feet (4 cartons, 2 document boxes, 1 small lid box)

Language

English

Additional Description

Overview

Records of the Rochester Institute of Technology's (RIT) Long Range Planning Committee. Although the committee did exist prior to Dr. Paul A. Miller's term as university president, Miller asked the group to publish a series of long range planning reports during the 1970s. The collection includes correspondence, financial records, administrative documents, annual reports, and other research materials, as well as copies of the final reports.

Arrangement

This collection is currently unprocessed.

Other Finding Aids

In addition to this finding aid, a folder-level inventory is available. For more information, please contact the RIT Archive Collections.

RIT Long Range Planning Committee records