College of Business Records, 1910-1998

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oregon State University. College of Business.
Title
College of Business Records
Dates
1910-1998 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.6 cubic foot, (2 boxes, including 1 oversize box)
3 microfilm reels
Collection Number
RG 122
Summary
The College of Business Records consist of administrative and curriculum records, including briefs and reports from the 1920s and early 1930s prior to the transfer of the School of Commerce at Oregon Agricultural College to the University of Oregon in 1932. By the mid-1940s, a business curriculum had been reinstated at Oregon State College.
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
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Commerce instruction, as Business courses were called at the time, was offered at Oregon State University from the time of its founding in 1868, and the first Commerce professorship was established in 1880. In 1898 a two-year curriculum was established, which expanded to a four- year curriculum when the Department of Commerce was established at OSU in 1900, the 11th in the United States and the first in the Pacific Northwest. In 1908, the School of Commerce was established as a professional school with John Andrew Bexell, A.M., as Dean. Bexell Hall, constructed in 1922 as the new Commerce Hall, was named after him. Bexell served as Dean until 1932, when the School of Commerce was transferred to the University of Oregon. All that remained at Oregon State was the Secretarial Science curriculum which was reduced to a lower division, non-degree granting status.

By 1943, a degree curriculum of Business Administration was restored at Oregon State, and the Division of Business and Industry was established in 1945. The division was changed in 1947- 1948 to the School of Business and Technology with Clifford E. Maser as Dean. In 1960, the School of Business and Technology became a fully accredited member of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, and a Masters of Business Administration degree was authorized by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in 1965. In 1983, the name was changed to the College of Business.

Clifford E. Maser served as Dean from 1947 to 1966. During that time period he became renown as an expert on the refugee situation in Europe, and the threat of communism in the world. He gave speeches extensively across the western part of the U.S. at high school programs, commencements, conferences, workshops and annual meetings on these subjects. Most of the records in the first reel relate to those speeches.

After Maser's retirement, Earl Goddard became Dean, a position he held until 1983. He was replaced by Lynn Spruill, who served as Dean from 1984 to 1990. The present dean, Donald F. Parker, has held that position since 1991.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The first series consists of Clifford E. Maser's meetings and speeches that he presented while Dean of the college; series two includes curriculum materials used to initiate or continue courses in the college. Series three, Reports and Briefs, consist of annual, budget, and financial reports for the School of Commerce and its departments (including Political Science, Economics, and Sociology) for the period 1910 through 1925. Series three also includes briefs and reports regarding the duplication of courses between the University of Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College and transfer of the School of Commerce degree programs to the University of Oregon (1925-1932) and various reports (including self-studies) on the operation and functioning of the College from the late 1950s through the 1980s.

Series four consists of College of Business student handbooks and faculty handbooks; series five contains awards records pertaining to an award given to Ken and Joan Austin; and series six, Special Events Records, contains an announcement of a Product Testing Laboratory anniversary.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

College of Business Records (RG 122), Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The College of Business Records are divided into six series: I. Dean Clifford E. Maser's Meetings and Speeches; II. Curriculum Materials; III. Reports and Briefs; IV. Handbooks; V. Awards Records; and VI. Special Event Records.

Acquisition Information

Reel three was originally part of the School of Commerce Records (RG 80) and transferred to this record group in 1999.

Related Materials

Materials in Subgroup 7, Series VIII, X and XI of the President's Office Records (RG 13) provide information on the reorganization of the college in the 1930s. Other records of the Political Science, Economics, and Sociology Departments are in the Department of Political Science Records (RG 75) and the College of Liberal Arts Records (RG 143).

The College of Business Photographs and Videotapes (P 194) include images of faculty and special events and a videotape of the award presented to Ken and Joan Austin. The Jean Mater Papers include College of Business Advisory Council materials.

College of Business publications include the Bexell Times (PUB 10-22z3); College of Business, (PUB 353), which includes MBA brochures; College of Business Exchange (PUB 275); Commerce Bulletin, (PUB 411); and Northwest Business Management (PUB 5-31e).

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  Dean Clifford E. Maser's Meetings and Speeches, 1943-1965Return to Top

Container(s): Reel 1

Series II:  Curriculum Materials, 1942-1978Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Reel
1
Proposed course changes, other curriculum material
1942; 1945-1946
2
Proposed course changes, other curriculum material
1945-1946 to 1962
Box
1
Graduate programs in business at OSU
1975
1
Survey results for the business administration undergraduate core by the Undergraduate Program Committee
1978

Series III:  Reports and Briefs, 1910-1992Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Reel Folder
3 1
Annual Budget Report for 1922-1923
1922
3 2
Report of Instructional Work
1918
3 3
Board of Higher Curricula meeting transcript regarding duplication of courses at University of Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College
18 May 1925
3 4
Reports and correspondence regarding duplication of courses
1913-1925
3
Report of the Dean of the School of Commerce
Reel
3
for 1918-1919 and 1919-1920
1919
Folder
3 5
for
1915
Financial Reports for the School of Commerce
Reel Folder
3 6
1917-1918
3 6
1916-1917
Reel Folder
3 7
University of Oregon Report to Board of Higher Curricula, 27 April
1925
3 8
Study of Facts and Figures Bearing on Commerce and Business, 30 January
1932
3 9
Oregon Agricultural College Brief
1925
3 10
University of Oregon Brief
1925
3 11
Annual Budget Report for 1923-1924
1923
3 12
Annual Budget Report for 1924-1925
1924
3 13
Report of the Dean of the School of Commerce for 1920-1921 and 1921-1922
1921
3 14
Report of the Dean of the School of Commerce for 1919-1920 and 1920-1921
1920
Reel
3
Report of the Dean for 1911-1912
1912
3
Biennial Report for 1912-1914
1914
3
Report of the Dean for 1917-1918
1917
3
Report of the Dean for the Fiscal Year 1917-1918 with Estimates and Recommendations for the Year 1918-1919
1918
3 15
Report to the President
1910
Reel
3
Report to the President
1912
3
Department Reports to the Dean
1913-1914
3 16
Alumni Newsletter
1920
Reel
3
Lists of Graduates
1919-1920
Reports to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education from the School of Commerce
1932
Box
2
Cost studies for School of Commerce
apx 16x20 in.
2
Room use in all campus buildings
apx 16x20 in.
2
The amount of investment and indebtedness and the number of students living in fraternities, sororities, and dormitories
apx 16x20 in.
2
Credits completed by Commerce graduates
apx 16x20 in.
2
Commerce degree requirements
apx 16x20 in.
2
Enrollment of Commerce students in other departments' courses
apx 16x20 in.
2
Comparison of duplication in courses offered by Oregon State College and University of Oregon in sociology, economics, political science, and business administration
apx 16x20 in.
Box
1
Statement of Objective - Organization - Functions, September 1959; September 1964
(revised)
1964
1
Annual Report
1972-1973
1
Resource Allocation Report
1976
1
Operational Reports
1967-1975
1
Self Evaluation Report
September 1959
1
Self Study Report, Part 1; Academic Staff Data, Part 2
July 1974
1
"Oregon's Forest Products Industry: Status and Future Prospects," report submitted to the Oregon Business Council for the OSU College of Business
circa 1986
1
"Rediscovering the College's Charter," by David Sullivan, final memorandum, and working papers
1980-1992

Series IV:  Handbooks, 1980-1998Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
1
Student handbooks
1980-1998
1
Faculty handbook
1985

Series V:  Awards Records, 1996Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
1
Award nomination for Ken and Joan Austin
1996

Series VI:  Special Event Records, 1997Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
1
Product Testing Lab, announcement of an open house celebrating its 10th anniversary
1997

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Business education--Oregon.

Corporate Names

  • Oregon Agricultural College. School of Commerce.
  • Oregon State College. School of Business and Technology.
  • Oregon State University. College of Business.
  • Oregon State University. School of Business and Technology.
  • Oregon State University. School of Business.
  • University of Oregon.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Maser, Clifford Elges, 1910-
    • Sullivan, David R. (subject )