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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 345.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 274800 items) |
| Abstract | The Provost is the university's chief academic officer, serving as liaison between the Chancellor and various deans and directors. Since its creation, this position has had administrative oversight responsibilities for the Division of Academic Affairs (established in 1954), and before 1966, was variously known as Chairman of the Division of Academic Affairs, Dean of the Faculty, and Vice Chancellor of the University. In 1965-1966 and since 1997, the Provost has also had oversight responsibilities for the Division of Health Affairs. In November 1988, the Office of the Provost was reorganized and charged with consolidating oversight for all educational activities at the university. The Provost became Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, while the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs became Vice Provost/Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs. This arrangement lasted until April 1996, when a general reorganization of the university's administrative structure took place. At this time, the title reverted to Provost, and the position no longer shared responsibilities with the Vice Provost/Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, who became the Vice Provost for Health Affairs. The Vice Provost for Health Affairs was eliminated in 1997, when the Provost assumed responsibility for both Academic Affairs and Health Affairs. Records include correspondence and other files relating chiefly to the administration of and programs in the Division of Academic Affairs (established in 1954) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Of particular importance are files on the research centers and institutes that report to the Provost and on matters affecting the faculty, including tenure, leaves, and salaries. Individuals who have served as Provost and who figure prominently in these records are Corydon P. Spruill, James Logan Godfrey, J. Carlyle Sitterson, C. Hugh Holman, John Charles Morrow, Samuel R. Williamson, John D. O'Connor, Richard L. McCormick, and Richard J. Richardson. Many of the files predate the 1954 establishment of the Division of Academic Affairs, probably because Corydon Spruill, its first administrator, had been Dean of the General College beginning in 1935. He continued in that capacity after he became Chairman of the Division of Academic Affairs. Undoubtedly some mixing of the files of the two offices occurred. |
| Creator | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Office of the Provost. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Historical Information
The Management Survey of 1953 recommended that instructional and research units in the university, exclusive of Health Affairs, be grouped in a division for administrative purposes with a chief officer responsible to the chancellor. Such an organization, headed by a Dean of the Faculty, was recommended by the chancellor and approved by the president in the spring of 1954. It was not possible at that time to secure budgetary support for the new deanship, and a chairman of the division was designated for the academic year 1954-1955. Support was later authorized, and Corydon P. Spruill became the first Dean of the Faculty on 1 September 1955. By action of the General Faculty, the office of Dean of the Faculty was incorporated into the Instrument of University Government, which also provided that the Dean should chair the Committee on Instructional Personnel. The title of the position has changed several times over the years: from Dean of the Faculty to Vice Chancellor of the University, 1965-1966; Provost, 1966-1988; Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, 1988-1996; Provost, 1996-2001; and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, 2001- .
At the time of its creation, the Division of Academic Affairs consisted of the College of Arts and Sciences (composed of the Divisions of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences, which brought together in functional groups the separately organized departments of instruction, curricula and programs); the General College; the Graduate School; the Schools of Business Administration, Education, Journalism, Law, Library Science, and Social Work; the Summer School; the Library; the Extension Division; the Institutes of Fisheries Research, Government, and Latin American Studies along with the Institute for Research in Social Science; the Research Laboratories of Anthropology; and the University of North Carolina Press. Eventually some of these units moved to other administrative divisions while new academic departments and research institutes became part of the Division of Academic Affairs. Among the latter were the Center for the Study of the American South, the Black Cultural Center, the University Center for International Studies, the Ackland Art Museum, the Morehead Planetarium; the North Carolina Botanical Garden, the Mathematics and Science Education Network, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Model Clinical Teaching Network, the Principals' Executive Program, and the Small Business and Technology Development Center. From 1985 to 1996, and again from 1998 to the present, the Office of Institutional Research also has reported to the Provost.
Among the units that formerly were part of the Division of Academic Affairs and have moved to other divisions are Administrative Data Processing, which moved to the Division of Business and Finance; the Highway Safety Research Center, now located in the Division of Health Affairs; the Institute for Research in Social Science, which began reporting to the Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research in 1992; the Materials Research Center, which ceased in 1979; the Media Center, which was disbanded in 1986; and the University of North Carolina Press, which is now responsible to the General Administration of the UNC System.
The Provost was the official liaison between the chancellor and all deans and directors in the Division of Academic Affairs. He recommended to the chancellor all new programs and all appointments, promotions, leaves of absence, removals, and salary increases for the faculty of the division. He administered and enforced all regulations applicable to the division and advised the chancellor on policies affecting it, and he was sometimes designated by the chancellor to represent the university at meetings of educational associations. He chaired the Committee on Instructional Personnel, composed of the deans of the schools and colleges in the division. This body advised him on matters of educational policy for the Division of Academic Affairs. The Provost was also the officer responsible to the chancellor for the preparation and administration of the budget in the Division of Academic Affairs. In addition, he was the budget officer for academic personnel in the Graduate School, the Division of Student Affairs and the Division of University Relations. He is designated by the chancellor as the administrator responsible for initiating and directing long-range planning for the areas within his budgetary jurisdiction.
In November 1988 Chancellor Paul Hardin created a new Office of the Provost with responsibility for consolidating oversight of all educational activities that served the entire university. Acting Provost Dennis O'Connor was appointed Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs while Garland Hershey, who had been Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs since 1983, was named Vice Provost and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs. In 1989, in accordance with this new, broader definition of the Provost's office, the offices of Undergraduate Admissions, Scholarships and Student Aid, and the University Registrar were placed administratively under it. In 1996, under Chancellor Michael Hooker, another administrative reorganization took place; and as a result, the above offices began reporting to the Executive Vice Chancellor, a position established by Hooker in 1995 and eliminated in 1998. Also as a result of this reorganization, Provost Richard J. Richardson assumed administrative oversight of the deans in the Division of Health Affairs in 1997 while continuing his oversight of Academic Affairs. In 1998 oversight of the offices of Undergraduate Admissions, Scholarships and Student Aid, and the University Registrar was again placed in the Provost's office.
Persons who have held the position are:
| 1954-1955 | Corydon P. Spruill |
| 1955-1957 | Corydon P. Spruill |
| 1957-1965 | James L. Godfrey |
| 1965-1966 | J. Carlyle Sitterson |
| 1966-1968 | C. Hugh Holman |
| 1968-1984 | John Charles Morrow, III |
| 1984-1988 | Samuel R. Williamson, Jr. |
| July-November 1988 | John Dennis O'Connor, Acting |
| November 1988-September 1991 | John Dennis O'Connor |
| September 1991-March 1992 | William F. Little, Acting |
| April-May 1992 | H. Garland Hershey, Acting Provost |
| April-May 1992 | William H. Graves, Acting Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs |
| June 1992-July 1995 | Richard L. McCormick |
| July 1995-April 1996 | Richard J. Richardson, Acting |
| April 1996-June 2000 | Richard J. Richardson |
| July 2000-January 2001 | Richard L. Edwards, Interim |
| February 2001-June 2006 | Robert Shelton |
| July 2006-July 2009 | Bernadette Gray-Little |
| July 2009-March 2010 | Bruce Carney, Interim |
| March 2010- | Bruce Carney |
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Scope and Content
The records of the Provost include orrespondence and other files relating chiefly to the administration of and programs in the Division of Academic Affairs (established in 1954) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Of particular importance are files on the research centers and institutes that report to, or have reported to, the Provost and on matters affecting the faculty, including tenure, leaves, and salaries. Individuals who have served as Provost and who figure prominently in these records are Corydon P. Spruill, James Logan Godfrey, J. Carlyle Sitterson, C. Hugh Holman, John Charles Morrow, Samuel R. Williamson, John D. O'Connor, and Richard L. McCormick. Many of the files predate the 1954 establishment of the Division of Academic Affairs, probably because Corydon Spruill, its first administrator, had been Dean of the General College beginning in 1935. He continued in that capacity after he became Chairman of the Division of Academic Affairs. Undoubtedly some mixing of the files of the two offices occurred.
Schools, centers, institutes, and other units that figure prominently in these records include Academic Computing Services, Administrative Data Processing, the College of Arts and Sciences and its constituent departments, the General College, the Ackland Art Museum, the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, the Division of Extension and Continuing Education, the Institute for Research in Social Science, the Institute of Government, the Institute of Marine Sciences, the Kenan-Flagler Business School, the Library, the School of Education, the School of Information and Library Science, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the School of Law, the School of Social Work, and the Sonya Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center. Though the Provost assumed oversight of the academic units in the Division of Health Affairs in 1997, records currently in the University Archives deal primarily with the Division of Academic Affairs and do not reflect the broader responsibilities of the office.
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1. Division of Academic Affairs: Office of the Provost (Administrative Files),
1938-2001.
Arrangement: Boxes 1-32 contain general topical files, alphabetically arranged. Boxes 33-54 contain copies of the outgoing correspondence of the Provost's office, arranged chronologically.
These files contain material pertaining to responsibilities and duties of the Provost that are not restricted to any one of the administrative divisions of the university.
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2. Division of Academic Affairs: College of Arts and Sciences: Institutes, Schools, Centers, Departments, and Curricula,
1937-1999.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by name of department.
These files contain material pertaining to responsibilities and duties of the Provost that are related to the College of Arts and Sciences and its constituent departments, programs, and curricula as well as the various institutes, schools, centers, and other units that reported to the Provost. See also the Records of the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the records of the individual schools, institutes, centers, and departments in the University Archives.