Faculty Senate Executive Committee, 1988. Seated, left to right: George Shepherd, M.E. Warlick. Standing, l to r: Ted Crane, Bob Dores, Edith King, Almaz Belihu

Faculty Senate group, 1979. Left to right: Frank Dance, Connie Keogh, Ved Nanda and Mario Iona.

Collection Overview

Creator: Members of the University of Denver Faculty Senate

Title: Faculty Senate records

Inclusive Dates: 1932-1999

Size: 37.5 linear ft.

Processed By: Finding aid prepared by Kathy Mitchell, June 2002; revised June 2003

The Faculty Senate of the University of Denver was established in 1932. Initially called the University Senate, it was formed to address matters of faculty salary and budget deficits that the University faced during the early years of the Depression.

Although the composition of the Senate has changed over the years, its purpose has always been to give faculty a voice in University policies and procedures, especially concerning the faculty. The Senate is responsible for setting faculty personnel policies, including salary guidelines, sabbatical leave, faculty review and tenure.

Scope and Content

The Faculty Senate Collection consists of working documents and administrative materials of the organization from its inception through 1999. The bulk of the collection consists of materials from the 1970's through the 1990's. The documents consist of reports, memos, letters, agendas, minutes and hand-written notes from full Senate meetings and Senate committee meetings, Senate membership lists, Senate constitution and by-laws, and faculty handbooks. The collection includes materials concerning faculty requests for sabbatical leave, personnel policies, faculty evaluations of administrators, and faculty salary evaluations and policies.

A substantial amount of material in the collection concerns the activities of the major committees of the Faculty Senate, including the Academic Planning Committee, the Executive Committee, the Faculty Review Committee, the Financial Planning Committee, the Honors Committee, the Instruction and Curriculum Committee, the Nominations, Rules, Credentials Committee, and the Personnel Committee. Materials from the Honors Committee pertains to the awarding of the Distinguished Teaching Award, honorary degrees, and the University Lectureship.

Many of the Faculty Senate meetings were recorded on audio tape, which are grouped chronologically at the end of the collection. The majority of the tapes are from the 1980's and 1990's.

The Faculty Senate Collection is open to qualified researchers at the discretion of the Special Collections staff.