Self Studies collection
Scope and Contents
Collections consists of self studies conducted by Wellesley College, dating from 1953-1979, 1989, 1998, 2004. Collection is arranged in four series. Series I. consists of 3 files of surveys from August and June, 1953 on Wellesley College students’ attitudes towards extracurricular life at the college, and a Report of Progress on this study made in January, 1954. Series II. consists of records of the Commission on the Future of the College, a commission established by the Board of Trustees composed of 3 administrators, 2 alumnae, 3 faculty members, 3 students and 3 trustees (Mar Ann Dilley Staub '37 chairman; Blair McElroy executive director) to make recommendations concerning the future of the college, dating from 1969 to 1971. Series consists eight sub-series: Sub-Series I. Commission (1969-1971) which includes correspondence, news clippings and publicity, records of meetings with faculty and students, budget information, and a draft of the final report; Sub-Series II. Studies (1969-1971); Sub-Series III. Questionnaires (1970-1971); Sub-Series IV. Proposals (1969-1971); Sub-Series V. College Visits (1969) Sub-Series VI. Data From College Visits (1969); Sub-Series VII. Background Materials (1968-1973); and Sub-Series VIII. Report (1971). Series III. consists of records of self-studies and resulting reports undertaken by the college to fulfill requirements for reaccreditation, which takes place every 10 years. Series IV. consists of records from conducting surveys of Wellesley Alumnae (1959-1972) including coding information and datasheets, examples of surveys from other colleges, planning materials and drafts of surveys, records of classifications used, and a volume of marginal tabulations. Results from surveys include educational, family, and activities profiles of alumnae, reports on alumnae achievements, honors and awards, fellowships, and publications, data on alumnae employment, and on non-graduate education and employment. Includes data visualization in graphs.
Dates
- Creation: 1953-2004
Creator
- Wellesley College. Office of Institutional Research (Organization)
- Wellesley College. Reaccreditation Committee (Organization)
- Wellesley College Alumnae Association (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research, but contains some material which has been restricted as per the Wellesley College Archives Access Policy: https://www.wellesley.edu/lts/policies/archivesaccess. To make an appointment to view unrestricted materials, please contact the Archives staff by email at archives@wellesley.edu or by phone at (781) 283-3745.
Conditions Governing Use
The Wellesley College Archives welcomes researchers to use materials in the public domain, to make fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law, and to request permission to use works whose copyright is held by Wellesley College. All materials from the Archives, regardless of copyright status, should be attributed to the Wellesley College Archives, Library and Technology Services when cited, quoted, or reproduced.
Biographical / Historical
Wellesley College is accreddited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. (Before a 2018 corporate restructuring, this was called the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Previous names and acronyms will appear in the collection.) Re-accreditation occurs every 10 years, with the last accreditation taking place in 2019. Wellesley College’s Office of Institutional Research serves as the liaison to accrediting agencies and coordinates college assessments.
[See the Wellesley College webpage on this process at URL: https://www.wellesley.edu/about/accreditation.]
In 1969 the Commission on the Future of the College was formed, consisting of alumnae, trustees, students and faculty. The Commission worked for two years to give recommendations on the college budget, possible closer ties to Dartmouth, the question of co-education, curriculum proposals, and admissions policies, making a final report in 1971. One result of the Commission’s work was a 9-4 vote in favor of becoming co-educational, but this recommendation was rejected by the Board of Trustees.
[Information from press release “Forty Years Later: Wellesley's Decision to Stay a Women's College Revisited” from the Wellesley College Office for Public Affairs, February 27, 2009. URL: http://web.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/Releases/2009/022709.html]
Extent
10.2 Linear Feet (20 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Collection is arranged in four series: Series I. Wellesley College Study of Extra-Curricular Activities (1953-1954); Series II. Commission on the Future of the College (1969-1971); Series III. Self Studies for Reaccreditation (1968, 1979, 1989, 1998); amd Series IV. Wellesley Alumnae Survey (1959-1972). Series I., and II. are arranged chronologically. Series III. is further arranged into eight sub-series. Series IV. is arranged in original order (partially alphabetical).
- Title
- Wellesley College. Office of Institutional Research. Self Studies collection, 1953-2004: a guide
- Author
- Boxes 1-5 had been described by a student worker in Fall 2017 (name unknown). File-level description and series-level arrangement and description of boxes 6-20, as well as collection-level description, completed by Natalia Gutiérrez-Jones, Project Archivist.
- Date
- April 2020
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Wellesley College Archives Repository