3D/1986-1992 Dean of the College (Dale Rogers Marshall)

Click here to see the box list for this collection.

Restrictions: An effort has been made to keep as much material open as possible, hence the separation of portions of folders rather than restricting the whole folder. The following types of materials are restricted:

• 1. Student records generated and maintained by the college cover by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act): grades, work, faculty/class evaluations, questionnaires, recommendations, et cetera. Information will be released only if permission is granted by the office, which created the documents.
• 2. Minutes and other records of the Board of Trustees. Access to this material is granted only through the Trustees. Requests for access should be directed to the Clerk of the Board of Trustees. Members of the Wellesley College Senior Staff may have access when the information is necessary for their work.
• 3. Information relating to specific salaries, pensions or financial transactions between the College and individual employees. Access to this material must be granted by the President’s Office.
• 4. Materials relating to reappointment, promotion and tenure are restricted. Access must be granted by the President’s Office.
• 5. Recommendations and performance evaluation of individual employees are restricted, as are evaluations of candidates for College positions. Access must be granted by the President’s Office.
• 6. Materials published by consortia of colleges and universities, specifically the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) and the Higher Education Data Sharing (HEDS), which conduct surveys of various institutes promising confidentially. Members of Senior Staff may have access when the information is necessary for their work.

• Margaret E. Stratton, Dean, 1895-1899
• Katharine Coman, Dean, 1899-1900
• (no Dean appointed), 1900-1901
• Ellen Fitz Pendleton, Dean, 1901-1911
• Angie Clara Chapin, Dean, 1911-1913
• Alice Vinton Waite, Dean, 1913-1931
• Mary Lowell Coolidge, Dean, 1931-1938
• Lucy Wilson, Acting Dean, 1938-1939
• Ella Keats Whiting, Dean of Instruction, 1939-1954
• Ella Keats Whiting, Dean, 1954-1961
• Laura Bornholt, Acting Dean, 1961-1962
• Laura Bornholt, Dean, 1962-1963
• Virginia Onderdonk, Acting Dean of the Faculty, 1963-1964
• Virginia Onderdonk, Dean, 1964-1968
• Phyllis Fleming, Dean, 1968-1972
• Robert Garis, Acting Dean, 1972-1973
• Alice Stone Ilchman, Dean, 1973-1978
• Maud H. Chaplin, 1978-1986
• Dale Rogers Marshall, 1986-1992

Dale Rogers Marshall became Dean of the College in July 1986. Previously she had served in both administrative and faculty positions at the University of California at Davis. At Wellesley she held an appointment in the department of political science, as well. There was no Associate dean in 1986-1987. Marshall was appointed Acting President of Wellesley College as of August 1, 1987, for one year while President Nannerl O. Keohane was on sabbatical leave. Ed Stettner became Acting Dean once again. Marshall returned to her duties as dean in the summer of 1988. These duties became somewhat broader in light of Marshall’s experience as acting president, but continued to focus on her central tasks as chief academic officer of the college and preparation of materials for reaccreditation in 1989. Elissa Koff became Associate Dean in 1987-1989 and Alan Shuchat followed her in 1989-1992. In addition the number of administrative assistants grew to handle the record keeping and routine tasks of the office.

By 1990, the workload in the deans’ office reached a critical point. Two studies were undertaken, one by Chuck Beitz and the other by Coopers and Lybrand higher education consulting group. Several suggestions were made and evaluated. An effort was made to rearrange some responsibilities and work toward the implementation of the Coopers and Lybrand goals set forth in the study.

Dale Marshall left Wellesley in 1992 to become president of Wheaton College.

The date range of these records from the Dean of the College is July 1, 1986, through June 30, 1992. The approximately 20 linear feet of material came to the Archives in various accessions (see listing below).

The files are primarily those of Dale Marshall. As in the case of the previous dean, materials of an Acting Dean and/or Associate Deans are not marked separately except in cases where origin of file is clear. (See folders with Alan Shuchat in parenthesis.) In general, the records are arranged alphabetically in a single subject file. In instances of more than one folder per subject, the files are arranged chronologically. Restricted materials were removed from the main sequence. Notice of removal is given with and explanation of location and method of access. Faculty Records Office files are a separate sub-series.

These records include, in large measure, materials relating to faculty, academic departments and curriculum, as well as the Center for Research on Women, the library and the Registrar. There is correspondence and meeting material (agendas, minutes and handouts), as well as, dean’s office and academic department budget materials. The records contain proposals and discussions of courses and research projects, as well as reports and evaluations.

The core responsibilities of the Deans’ office continue from year to year, but the emphasis may shift. Marshall’s files indicate that curriculum concerns continue, but the proliferation of the new and experimental has slowed. The curriculum was far broader than it had been 10 or 20 years earlier, and in this period multicultural courses were the focus. Information can be found in folders ranging from the Academic Department files, through the curriculum focused committees to files of multicultural syllabi. In fact, multiculturalism was found in many aspects of college life, not just the academic. The college emphasized the diversity of the community and made great efforts to strengthen it. The records include files on racism and anti-Semitism and minority recruitment, hiring and retention.

The balance between teaching and research became a great concern of the faculty who felt their teaching load was greater than that of other colleges and universities. These records contain materials on faculty staffing and faculty workload reduction.

The recognition of the need to allow the faculty more time for research and other professional work led to new opportunities for students to take part in that research and other experiential learning situations. Numerous grants funded research work and internships. The files of the Dana Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and others indicate growth in this area. The Pew Trust funded many science and mathematics projects through the New England Consortium for Undergraduate Science Education (NECUSE).

Marshall's records, like Maud Chaplin's, span the end of the decade and include the files relating to the reaccreditation process.

Click here to see the box list for this collection.

Accession Numbers: A90-020, A91-010, A92-097, A93-038, A94-048, A95-032, A95-034, A96-020, A96-021, A96-043, A96-044, A98-002, A98-013, A98-027, A98-035, A98-045, A99-004, A99—028, A99-039, A99-052, A00-001, A00-016, A00-086, A01-007, A01-011, A01-033, A01-040, A02-004

Produced November 7, 2002, by Mary Bicknell