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Size | 6.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 3900 items) |
Abstract | The position of Housing Officer was created in 1946 in the university's Office of Admissions to handle arrangements for student housing. In 1954, the Housing Officer was moved to the newly created Division of Student Affairs. The title of both the officer and office have varied though their functions have remained essentially the same. From 1956 to 1970, the Director of Housing was in charge of the Housing Office. In 1970, the Department of Residence Life was created, and the Housing Office was incorporated into it. In 1973, the Department of University Housing was established. Records include correspondence and other files relating to the work of the Department of University Housing, including housing policy statements, staff meeting minutes, annual reports, budget information, and various surveys and studies of university housing needs and procedures; also statistics and documentation regarding dormitories, capacity, occupancy, etc. |
Creator | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of University Housing. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives. |
Language | English |
Processed by: University Archives Staff, May 1986, August 1986, February 1988, May 1989, January 1991, March 1992
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Back to TopThe 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.
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The influx of veterans after World War II necessitated a full-time administrator to manage student housing. In April 1946, James E. Wadsworth was appointed to the newly established position of Housing Officer in the Office of Admissions. On 1 July 1954, with the establishment of the Division of Student Affairs, the Housing Office was placed under the supervision of the Dean of Students (later Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs). The late 1950s and early 1960s witnessed the construction of a number of dormitories on the campus, and the period 1962-1967 saw the opening of the South Campus high-rise residence halls: Craige, Ehringhaus, Morrison, and Hinton James.
This was also a period of significant change in the administration of the dormitories. In the fall of 1960, the Resident Advisor system was instituted. Originally envisioned as a program for freshmen, the system was gradually expanded after the residence college concept was adopted as the guiding principle of the Housing Office during the 1963-1964 academic year. The incorporation of responsibility for the housing needs of women students into the Housing Office in November 1967 and the efforts of Harry Smith as Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Residence Life led to experiments in coeducational living.
On 1 July 1970, the Department of Residence Life was created in the Division of Student Affairs with the Housing Office as an integral part. By November 1971, the department had control of married student housing and responsibility for staff salaries and maintenance/renovation funding. The residence college at UNC-Chapel Hill never achieved the academic status, with resident professors and on-site classes, that characterized such colleges at the University of Michigan and Yale University. On the Chapel Hill campus, the concept never progressed past the social stage, and this failure coupled with ongoing fiscal accounting problems led to student dissatisfaction with the program and eventually to loss of administrative support for it.
On 1 July 1973, the Department of University Housing was established with James D. Condie as director. The new department consisted of the following divisions: Contracts Office; Finance and Personnel Office; Operations Office; Residence Life Office; Married Student Housing Office; and the Off-Campus Housing Information Center.
At this time, the university was faced with a shortage of housing, and off-campus rents were spiraling. In an effort to develop a fairer system of room assignment, the Department of University Housing tried a first-come-first-serve system, then a lottery. In the process, a room contract was instituted, restricting room shifts by making the student responsible financially for the room assigned. The pressure of this system and the bitterness of students' reactions to it led to Dr. Condie's resignation in 1981. The involvement of Student Government in the operation of the lottery eventually eased student grievances.
Names, titles and tenures of those who have headed the Housing Office and the Department of University Housing are listed below.
1946-1956 | James E. Wadsworth, Housing Officer |
1956-1970 | James E. Wadsworth, Director, Housing Office |
1970 | James E. Wadsworth, Housing Assignment Officer |
1970-1972 | James E. Wadsworth, Assistant Director for Housing, Department of Residence Life |
1972-1973 | James E. Wadsworth, Assistant Director for Single Student Housing, Department of Residence Life |
1973-1981 | James D. Condie, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of University Housing |
1981-1983 | George F. Harpster, Acting Director of University Housing |
1983-1999 | Wayne T. Kuncl, Director of University Housing |
2000-2005 | Christopher A. Payne, Director of University Housing and Residential Education |
2005- | Larry Hicks, Director of University Housing and Residential Education |
Records of the Department of University Housing consist of files relating to policy development and revision, especially in the area of room assignment, as well as annual reports, budget information, staff meeting minutes, and various studies and surveys of university housing needs and procedures. Also included are statistics and other documentation regarding dormitories, housing capacity, housing occupancy, etc. The majority of the records date from the 1970s and 1980s.
Back to TopSeries 1 consists of two subseries: Administrative Files and General Subject Files. Subseries 1 contains letters to and from the Department of University Housing, housing policy statements, and staff meeting minutes and information. Subseries 2 contains annual reports; budget information; publicity; tables and Files related to the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare's 1979 lawsuit against the University of North Carolina system; and surveys and studies of various local and national housing policies.
Series 2 contains statistics and other documentation, including policies and procedures, concerning dormitories, sign-up, housing capacity, occupancy, and consolidation.