Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Department of University Housing of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40129, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Periodic transfer from the offices that create these records.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: University Archives Staff, May 1986, August 1986, February 1988, May 1989, January 1991, March 1992

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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.

• Dormitories--North Carolina.
• Education, Higher--North Carolina--History.
• General education--North Carolina--History.
• Student housing--North Carolina.
• Universities and colleges--North Carolina--History.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Student housing.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Housing Office.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--History.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Student housing.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of Residence Life.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of University Housing.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Housing Office.

• Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Records (#40124)
• Office of Chancellor: Robert Burton House Records (#40019)
• University Archives started archiving selected websites of the academic and business units of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina General Administration, and student groups and organizations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in January 2013. To see if websites for this department or related departments have been archived visit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Harvested Websites (#40417).

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.

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.