Office of the Registrar of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1795-2017

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Summary

Creator:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Office of the Registrar.
Abstract:

From the founding of the university through the nineteenth century, academic record-keeping was the responsibility of the secretary of the faculty. Originally student exams were oral, and no grades were given. The secretary of the faculty maintained a record of student absences from chapel, recitations, and class sessions. At the end of each term, the Committee on Visitation of the Board of Trustees met on the campus and administered the oral exams. By 1835 a system of grading had evolved and written exams were in use. In 1886 the Board of Trustees created the position of registrar, but the position was assigned to the secretary of the faculty until 1916.

The records of the Office of the Registrar include student academic records and other miscellaneous student records dating from 1795, the year the university opened, to 1907. The academic records consist of lists of students with courses taken, grades, and absences as well as trustee and faculty reports on student progress. Miscellaneous records include records of student misconduct, lists of students by home county, University Normal School admissions, examination questions, and records of student employment. Records of the office also include the Permanent Record of Courses for 1946-1981 and reports on teaching load and grade distribution, 1956-1968.

Extent:
668 items (21.0 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

During the early years of the university, supervision of student academic progress was handled directly by the institution's Board of Trustees and faculty. Grades were not used. The professors, through the secretary of the faculty, maintained a record of student absences from the required chapel, recitation, and class sessions. The Board of Trustees' Committee on Visitation met on the campus at the end of each term to conduct oral student exams. The committee made reports to the full Board of Trustees with recommendations on student promotion and graduation. By 1835 the curriculum had expanded to include elective courses, and a system of grading evolved in which vg= very good; g=good; vr=very respectable; r=respectable; t=tolerable; b=bad; and vb=very bad.

For a number of years after 1835 oral exams by the Committee on Visitation continued. Gradually, with the further expansion of the curriculum and the growing size of the student body, written exams by the faculty replaced this earlier practice. Throughout the nineteenth century, however, academic record keeping remained the responsibility of the secretary of the faculty.

On 26 January 1886, the Board of Trustees created the position of registrar to maintain records of student admissions and grades. At first the duties of the position were simply added to those of the secretary of the faculty. Joshua Walker Gore was the first faculty member to hold the combined offices. Until 1916 the Office of the Registrar remained much the same, with Eugene Lewis Harris replacing Gore in 1894, Charles Thomas Woollen succeeding Harris in 1902, and Thomas James Wilson replacing Woollen in 1908. Under Woollen, the keeping of academic records was formalized on what have come to be known as permanent record cards, and the office began to be seen as more an administrative than a faculty responsibility. By January 1916 Thomas J. Wilson was released from other duties and became full-time registrar; and in 1923 George Kenneth Grant Henry was appointed assistant registrar. In 1930 the responsibilities for admissions and academic records were divided between Henry and Ben Husbands as assistant registrars under Wilson as dean of admissions and registrar.

The Central Office of Records was created in 1938 with Isaac Cebern Griffin as its director, reporting to Wilson. In 1942 Ben Husbands succeeded Wilson as registrar, and the division of functions under him was further formalized by the establishment of the Office of Admissions with Lee Roy Armstrong as director. The following year Husbands was replaced by William Howard Plemmons. Following Plemmons' retirement in 1947, the title of registrar was abandoned, and the directors of the Central Records Office and the Admissions Office reported directly to the chancellor.

In 1954 the Cresap and McCormick management study resulted in a reorganization of the university's administrative structure, and the Central Records Office was placed in the new Division of Student Affairs. Edwin Sidney Lanier was appointed director of the Central Records Office and the Student Aid Office. In 1961 Raymond E. Strong became director of a reorganized Office of Records and Registration. In 1966, following J. Carlyle Sitterson's appointment as chancellor, the office was moved to the Division of Academic Affairs and began reporting to the provost.

In July 1969 the Office of the Registrar and Director of Institutional Research was established with James R. Gaskin as its head, and the Office of Records and Registration was placed under it along with the offices of Student Aid and Undergraduate Admissions. In July 1971 Lillian Y. Lehman replaced Gaskin as registrar and director of institutional research. In 1973 the Division of Administration was created, and the registrar/director began reporting to the new vice chancellor for administration. On 1 July 1980, the Division of Administration was renamed Division of University Affairs. The Office of the Registrar and Director of Institutional Research remained in University Affairs and continued to oversee the offices of Records and Registration, Student Aid, and Undergraduate Admissions until Lillian Lehman's retirement in February 1984. At that time the responsibilities of the registrar and those of the director of institutional research were separated into two positions. Raymond Strong became registrar; the new director of institutional research, Timothy R. Sanford, reported to Strong.

Strong retired on 30 June 1985, and at that time the Office of Institutional Research was placed under the supervision of the provost. David Lanier became registrar effective 1 August l985. The Office of the Registrar remained within the Division of University Affairs until 31 July 1989, after which it, too, began reporting to the Office of the Provost.

Scope and content:

The records of the Office of the Registrar include student academic records and other miscellaneous student records dating from 1795, the year the university opened, to 1903. The academic records consist of lists of students with courses taken, grades, and absences as well as trustee and faculty reports on student progress. Miscellaneous records include records of student misconduct, lists of students by home county, University Normal School admissions, examination questions, and records of student employment. Records of the office also include the Permanent Record of Courses for 1946-1981 and reports on teaching load and grade distribution, 1956-1968.

Acquisition information:

Periodic transfer from the offices that create these records.

Processing information:

Processed by: University Archives Staff, March 2005

Encoded by: Susan Ballinger, June 2005

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2020

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.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

This collection contains additional materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.

Restrictions to use:

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Office of the Registrar of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40131, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu