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Tri-College University Records

 Collection
Identifier: Mss 154

Scope and Content

The Tri-College University Records include the following series: Legal Documents; Financial; Accreditation & Self-study; Annual Reports; Correspondence; Meeting Minutes; Calendars, Catalogs and Course Offerings; Committees, Councils and Task Forces; Programs, Projects, Workshops and Proposals; Surveys; Humanities Forum; National Endowment for the Humanities; Tri-College University Libraries; Publicity; Foundations Grants; Audio visual Inventory; and Newsletter.



The records primarily came from the office of the provost with various TCU publications coming from a variety of sources including the administrative offices of the three campuses. The libraries' material had been kept by the NDSU Libraries. When possible, the records were retained in the original order as received. The following series make up a major portion of the collection: Humanities Forum, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Tri College University Libraries, and the various grant applications to foundations.



The Legal Documents Series includes the original Articles of Incorporation, and copies of bills passed in the Minnesota and North Dakota legislatures, tax exempt forms, and tuition reciprocity. The following agreements are included: Tri-College Common Market Higher Education, Minnesota-North Dakota Higher Education Reciprocity, Expanded Exchange, Fine Arts Program Admission, Athletic Events Admissions, Student Organization Membership, and Cooperative Arrangements in Higher Education.



The Financial Series includes the Tri-College University proposed budgets from 1968 to 1979. Financial statements are included for 1976 1978.



The Accreditation and Self-Study Series includes application to the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (for 1976) for the graduate degree in Educational Administration. The Self-Study Report completed in 1978 provides a detailed document on TCU with a supplement on the Minot Resident Program.



The Annual Report Series covers the years 1970 to 1978. These reports will be valuable documents of each year's specific accomplishments, grants received, results of surveys, and statistics for the libraries, film library, inter campus transportation, and student exchange programs. The provosts outline their concerns and goals. The annual reports will be one of the first series one will want to review for a general outline of Tri-College University.

The Correspondence Series covers the years 1967 to 1978. The majority of the correspondence is the incoming and outgoing mail of the TCU Provost. The majority covers the mail with legislative bodies, the three college presidents, and faculty members. As grant applications are submitted increased correspondence is shown to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Hill Family Foundation. The Center for Environmental Studies, the Educational Administration Program, and the Humanities Forum are also major topics covered in the Provost office correspondence. The Correspondence Series, gathered from various sources, is quite complete.



The Meeting Minutes Series covers the years 1967 to 1978. These include minutes for the Board of Directors, TCU Commissioners, Common Market Committee, TCU Committee and the Academic Council and are of varying completeness. The Common Market Committee was the first governing body of TCU with minutes for the years 1967 to 1968. Its function was to explore cooperative ventures for higher education in Fargo-Moorhead. The Tri-College University Committee provides detailed minutes for the years 1968 to 1970, being the primary governing body of TCU. These minutes in good detail provide early historical information about the initial programs and activities. The TCU Committee was dissolved and in 1970 the Board of Directors became the main governing body including the presidents of the three colleges; their minutes are very detailed. The minutes provide a good synopsis of dialogue between the provost and board members. The TCU Commissioners included the academic vice-presidents as liaison for TCU affairs with administrations, faculties, and students with their recommendations presented to the Board of Directors. Their meeting minutes cover academic disciplines, course exchange, and review of grant applications. The Academic Council included administrative and faculty representatives and was the chief advisory body to the Board of Directors. The council's function was to consider consortium-wide action on programs and policies for its approval.



The Calendars, Catalogs and Course Offerings Series has scattered holdings covering the years 1969 1976. The TCU calendars include 1969 to 1972; the TCU catalogs include 1978 1979 only; the class schedules cover 1969 1970 only and summer sessions include 1975 and 1976. A complete inventory of course offering lists for 1970 1971 is provided.



The Committees, Councils and Task Forces Series includes various groups for the years 1968 to 1978. The files vary in completeness depending as to their length of existence. Documents include correspondence, meeting minutes, studies, reports, and statements. Some of the initial groups were formed to explore the feasibility of cooperative consortium programs. The groups covered such disciplines as allied health, business administration, graduate study, Native American studies, environment, and history courses. The Fargo Moorhead Community Arts Council formed in 1969 was an effort to bring together interested parties representing cultural arts. Although it was not a formal committee of TCU the council included members of the TCU community and the provost. The minutes of the council are incomplete. An interesting document is the paper presented at the first meeting of the TCU Common Market Allied Health Study Task Force in 1968.



The Programs, Projects and Workshops Series is primarily made up records of the Center for Environmental Studies and Community Service Development program. The Center for Environmental Studies material includes annual reports, correspondence, meeting minutes, grant applications, contracts, and reports for the years 1970 to 1976. Two Center environmental impact studies published include: Environmental Impact Study of the Wild Rice River, The South Branch of the Wild Rice River and Felton Ditch (1973) and the Environmental Assessment of Lake Orwell, Minnesota (1975). The Western Minnesota Communication and Resource Development project was a TCU Title I Project founded through the Higher Education Act of 1965. Its overall objective was the development of communication and educational resources in western Minnesota for community and regional problem-solving on such issues as economic development, environmental, and educational needs. In October 1971 the project sponsored a regional conference called West Minnesota as a Developing Community. In March 1972 the TCU Commissioners decided to restrict the community service role of the consortium to a planning and development function. The COSIP Project Report covers the objectives of the project to determine the potential of Concordia College and Moorhead State College with respect to community service. A community survey was completed with the findings presented. The Proceedings of the Tri-College Anthropology-Sociology Convention appear in three volumes for the years 1972 to 1974. The Series also includes various TCU activities from 1968 to 1978. Topics cover educational television, Model United Nations, ROTC, Prairie Writing Project, fine arts and student health needs. The completeness of the files varies. Some of the major documents in this Series include the following: Northern Environment Council proposal (1971 1972), educational specialist and administration program proposals (1974 1975), and the physics programs (1968 1974).



The Surveys Series includes departmental and student surveys from 1966 to 1972. Departmental surveys completed by the faculty document the declared majors, cooperative activities, academic needs, and specialty of faculty members. The student surveys document student majors, reasons for choosing courses, registration problems, and exchange programs. Both the departmental and the student surveys have published results. The Tri-College University Survey completed in 1978 by students and faculty was done to plan the future directions of TCU. Only the cover letter and the sample survey sheet are given with no tabulated data provided.



The Humanities Forum Series from 1970 to 1976 includes annual reports, budgets, contracts, meeting minutes, correspondence, grants, course outlines, and visiting scholars, evaluation forms, and reports. The series is well documented and complete. The TCU Humanities Council included administrators and faculty members. There were four task forces including the following: admissions and recruitment, humanities curriculum development, grants, and theme selection. The primary objective of the Humanities Council was to improve the teaching of humanities on the three Fargo-Moorhead campuses. The council was the governing body for the grants received from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the TCU Humanities Forum Program. A significant document in this series is: A Plan for the Joint Development of Humanities Resources in the Tri-College University Developed by TCU faculty in 1971 the 158 page document details the humanities in a consortium, major and minors programs, and an outline of the Forum Term program. Evaluations by students of the Humanities Forum provide good observations about the program.



The National Endowment for the Humanities Series includes the documents of TCU working with NEH. The series covers the years 1969 to 1977 including annual reports, correspondence, grant applications from 1972 to 1977, and expenditure reports. This series relates to the Humanities Forum Series since it covers the Humanities Forum grant application of 1972 and other documents submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Humanities Forum grant proposal submitted by the Tri-College University to the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1972 provides an excellent resource on TCU programs in general.



The Tri-College Libraries Series is very complete for the years 1969 to 1978. Meeting minutes, correspondence, task forces, and reports are covered. The TCU film catalogs for 1975 to 1988 are included.



The Publicity Series provides a good description of TCU's history and activities. The newspaper clippings, news releases and the public events calendars covering the years 1963 to 1980 provide a good background of the history of the Tri-College University programs, grants received, workshops, symposia, and reports from the provost. Other publications include brochures, conferences, symposia, etc. The TCU logo competition entries are also included in a file.



The Foundations Grants Series includes proposals and applications with the Hill Family Foundation providing the largest number of files. The Venture Funds Awards provide interesting observations of the types of cooperative projects for the three Fargo-Moorhead campuses. Some of these project grants include the following: the Hill Family Foundation provided the first of its grants in 1968 for the purpose of bringing the Minnesota Orchestra to Fargo Moorhead. The second Hill Family Foundation grant provided the establishment of a full time executive coordination of the consortium. In 1973 the Venture Funds Program was begun providing opportunities for TCU faculty to develop imaginative projects with colleagues at the three colleges. Projects included the Prairie Community Design Center, Performing Arts Festival, TCU Women's Bureau, Forensic Workshop, and the TCU Film Library. The Hill Family Foundation ended a six-year period of support in 1975. In 1976 the Otto Bremer Foundation awarded a grant for TCU to study the entire question of consortium funding.



The Audio-Visual Inventory Series includes one volume listing the audio visual holdings primarily in the humanities for Concordia College, Moorhead State University, and North Dakota State University. Finally, the Newsletter Series consists of Trice, the official publication of TCU, from February 1971 through winter 1988.

Dates

  • 1967-1988, (bulk 1969-1978)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSu Archives.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection are not held by the NDSU Archives.

History

In 1962, after discussion among the presidents and academic deans of Concordia College, Moorhead State College, and North Dakota State University, an informal arrangement called the Fargo-Moorhead Common Market in Education was created. The initial study of cooperative arrangements centered on the availability of undergraduate course offerings, joint research, supervision of graduate programs and faculty appointments.



With legislation provided by the State of Minnesota in 1965, enabling MSC to enter into mutually advantageous educational agreements with both CC and NDSU, the Common Market operated initially in the area of undergraduate course offerings. During subsequent years other arrangements were explored. The academic deans met informally to expand common market offerings and departments began discussions aimed at cooperation in teaching. In the fall of 1967, the Tri-College University Committee was established to coordinate and expand the consortium. The committee included legislators, higher education board members, chambers of commerce, students, and college administrators.



In 1969 the State of North Dakota passed enabling legislation, comparable to that in Minnesota, which permitted the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education to enter into reciprocal education agreements with both private and public institutions in neighboring states. The Tri-College University Committee then applied for and received a $70,000 grant from the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation enabling the committee to appoint a coordinating provost in the fall of 1969. Albert Anderson, an Associate Academic Dean at Concordia College, was appointed the first coordinating provost, serving until 1976. Other provosts have been John McCune (1977-1984, 1985-1986); Andrew Keogh (1984-1985); and Marcia Kierscht (1986- ).

Sub-committees were formed to deal with common market exchanges, late afternoon and evening studies, common calendars, joint departmental coordination, joint services, libraries, joint career counseling, fine arts programs, computer services, transportation, para-medical education, community service, and continued funding for the TCU.



Cooperative inter-institutional organizations were also begun by TCU. The Center for Environmental Studies was formed in 1972. The center initiated various programs including community education, joint research and publishing.



Community Service Development, begun in 1971, was funded under the Higher Education Act of 1965 as the Western Minnesota Communication and Resource Development. Its overall objective was the development of communication and educational resources in western Minnesota for community and regional problem-solving on such issues as economic development, environmental, and educational needs.



The TCU Libraries Consortium has been noted as one of the most valuable developments. Library projects include a union list of serials, shared book purchasing, shuttle service, interlibrary loan and the union catalog project. The TCU Film Library begun in 1973 provides various media formats for the three campuses.



The Tri-College University Educational Administration Degree programs began in 1976. The program was granted accreditation by the North Central Association in 1979. The Economic Education Center was the first in the nation to be sponsored by two states providing in-service activities for K-12 teachers. In 1977 the Prairie Writing Project was begun to improve the writing ability of area students from elementary school through college.



The TCU Nursing Council was established in 1978 to coordinate nursing education in the Fargo-Moorhead area. After considerable discussion, the TCU four-year baccalaureate degree program was approved by Minnesota and North Dakota nursing boards; the new program was begun in 1985.



Grants for TCU Programs have included the Hill Family Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1972 the TCU Humanities Forum was established with the announcement of a $400,000 NEH grant. Along with matching funds, the three year project totaled $850,000. This funding represented the most successful cooperative venture of TCU since it was originally conceived.



Significant conferences held by TCU included the Solar Technology Conference (1981) and the North American Prairie Conference (1985). Begun in 1971, Trice became the official newsletter of TCU and is still published today. The publication continues to focus on news and concerns of TCU.



Today the Tri-College University consortium continues to be an important facet of the three Fargo-Moorhead colleges. President Roland Dille of Moorhead State University stated: "The exchange program is the heart of it." Among the achievements of TCU, Dille sees as notable the accreditation of the graduate level Educational Administration program. President Paul Dovre of Concordia College views the "extended opportunities for students" as one of the main accomplishments over the years." Dovre goes on to state that, "It's a matter of enriching programs for everyone."

Extent

8 Linear Feet (8 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Incorporated in 1970 as a cooperative educational arrangement between North Dakota State University, Concordia College and Moorhead State University.

Provenance

Donated by Tri-College University, 1980 (Acc. 2048). TCU Libraries material primarily from NDSU Libraries.

Bibliography

Annual reports, Tri-College University, 1970 1978



Blueprint for Progress Tri-College University, 1971



Trice, 18(3):4 Winter 1988



Trice, 1971 1978

Property rights

The NDSU Archives owns the property rights to this collection.
Title
Finding Aid to the Tri-College University Records
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository

Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States