Institutional Coordinator Sylvester Theisen, 1969-1970 and 1970-1971, 1969-1971

Institutional Coordinator Sylvester Theisen, 1969-1970 and 1970-1971 Position description of Coordinator for SJU/CSB, September 18, 1969 Renner's summary of documents relating to the growth of cooperation with an Institutional Coordinator, 1969-1970 and 1970-1971 "Chronology of Decisions/Actions in 1969-1970 based on Theisen's Annual Report Annual Report of Coordinator Theisen, 1969-1970; "Annual Report of Coordinator Sylvester Theisen, 1970-1971" Summary of Meeting of Boards of Trustees of Saint John's U and the College of Saint Benedict, July 19, 1969: Unanimous approval of Sylvester Theisen as Coordinator with broad powers and direct communication with the Boards Report on the cooperative efforts of CSB/SJU Cooperation during 1968-1969 Suggestions for the Future 1969-1970: Evidence of disagreement between President Colman Barry and Stanley Idzerda: Barry sends a copy of Idzerda's letter of August 12, 1969 and asks Theisen "to take this problem in hand" and solve it Idzerda memo to Colman Barry, August 18, 1969 Barry writes to Abbot, Theisen, and Idzerda and others, August 18, 1969 about Gervase's financial analysis of last year's academic exchange and asks Theisen to solve it Theisen's summary of the problem sent to members of the Coordination Committee of the two Boards dealing with financial issues, August 20, 1969 Colman Barry to Idzerda, in re joint appointments and salaries of Sister Imogene and Father Eugene: He believes Theisen should solve such problems and not the presidents, September 22, 1969 Appointment of Dr. Sylvester Theisen as coordinator of the cooperation: "CSB-SJU Coordinator Reveals Plans for Future Cooperation," by Jan Johnson, The Torch, October 14, 1969: Theisen states that "the present aim of the schools is to achieve a unified academic program by mutual agreement.... The job as Theisen sees it, "lies on three different levels: 1. the academic program : to establish single programs with unified department heads and minimum duplication of facilities and courses; 2. dealing with the financial issues in the exchange program (e.g., transportation, meal exchange, and credit hour exchange; 3. exploring the possibility of having one legal corporation, a merger (put on hold at the present time because "it is generally agreed on at this time that the desired cooperation can be reached by mutual agreement rather than legal merger)." Theisen's Correspondence, Fall 1969-1970 Theisen Memos and Minutes to the Joint Board and its Ad hoc Committee on Coordination, 1969-1970: Summary of Joint Board Meeting of July 19, 1969: Approval of Sylvester Theisen as Coordinator with broad powers and will direct communication with Ad hoc Committee of the two Boards Summary report of the cooperation during 1968-1969: -- student exchange was 6400 credits with more than 300 students participating, using the bus service -- Department of Theology was combined -- Sister Mary David Olheiser named Chair of both departments of education -- two joint appointments (Mrs. Pintadl in French and Sociology) -- three administrative joint appointments: Sister Imogene Blatz, Librarian, Father Eugene McLaughlin, Registrar, Larry Haeg, Director of public information -- common admissions form, literature and some common recruitment efforts in 1969-1970 ("The Two of Us" brochure is already published) -- Joint Administrative Councils meet regularly and have agreed to a common general catalog and common tuition and fee rates for 1970-1971 -- Directors of Food Services will do common purchasing wherever feasible -- two successful joint grant applications ($104,000) Suggestions for the Future: -- more effective and frequent communication; -- Educational Policies and Joint Staffing Committees should meeting more regularly -- joint purchasing and budgeting procedures, simplification of library use, and transportation services between two schools Ad Hoc Meeting of Administrators Concerning Financial Arrangements in Creating a Single Registrar's Office, September 26, 1969 Theisen memo to Registrar, October 28, 1969 on charges for the January Course for students from other campuses Meeting of CSB/SJU Administrators, November 6, 1969 about numerous issues Theisen to Presidents, Deans and Admissions Officers, December 8, 1969: in re better communication and agreement on admissions Theisen in re a joint committee on Convocations and Lectures, December 12 and 16, 1969 McKenna to Idzerda, December 24, 1969 in re 1969-1970 incremental costs of cooperation Theisen to Ad Hoc committee, January 8, 1970: Possible formation of a corporation to conduct the unified educational enterprise : We have unified the our academic program and supportive services -- where do we go from here? It seems logical to take the next step of developing one unified structure -- i.e., a legal corporation (the Mayhew recommendation). The best argument against it is the dedication of the two religious communities. We need to discuss this. Theisen to Ad Hoc Committee on Coordination, January 9, 1970: on financial arrangements for credit-hour exchange imbalance. Memo explains the various approaches used since 1962 and then explains the policy agreed on in 1968-1969, but there is continued disagreement on how it is being carried out. The basic question is: should we follow the "incremental costs only" rationale or should we follow some approximation to the cost accounting approach? He gives the pros and cons of both approaches. Is there an invalid negative attitude at SJU to discourage SJU students from classes at CSB? How can we reward cooperative attitudes and penalize negative attitudes? [the memo is six pages long and gives a good analysis of the challenge of academic exchange costs. -- Theisen to Presidents and Academic Deans on faculty load norms, January 9, 1970 -- Theisen to Mother Henrita Osendorf, Alan Ruvelson, Abbot Baldwin, John Eidenschink and John Lange, January 13, 1970: request for a meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee to discuss the issue he raised in his memo -- Minutes of Ad Hoc Committee on Coordination, January 22, 1970 (an excellent analysis of Theisen's January 9th memo). The decision was to postpone a decision to move forward more rapidly toward a legal corporation. Summary of suggestions for the future: -- Improve communication with their respective constituencies. -- More frequent meetings of EPC and the Joint Staffing Committee -- Joint purchasing, joint budgeting procedures and simplification of library use and transportation between the two schools -- Joint Administrative Councils have meet often and have agreed to publish a common general catalog and common tuition and fee rates for 1970-1971. -- Agreement for common purchasing in food services. -- Success in joint applications for 2 grants @ $104.000. Memo from Theisen to the Coordination Committee of the Boards on the financial arrangement for the excess credit hours taken on one or the other campus in the student exchange (August 20, 1969): Theisen's meeting with presidents and business officers has made it very clear that there are very basis disagreements relative to handling the financial aspects of the student exchange. There is no easy solution. Theisen recommends that a decision should be made on the 1970--1971 year opens and then they can go back to settle the differences in the imbalance for 1968-1969 and the expected imbalance "Before Christmas we must agree on a system for the future. Then, looking from the secure vantage point of that agreement we can view our present disagreement and settle it in some compromise manner knowing that the future pattern will not be affected by the compromise solution." Theisen to Ad hoc Committee on Coordination (January 9, 1970) on the financial arrangements for credit-hour exchange imbalance: Because of serious differences between the presidents in re the exchange, Theisen made a recommendation (see page 5-6) Minutes of the Ad hoc Committee on Coordination, January 22, 1970: Approval of Theisen's recommendation made on January 9, 1970. Issue of unification of departments: --single catalog descriptions of courses; -- appointment of chairs for single, unified departments is planned for the Spring (some departments like music may require an associate chair). Issue functional unification of administrative procedures: -- joint meetings of Educational Policies Committees -- some joint meetings of Lectures and Concerts Committees -- some cooperation between admissions offices but more is needed -- an attempt will be made to make salaries and faculty policies uniform Should the two administrative structures be unified? (Theisen asked for direction on following through on Mayhew report recommendation of a merger). He concluded after that discussion that he would not do anything more on it at least until the next meeting. Theisen to Ad hoc Committee on Coordination (January 8, 1970) on the possible formation of a corporation to conduct the unified educational enterprise. -- i.e., where do we go from here? "Arguments exist in favor of separate, cooperating entities as well as for total unification of the educational enterprise." -- There is now one unified program available to both men and women (except CSB Basic Studies) -- organizational logic indicates the desirability of developing one unified structure --i.e. one legal cooperation. One argument against this choice is the dedication of two religious communities and their willingness to commit persons and money will decrease seriously (no longer a special apostolate any more. There would be three corporations: the Convent, the Abbey and university. Theisen to CSB/SJU Faculty, March 9, 1970: Explanation of the history of our cooperation; Joint Boards' Ad hoc Committee on Cooperation, 1970-71: September 3, 1970: Summary of accomplishments by Sylvester Theisen: 1. All courses in the Biology Dept will be taught at SJU and almost all courses in Education Dept will be at CSB (administrative and financial implications are under discussion) 2. HEW Developing Institutions grant pays for Institutional Coordinator and for new institutional researcher James Hearn (he will work on space utilization and unit costs of courses etc for wise policy decisions) 3. Many of the academic debts have been unified and systematic discussion of troublesome topics will be addressed 4. a strength: administrators and faculty of both schools have a positive, constructive attitude toward cooperation (an essential quality for healthy growth in partnership) Minutes of Ad hoc Committee on Cooperation, November 8m 1970; Agenda and Minutes of the Ad Hoc Committee on Cooperation and Relevant memos from Idzerda and Theisen: December 6, 1970: -- Advantages and disadvantages of unifying the admissions offices. Committee recommends continued and increased cooperation without a change in structure of the two offices. -- Meal exchange: the Committee asks So Theisen to produce a formula for exchange of money for food that would be reasonable and equitable for both. --Committee recommends to the Board of Trustees that no proposal for a legal merger be drawn up until Theisen (the coordinator) is instructed to do so by the Ad Hoc Committee. -- Committee hopes Theisen will stay on as coordinator (it is obvious that he is very concerned and interested in program of cooperation and has their trust) -- they move that they will not accept his resignation for at least one more year. Memo: Idzerda to CSB Faculty December 29, 1970: Board of Trustees decision regarding legal merger. Ad Hoc Committee on Cooperation recommends that no proposal for a legal merger be drawn up until Sy Theisen is instructed to do so by the Ad Hoc Committee. Coordinator Theisen to CSB Board: January 7, 1971: Theisen to CSB Board of Trustees (January 7, 1971) Theisen assures Board that CSB-SJU cooperation is not in shambles (their meeting took place before the meeting of the administrators): Some misunderstandings have been dissolved (especially Michael Bleckers' document) -- both administrations now think agreeable arrangements are possible in re pro rata sharing of institutional costs. January 8, 1970: Possible Formation of a Corporation to Conduct the Unified Educational Enterprise and discussion on the financial arrangement for credit hour exchange Theisen to Dean Firmin Escher, January 27, 1971: He requests that the two deans be present at the February 7 meeting of the Committee on Cooperation Ad Hoc Committee on Cooperation, February 7, 1971 (agenda and Minutes): Discussion concerning the unification of the biology dept. (CSB Biology a full-fledged dept with three professors and lab space -- should it be moved to SJU? Faculty Galarnault and Mary Grell as faculty say it has been working well -- all they want to know is whether this is a permanent arrangement so they can plan (she knows of no Biology faculty member opposed to it). The committee approved the unification of the biology dept at SJU. Issue of whether to have one dean or two deans: the CSB Dean, Sister Firmin and SJU Dean John Lange favor having two deans. Theisen favors one vice president to both presidents and possibly keep the two deans for ca 5 years. Issue of differing language requirements (CSB has two years and SJU has one year). One recommendation was to interpret language to include math, music, liturgy, as well as language. The committee recommended that students be involved in this discussion. Issue of unifying the Financial Aid offices: Theisen favors one office. No action was taken. Issue of report from Dr. James Hearn in re Theisen's wish to have total departmental costs divided between the two schools on the basis of credit hours consumed by students from each college. No action taken. Correspondence related to Co-Institutional Planning, 1970-1971 Nomination of chairmen by department members, April 1970 Sylvester Theisen, 1970-1971 Report (includes a separate one September 30, 1970 and an end of the year report) (included in Annual Reports, 1969-1970 and 1970-1971) Issues of Academic Affairs, 1970-1971 Biology Counseling Service International Studies Programs January Term Library Registrar Credit Hour: Student Exchange, Fall 1970 Academic Departmental Administration, 1970-1971 ( lists those which are joint, single, cooperating, and separate) Contract for Joint Appointment, 1970 Correspondence of Coordinator, , 1970-1971 See Emmanuel Renner, "Chronology of Cooperation," for detail on the following information (1970-1971): Joint appointments by 1970: Dr. Sylvester Theisen, Coordinator Father Eugene McLaughlin, Registrar, Single centralized Registrar's Office Sister Imogene Blatz, Director of two libraries (unified library service Larry Haeg, Director of Public Information, Joint Public Relations Office Leroy Blaske, teacher in Sociology Sister Mary David, Chair of the Education Department Father Jerome Theisen, teacher of Theology (chair?) Closer cooperation between the two Admissions Office Data on Cooperation: Exchange of Students and Financial Exchange for it; Faculty Exchange; History of Registrar's Office Unification of Departments The changes in academic departments by 1970-1971: 1. Joint Departments: Art, Biology, Communication/Theater, Mathematics and Music 2. Single Departments: Chemistry, Economics, Education, Government, History, ROTC , Physics, Psychology, and Theology 3. Cooperating Departments: English, Foreign Languages, Philosophy 4. Separate Departments: Home Economics, Physical Education, Nursing (Nursing just opened in 1969-1970) Academic Exchange Accounting, 1970-1971 Joint Boards' Ad Hoc Committee on Cooperation, January 9, 1970: Financial Arrangements for Credit-hour Exchange Imbalance Theisen made four recommendations in order to keep good cooperation: (pp. 5-6) Institutional Research (Hearn Reports, 1970-1971) Note: 1997 to 1999 Memos from Sylvester Theisen to Sister Emmanuel Renner when she was working on the early years of the history of the coordinate relationship Note: On July 10, 1995 Sylvester Theisen welcomed Provost Hendly to CSB and SJU campus and explained briefly the history of cooperation during 1969 to 1972. See also, "CSB-SJU Separate but Cooperating," Torch, Vol. 7 #10, April 19, 1971.