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Faculty of Arts and Letters, Office of the Dean David Willbern, Associate Dean (Graduate Education) Office files

 Collection — Box: 1-6
Identifier: 16-1-940

Scope and Contents

The Office Files of David Willbern, circa 1986-1989, contains materials pertinent to his tenure as Associate Dean of Graduate Education. The collection contains materials relevant to the administration of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, special programming, departmental matters, conferences and both graduate and faculty funding.

Types of materials included in the collection are clippings and articles, committee meeting minutes, reports and proposals, correspondence, memoranda, handwritten notes and fellowship applications.

Dates

  • 1983-1991
  • Majority of material found within [1986-1989 ]

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in English.

Terms of Access

Faculty of Arts and Letters, Office of the Dean, David Willbern, Associate Dean (Graduate Education) Office Files, 1983-1991 [1986-1989 bulk] are open for research.

Copyright

University records are public records and once fully processed are generally open to research use. Access to student and personnel records is restricted for 80 years from the date of creation. See reference staff for details. No restrictions on access apply to published records. The restriction of university records is subject to compliance with applicable laws, including the Freedom of Information Act. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the archives' usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Biographical Note

David Willbern, a graduate of Amherst College and University of California, Berkeley, came to State University of New York at Buffalo in 1973 as an Assistant Professor of English. He became an Associate Professor in the Department of English in 1979. In 1997, he was made full Professor and he continues to teach in the department of English. Willbern worked for many years in academic administration; acting as Associate Dean for Educational Technology for the College of Arts and Sciences from 1997 to 1998. Willbern also served as the Associate Vice Provost for Educational Technology from 1998 to 2002. He held the position of Associate Dean of Arts and Letters three times--from 1986 to 1989, again from 1992 to 1993 and from 1996 to 1997. In 1998, the Faculty of Arts and Letters joined with the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics to become College of Arts and Sciences.

As a professor, Willbern taught undergraduate courses in composition and literature, American and English Renaissance literature, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, Shakespeare, literature and psychology, and bestsellers. Willbern instructed graduate seminars in similar topics, as well as Freud, the revenge play (Classical and Renaissance), theory of psychotherapy, history of literary criticism, and psychoanalytic criticism.

Historical Note

The Faculty of Arts and Letters came into being in 1967 when the University planned a massive academic reorganization. The academic units were divided into seven different faculties, of which Arts and Letters was one. It originally consisted of a number of departments that were in the original College of Arts and Letters including Art, Classics, Drama and Speech, English, Modern Languages and Literatures, and Music. Other newly-formed departments were added to the faculty later like American Studies, African-American Studies, Comparative Literature, and the Center for Media Study. It was disbanded in 1998 when the University again reorganized and reestablished the College of Arts and Sciences.

Extent

2.75 Linear Feet (5 manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box)

Abstract

The Office Files of David Willbern, circa 1986-1989, contains materials pertinent to his tenure as Associate Dean of Graduate Education. The collection contains materials relevant to the administration of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, special programming, departmental matters, conferences and both graduate and faculty funding.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into five series and subseries: I. Administration, II. Conferences, III. Departments, IV. Graduate Students IV.A. Admissions IV.B. Directories IV.C. Funding and Awards IV.D. Groups V. Programs. The information within each series is arranged chronologically.

Acquisition Information

In 1994, The University Archives received a collection of materials from Janet Chmielowiec, Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences (accession number 94-23).The collection contained the office files of John Dings and David Willbern, course proposals for the Faculty of Arts and Letters, and general Arts and Letters materials. In 2004, Kerry Fender processed this accession under the supervision of Karen Walton. John Dings materials were processed as 16/1/899. David Willbern materials were processed as 16/1/940. Course proposals were integrated into 16/1/957. General Arts and Letters files were integrated into 16/1/903.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected to this collection.

Related Resources

16/1/883
Faculty of Arts and Letters Office of the Dean Outgoing Correspondence, 1985-1989
16/1/899
Faculty of Arts and Letters, Office of the Dean, John Dings, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Education), Office Files, 1985-1989
16/1/960
Faculty of Arts and Letters, Dean's Office, Outgoing Correspondence, 1986-1995 [1987-1992 bulk]

Processing Information

Collection processed by Kerry Fender, July, 2004.

Source

Title
Finding Aid for the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Office of the Dean David Willbern, Associate Dean (Graduate Education) Office files
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Kerry Fender.
Date
2006
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University Archives Repository

Contact:
420 Capen Hall
Buffalo New York 14260-1674 US
716-645-2916
716-645-3714 (Fax)