Indiana University. Dean of Students Office

In 1919, Indiana University appointed Clarence Edmondson the first Dean of Men. In 1945, the Office of the Dean of Men was reorganized and became the Dean of Students Office.

After the reorganization, Col. Raymond L. Shoemaker was appointed Dean of Students. He held that position until 1955 when Robert Shaffer became the next dean, serving until 1969. Thomas Schreck was then appointed to fill the position and remained until 1981.

Dean Clarence Edmondson was appointed the first Dean of Men in 1919. Prior to that, those duties were handled by the President and various other deans of the school. The office was organized primarily to take care of disciplinary matters and to help male students adjust to campus life. Activities of the Dean of Men's office at that time included: conferences with students on employment, misconduct, absences, admission on probation and deficiencies in grades, conferences with parents on scholarship, and conferences with heads of groups (i.e., fraternity presidents). In 1922, Charles Sembower was appointed as a second Dean of Men. Edmondson remained dean until 1944, Sembower until 1941. Similarly, the office of the Dean of Women was established in 1901 under the supervision of Mary Bidwell Breed, an assistant professor of Chemistry.

The Dean of Students position was created by the Board of Trustees in 1945 to head the newly-created Division of Student Personnel. The duties of the individual included the following: integrating the work of all offices concerned with student personnel problems, acting for the President in supervision of student government, and maintaining close associations with the student council and other organizations concerned with general problems of the student body. Col. Raymond L. Shoemaker, professor of Military Science, was appointed the first Dean of Students in 1946 and served in that capacity until 1955. He was followed by Robert H. Shaffer (1955-1969), and Thomas C. Schreck (1969-1981).