Inter-Institutional Study Committee (Ind.)

In July of 1949, the Inter-Institutional Study Committee, also known as the Four State Schools Committee, was created in response to a new law passed by the Indiana legislation requesting that the four state schools submit a formula by which the state funds would be divided amongst the institutions. The committee was comprised of representatives from Indiana University, Purdue University, Ball State Teachers College, and Indiana State Teachers College.

From the description of Inter-Institutional Study Committee records, 1941-1961, bulk 1949-1952. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 62212395

In July 1949, the Inter-Institutional Study Committee, also known as the Four State Schools Committee, was established. It was decided that it would be made up of ten members: three from Indiana University, three from Purdue University, two from Ball State Teachers College and two from Indiana State Teachers College. These representatives included: Joseph A. Franklin, Wendell W. Wright, and Herman T. Briscoe from Indiana University; E.C. Young, R.B. Stewart, and B.L. Dodds from Purdue University; J.E. Grinnell and Ralph Watson from Indiana State Teachers College; and Robert H. Cosper and Joseph C. Wagner from Ball State Teachers College. The committee was asked to have their preliminary report completed by October 15, 1949. It was presented to the Indiana University Board of Trustees on October 17, 1949.

The initial report of the committee outlined nine major objectives. They felt that if these objectives were met then every year the budget would only need to be adjusted according to the changing cost of living and enrollment in each department or program. In order to achieve these objectives studies would need to be conducted concerning the enrollment, student/teacher ratios, salaries, building costs, and research amongst different programs and departments within the four institutions.

This preliminary report was given to the presidents of the respective universities and over the next year the project was divided into six parts: physical facilities; student-faculty statistics; unit costs; financial operations; ability and effort of the state to support higher education; and the evaluation of present and future educational programs. Professionals were hired to help conduct studies into these areas. In November 1950, the studies of Wright, Kettler and Hart (a professional from California brought in to conduct the physical plant studies) were presented to the Board of Trustees at Indiana University. The Four State Schools Committee was then faced with the task of interpreting these studies and coming up with another proposal. These studies included an educational survey, a study of the operations of non-educational plants and projects, and the physical plant survey.

From these studies a preliminary budget for the four schools was constructed. Indiana State Teachers College and Ball State Teachers College were satisfied with the budget, but Indiana University and Purdue University disagreed on how much more money Indiana University should get. Indiana wanted a full three hundred thousand dollars more than was originally allocated.

On November 2, 1950, President Frederick L. Hovde of Purdue and President Herman B Wells of Indiana held a meeting in which President Hovde asked that Indiana not ask for more than two hundred and fifty thousand more than Purdue. Although President Wells was not happy with the request, he agreed on account of the fact that he felt it may make negotiations with Purdue easier in the future and time was running out to get the proposal to the Indiana Legislature. The proposed budget for the 1951-1953 bienniums was then submitted to the legislature with the one condition that if the budget of any institution was altered the rest would also be altered by the same percentage.

In September of 1952, the committee had come up with the budget for the 1953-1955 bienniums. It was based on the same formula they had used for the 1951-1953 biennium, but the scientific formula asked for by the legislation was not yet done. In November President Wells reminded the committee of this fact and urged that this task be completed by the next biennium. The committee completed this task in 1952. The final budget gave a ratio of 12:10:3:3, with Indiana University receiving the most funding and Ball State Teachers College and Indiana State Teachers College receiving the lowest, but equal, amount.

This new formula was used to calculate the budgets for the next biennium and the committee had, in effect, completed its job. However, records of the committee still exist through 1957. In 1956, the committee refined the budget to account for growing enrollments, staff salaries, and equipment costs. Records of the committee appear again in 1957 when they issued university retirement money in the form of bonds.

After this date, however, records of the committee do not seem to exist. It is possible that it had simply completed its task and thus just faded away, or that it was replaced by the new Four School Coordinating Committee, that was started in 1960 in response to Indiana State Teachers Colleges’ desire to start a new program. This new Committee was again made up of representatives of the four state schools, and its primary mission was to determine the future curricular needs of higher education.

From the guide to the Inter-Institutional Study Committee records, 1941-1961, bulk 1949-1952, (Indiana University Office of University Archives and Records Management http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives)