In 1870, twenty years before the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was established and the Office of the Dean of Harvard College was created, President Charles W. Eliot established the post of Dean of the College Faculty in order to relieve himself of the burden of many formal administrative tasks involved in the College operations. At the time, the College Faculty controlled the system of instruction, made rules and regulations regarding the conduct of undergraduates, recommended students for degrees, and administered discipline. The Dean of the College Faculty presided at meetings of the Faculty in the absence of the President, took charge of records concerning admission, matriculation, scholarships, attendance, and petitions, and acted as a liaison between the President and Faculty. Ephraim W. Gurney served in this post from 1870 to 1876, Charles Franklin Dunbar served from 1876 to 1882, and Clement Lawrence Smith served from 1882 to 1890. The post was discontinued when the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was formed. In 1890, the faculties of Harvard College and the Lawrence Scientific School were merged into a single faculty named the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It had charge of the College, the Lawrence Scientific School, and the Graduate School. The Office of the Dean of the College Faculty ceased to exist and Clement Lawrence Smith, the Dean of the College Faculty, was appointed the new Dean of Harvard College, an office in which he served until 1891.
From the description of General information by and about the Dean of the College Faculty, 1870-1886. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77066217
