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Records of the Office of the Chancellor/Executive Vice President (Sidney Borowitz)

Call Number

RG.6.0.7

Dates

1967-1977, inclusive
; 1972-1977, bulk

Creator

New York University. Office of the Chancellor and Executive Vice President

Extent

35.75 Linear Feet 81 manuscript boxes and 1 oversize flat box

Language of Materials

Materials are in English

Abstract

The Papers of Chancellor/Executive Vice President Sidney Borowitz include the materials generated during the years 1972-1977, and also include selected materials created in the Office of Chancellor Allan M. Cartter and elsewhere within the university community dating from as early as 1967. The papers have been divided into twelve series.

Historical Note

At the time in the University's history that this collection was initiated, the Office of the Chancellor/Executive Vice President (C/EVP) held institutional responsibility as head of the faculty, sponsor of faculty appointment, termination and tenure, and chief liaison between faculty and students and the Board of Trustees. (1) Second in command to the President, the C/EVP exercised oversight over the schools and divisions as well as most internal organizational problems, with deans and officers reporting directly to him. (2)

Under President James M. Hester's leadership, the University by 1964 had embarked on an ambitious development plan to improve its facilities, raise its standards for admission, and increase its visibility within its urban community. (3) By the end of that decade, student protest, enrollment declines, and inflationary pressures were derailing those plans. It had become a time of financial difficulty for institutions of higher education throughout the country. (4) Recurrent and serious financial difficulties at New York University placed the continued existence of individual units at risk, and even threatened the future of the institution itself. When Sidney Borowitz became Chancellor in 1972, the University, regarded as the country's largest private institution, had been experiencing multi-million dollar annual losses. (5)

Dr. Borowitz, named acting Provost in 1971 of New York University's (NYU) University Heights campus in the Bronx, site of the University College of Arts and Science and the School of Engineering and Science, was appointed C/EVP May 1, 1972 by President Hester, 1962-1975, to succeed Allan M. Cartter, Chancellor 1966-1972. When, three years into Chancellor Borowitz' incumbency, President Hester stepped down, the Board of Trustees, after a national search, selected John C. Sawhill, 1975-1980, as the University's next president. During the early years of his time in office Dr. Sawhill seemingly concluded that he preferred "to operate without a Chancellor..." (6); Dr. Borowitz stepped down in 1977.

Temporary relief to the University's deficit in the early 1970's came with the sale brokered by the New York State Education Department (NYSED), of the University's Bronx campus, 1894-1973, to the City University of New York for use by Bronx Community College. Concurrent with discussions with officials in Albany concerning the future of the University Heights campus, President Hester convened a Taskforce on the Financial Emergency to address other questions related to the University's on-going fiscal problems; one member was the then Dean of University College Sidney Borowitz, Box 30, folder 5.

Under the terms of the final agreement with NYSED the University's School of Engineering and Science and its faculty were merged September 1, 1973 with the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (PIB), and transferred to Brooklyn, effectively ending the University's long-term role in engineering education, 1854-1973. In a related move University College of Arts and Science and its faculty was merged with the Washington Square College of Arts and Science at Washington Square.

By the beginning of 1975 the University again faced major financial problems largely attributed to extreme national recession/inflation pressures, Box 4, folder 4. While Drs. Hester and Borowitz moved quickly to convene available members of the 1972 Task Force on the Financial Emergency, to review the University's current and projected deficit situation and recommend solutions, Box 2, folder 5, Dr. Hester's departure in effect transferred the initiative for resolution of these problems to his successor.

Also within its academic precincts, during this period the University experienced a faculty unionization drive, took some initial steps toward closing down its School of Social Work and then reversed itself, shut down its PhD program in Philosophy (FAS), not to be reinstated until the 1990s, considered closing the College of Dentistry or entering into a contract relationship with NYSED for its operation and support before its financial stability was assured through new understandings reached with NYSED, and created the Gallatin Division, expanded successor to the University School Without Walls program first recognized in 1972, and precursor of its current Gallatin School of Individualized Study, in tandem with a reorganization of the School of Continuing Education.

Among other institutional initiatives in that time, NYU established its initial policy and office responsible for Affirmative Action, broadened its governance machinery, undertook a major review of its mission and direction through a presidentially convened Goals Conference, and developed its Office of Student Affairs.

Dr. Borowitz was a member of the NYU physics faculty and taught at both the Bronx and Washington Square campuses. His wide acquaintance among faculty and administration at these university centers allowed him to consult broadly while maintaining the objectivity required by his role as a senior player in the resolution of situations demanding difficult decisions at the University and school levels.

1. Statues of New York University, January, 1989, pp. 3-4.

2. Baldridge, J. Victor. Power and Conflict in the University, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1971, p.86.

3. The Mission of New York University, New York University Capital Program, 1964.

4. "100 Institutions Reported Facing Fiscal Disaster," The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 27, 1971, pp.1, 4.

5. "6 Private State University Heads Offer a Plan for State Action to Ease Rising Deficits," The New York Times, December 15, 1971, pp. 65, 68.

6. Sidney Borowitz to Reverend Joseph A. Lauritis, Duquesne University, March 23, 1977.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged by subject in eight series:

Series I: Administrative

Subseries I: Correspondence

Series II: Associations

Series III: Development

Series IV: Facilities and Services

Series V: Finances

Series VI: Governance

Series VII: Government Relations

Series VIII: Institutional Advancement

Series IX: Personnel

Series X: Public Relations

Series XI: Schools and Departments

Series XII: Student Activities

Scope and Contents

These papers of Sidney Borowitz reflect the years he served as Chancellor/Executive Vice President of the University, 1972-1977. They include as well a small portion of papers formed during the Chancellorship of Allan M. Cartter, in particular Correspondence files created during the period beginning April 1971 and overlapping with Borowitz Correspondence files of May 1972. Additionally, the contents of one Paige box transferred to the University Archives in 1997 from the Office of Sponsored Programs were entered into this collection, augmenting material found in the Chancellor's files on the University Science Development Program initially funded at the University by the National Science Foundation in 1969.

This collection is composed of correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, press releases, publications, and reports. As second in command, and deputy for the President in his absence, material was directed to Dr. Borowitz from throughout the University in connection with central administration decision-making and oversight requirements and responsibilities.

In consultation with the University Archivist, and in an effort to keep congruence between the Hester Papers (RG 3.0.7) and this collection, the Borowitz and previously noted Cartter Correspondence files were grouped as a subseries to the Borowitz Administration Series (Series 1), an alphabetical series combining elements comparable with Hester Series 1 (Alphabetical) and 2 (Administration). The remaining files were grouped into eleven categories (series), with most of the titles also found in the Hester Papers, in the following order: Associations; Development; Facilities and Services; Finances, incorporating Subseries I, Taskforce on the Financial Emergency, and Subseries II, University Heights Campus Disposition; Governance; Government Relations; Institutional Advancement; Personnel; Public Relations; Schools and Divisions; and Student Affairs.

The placement of like material does sometimes vary between series in the Hester and Borowitz papers. One instance is the location of documents concerned with the University's relationships with the New York State Department of Education; in the Hester papers these items are in the main found within the Governance Series, and in the Borowitz papers, in the Government Relations Series.

There is some overlap between content in Series 1 and the subsequent series'. Folder titles throughout reflect date and broad content subject matter. The impact of the aforementioned elements may occasionally be to slow the process of locating particular materials. Within limits, an attempt has been made mitigate this effect by providing cross-references where appropriate through notations on Separation Sheets filed preceding folder contents. Material is organized chronologically in folders, with a green plastic clip placed on the right margin of material highlighted in this Finding Aid.

As previously noted, and in some other instances as well, files were moved to bolster content clarity and consistency. About 8 inches of material of miscellaneous subject matter were found in folders labeled "Abeyance," the latter seemingly randomly packed into Paige boxes where there was space, in preparation for deposit in the Archives. These items were transferred to existing folders on the basis of subject.

Significant accumulations of materials concerned with matters already the subject of separately existing collections within the University Archives were removed and transferred to those collections, including Humanities Council materials (to RG 9.5.1), James Arthur Collection documents to the James Arthur Collection of Clocks and Watches (RG 42.1), Faculty Unionization effort (to Mss Collection RG 14 B1), and Jewish Culture Foundation materials (to RG 12.11).

A description of each of the Borowitz Papers series', with contents germane to major themes highlighted, precedes the Box and Folder list for that series.

Conditions Governing Access

Institutional records of New York University are closed for a period of 20 years from the date of their creation (the date on which each document was written). Board of Trustees records are similarly closed for 35 years from the date of creation. The opening date for files spanning several years will be 20 years from the most recent date. Access will be given to material already 20 years old contained within a collection that is not yet open when such material can be isolated from the rest of the collection.

Materials related to personnel, faculty grievances, job searches and all files with information that falls under the University's Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy are permanently restricted.

Conditions Governing Use

Some materials may be restricted. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
New York University Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2641
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: university-archives@nyu.edu

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Records of the Office of the Chancellor/Executive Vice President (Sidney Borowitz); RG 6.0.7; box number; folder number or item identifier; New York University Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Papers of Chancellor/Executive Vice President Sidney Borowitz were transferred to the University Archives after initial inventory in 1978. The accession number associated with this collection is 87.045.

Separated Materials

Approximately 17.25 linear feet of material comprised of booklets, catalogs, pamphlets, personnel records, reports, sets of faculty and of Board of Trustees meeting minutes, and files (for some specifics see Scope and Content), were separated for containment elsewhere or, in the cases of personnel records or materials not germane to the University's history, were discarded.

Collection processed by

Nancy Greenberg

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:55:11 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

The initial inventory was completed in 1978 by Frederick Knauth. The material is in good physical condition. Deteriorating original materials and reproductions as well as newspaper clippings were photocopied on to a more stable base; these originals were discarded. In 2019 memorabilia was rehoused by Preservation and sent offsite.

Revisions to this Guide

June 2019: Updated by Jennifer E. Neal to incorporate materials being sent offsite in 2019 and for compliance with DACS and ACM Required Elements for Archival Description

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from borowitz.xml

Repository

New York University Archives
New York University Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012