Campus Research Board File, 1929-2005 | University of Illinois Archives

"The Campus Research Board consists of eight members appointed by the Chancellor after consultation with the Dean and the Executive Committee of the Graduate College, and the Dean of the Graduate College who shall serve as chairman . . . "1 The principal functions of the Board include: 1) assigning the research funds of the Graduate College to research projects; 2) reviewing faculty applications to the outside agencies for financial aid; 3) advising the Chancellor on potential patentable inventions by faculty members.² There are two exceptions: administrative coordination of research in the College of Agriculture is handled by the Agricultural Experiment Station, and in the College of Engineering by the Engineering Experiment Station.³ The foundations of the Board were developed in 1917 with the recommendation by the head of the Graduate School that an Institute for Research be created to coordinate the funding of research projects.⁴ During World War I a committee limited to the physical sciences was set up to cooperate with the National Research Council, and by 1920 it was expanded to include members of the liberal arts.⁵ The Board was not officially created until 1932 when President Harry W. Chase appointed the Graduate School Research Board to oversee all assignments from the Graduate School Research Fund.⁶ By 1944 the Board was called the University Research Board, and it was responsible for essentially the same functions as outlined above.⁷ However, prior to 1968 the President of the University handled all the duties currently assigned to the Chancellor.⁸ The development of separate research boards at the three University campuses in 1968 resulted in "University" being dropped from the title of the Research Board.⁹

1. University of Illinois Statutes, May 17, 1972, p. 21.

2. Ibid.

3. University of Illinois Statutes and the General Rules Concerning the University Organization and Procedure, January 1, 1958, p. 54.

4. "The Graduate School of the University of Illinois, Report of the Dean, 1916-1917," University of Illinois Bulletin, September, 17, 1917, p. 6.

5. Frederick C. Dietz, "History of the Graduate School," 1957, p. 41, in Graduate School, Dean's Office, RS 7/1/5 Box #1.

6. "Report of the Graduate School for 1932-1933," July 13, 1933, pp. 3-4, in President Harry W. Chase Annual Report 1932-1933, RS 2/7/3 Box #3.

7. Board of Trustees Transactions, 1944-46, July 17, 1944, p. 5.

8. Statutes, January 1, 1958, pp. 19-20.

9. Board of Trustees Transactions, 54th Report, January 17, 1968, p. 887.