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New School Annual Reports

 Record Group
Identifier: NS-01-01-08

Abstract

This collection consists solely of published, bound annual reports for the New School for Social Research, now The New School, issued by the university's Board of Trustees.

Dates

  • 1984-2009

Creator

Extent

0.4 Cubic Feet (1 box, 6 folders)

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

The collection consists solely of analog bound annual reports for The New School university. Each annual report covers one fiscal year.

The New School began publishing annual reports with the 1983-1984 school year, Jonathan Fanton’s first year as university president. It is unclear whether President Fanton or another member of the administration proposed this development in the way the university shared information about itself with the public.

The reports are authored by the Office of the Secretary (as of 2024, part of the Office of the President), the Department of Communications and External Affairs (as of 2024, Marketing and Communications), and the Office of Development and Alumni Relations). The reports always contain a letter from the president reflecting on the school year, a summary of the year’s programs and initiatives, a list of donors to the school, and a financial report for the university. Over time, the reports expand to include a list of new staff and faculty appointments, profiles of students, lists of honors and awards, and much more detailed and granular attempts to summarize the events of the preceding academic year. The annual reports differ from university fact books, which were intended for an internal administrative audience and summarize statistics about the school “at a glance” for the purpose of informing university policy.

The publication of annual reports in an analog, printed and bound format ceased after the 2007-2008 report, published in 2009 during the presidency of Fanton's successor, Bob Kerrey. The annual report was then published exclusively online via The New School’s website, under the “About The New School” section. Other formerly print publications issued by the university also migrated online in the late 2000s. The New School Archives staff speculates that the information contained in the printed reports was eventually disaggregated so that it was no longer contained within a single document. As of 2024, The New School publishes a yearly financial statement (called an “annual report”) online, under “About.”

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives and Special Collections. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.

Historical note

The Board of Trustees of The New School is the governing body of the university as specified by the New York State Education Department and the bylaws of The New School. The Board and its committees meet regularly to consider matters relevant to the planning, operations, and welfare of the university and to make or approve policy for the university. Officers of The New School submit reports on their respective departments to the Board regularly, including reports from the deans of the academic divisions of The New School.

Upon the founding of The New School for Social Research in 1919 by Charles A. Beard and James Harvey Robinson, The Board of Trustees of The New School consisted of six women and six men, with Robinson serving as its informal head, with the understanding that he was to be “first among equals,” as Beard and Robinson opposed establishing a hierarchical leadership system for the school. The Board also included student representatives, one of whom, Clara Mayer, was appointed in 1924 and eventually became the school’s vice president from 1950 to 1961. In 1934, the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research was granted a provisional charter to confer degrees on graduates by the New York State Board of Regents. By 1936, Alvin S. Johnson, director of the school since 1923, was formally appointed the first president of the school under its Board of Trustees. As of 2024, the current board chair is Linda E. Rappaport.

In 1994, which falls within the dates covered by this record group, the Office of Secretary of the Corporation of The New School, Robert A. Gates, described the responsibilities of the Board:

Among the main areas of ongoing attention in the work of the Board are academic and administrative personnel, academic and financial planning, and the University's role in the larger community. The Board considers and approves the contracts (not the substance) of appointments to the faculty and administrative appointments at the level of director and above. It considers and approves all major changes in the structure of the curriculum. It regularly reviews the financial condition of the University and conducts an in-depth examination of revenue and expenditure trajectories each year as part of the process of adopting the University's annual budget.

In addition to the areas which receive ongoing attention, the Board may decide to examine specific programs, departments, or any other aspect of University life, in complying with its responsibility to New York State for the operations of the University. On the basis of this responsibility, it considers and adopts policies and advisories that represent the official position of the University and, in some cases, are legally binding on students, faculty members and other University employees.

The Trustees represent the University informally in their professional communities, and they may be called upon to serve as ambassadors of the University in Albany, New York, in Washington, D.C., and internationally. They also play an active role in fund-raising on behalf of the University and its programs. Trustees are expected to contribute to the Annual Fund and to support the University with capital gifts, such as gifts to endowment for faculty positions, scholarships, research and funds to improve the physical plant.


The Office of Secretary of the Corporation's principal responsibility was to serve as liaison to the board of trustees, conducting board correspondence, preparing agendas, and compiling materials for general meetings and committee meetings. The role was established by New School President Jonathan Fanton in 1983 and initially held by Richard L. Rogers, who Fanton brought with him from the University of Chicago when he began as New School President (Rogers's first title was Special Assistant to the President, before serving as Secretary of the Corporation from 1983 to 1994). Rogers was succeeded by Robert A. Gates (1994-2001), Doris Suarez (2001 to 2011), and Roy Moskowitz (2012-2019). Moskowitz also served as Chief Legal Officer to The New School from 2006 to 2018. As of 2024, Jennifer E. Hobbs is University Secretary.

References

Audio interview with Jonathan Fanton by Julia Foulkes, Wendy Scheir, and Mark Larrimore, Part 1, May 5, 2017, The New School Oral History Program, NS.07.01.01, The New School Archives and Special Collections, The New School, New York, NY.

“Board of Trustees.” Newschool.edu. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.newschool.edu/about/university-leadership/board-of-trustees/.

Course Catalogs. 1922-2019. New School Course Catalog Collection. The New School Archives Digital Collections, New York, New York.

“Degrees Approved for New School.” New York Times, August 1934. In Press clippings 13, 1935 Feb-1937 Jun, New School Publicity Scrapbook Collection. The New School Archives Digital Collections, New York, New York, 21.

Friedlander, Judith. A Light in Dark Times: The New School for Social Research and Its University in Exile. Columbia University Press, 2019. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/frie18018.

Gates, Robert A. “University Seminar Paper Number 1. The Board of Trustees and the Visiting Committees of The New School for Social Research.” New School Central Administration Collection NS.01.01.05, box 3, folder 12, New School Archives and Special Collections, The New School, New York, New York. https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS010105_000011.

“Office of the President Team.” Newschool.edu. Accessed January 11, 2024. https://www.newschool.edu/president/office-team/.

Tucker, Emma. “Exit Interview with The New School’s Top Lawyer.” New School Free Press, October 15, 2018. https://www.newschoolfreepress.com/2018/10/15/exit-interview-with-the-new-schools-top-lawyer/.

Arrangement

Arranged in chronological order.

Custodial History

Some copies of annual reports were previously available in the special collections section of Raymond Fogelman Library of the New School for Social Research. The New School's Office of the Secretary (Katherine Bailey, Executive Assistant for the Board of Trustees) transferred a large number of issues to the Archives in 2017, shortly after the Archives were established.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The New School Archives staff compiled this collection from multiple sources in 2023.

Related Materials

During earlier periods of The New School's history, the institution's director (later, president) issued annual reports. Researchers will find these early reports in the New School central administration collection (PC.01.01.05).

Title
Guide to the New School Annual Reports
Status
Completed
Author
Jack Wells and New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
Date
September 11, 2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin