Series I: New York Secretariat, 2000-2013
- Extent:
- 145 Linear Feet and 3.5 Terabytes
- Scope and content:
-
Series I contains paper and digital records relating to the administration of IFP as a whole. The records in Series I were created and used by staff members at the IFP New York Secretariat, in partnership with local organizations which managed key aspects of the program in each local context. The Secretariat was in operation from 2001 through 2013.
Material formats included in Series I are minutes of the Board of Directors, policy records, staff and Fellow handbooks, evaluation and research papers, records of international and regional meetings, staff correspondence (which took place largely by email), and publications issued both by IFP and external organizations. Grant files document grants awarded by IFP to international partners, placement partners, and other organizations involved in carrying out IFP. Financial records include documentation of interactions between the New York Secretariat and its financial advisors—both the internal Finance and Investment Advisory Committee and the external investment groups Northern Trust and Seix Investment Advisors, which managed the program's funds. They also include documentation of the Secretariat's maintenance of nonprofit status in New York State and the United States, and routine interactions with the Internal Revenue Service and other government entities which occurred as part of IFP's maintaining legal and regulatory compliance. The media library contains photographic and video materials documenting the program. Secretariat staff members' participation in the broader community of nonprofit organizations—especially those concerned with international education—is documented to a lesser extent in these files.
Records created by the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), an IFP partner which was responsible for conducting program evaluations for the duration of IFP, are also located in Series I because they were used by the Secretariat staff in administering the program. Additionally, starting in 2007, a joint survey of Alumni conducted by CHEPS and IFP was carried out annually. CHEPS digital records consist of data files from the surveys and interviews, as well as periodic summary reports. Copies of the summary reports and Secretariat correspondence with CHEPS are also located in Series I paper records. These files are particularly valuable for summary data on Fellows and for evaluating program impact.
In several cases, the records of multiple IFP Secretariat staff members are located within the same subseries. This arrangement appears to have been a natural function of the processes through which the Secretariat carried out its work, and as such, no attempt has been made to separate them. Joyce Malombe, Director for Africa and the Middle East, left her position in 2007. Her successor, Damtew Teferra, left in 2009 and was not replaced. The records created by Malombe and Teferra are physically grouped together, though their creators can largely be discerned by the dates of their creation, in addition to identifying evidence within the records themselves. The files of Ashok Gurung, Program Officer, and Rita Soni, Program Associate, are also physically grouped together, as both worked on similar projects at the Secretariat. Similarly, records created by Communications Officer Rachel Clift are mixed with those created and maintained by Director of Communications Diana Whitten, and records created by Grants Manager Barbara Wanasek are mixed with those created and maintained by Director of Finance and Administration Robert Oppegard.
- Acquisition information:
- The bulk of the digital records of the IFP Secretariat were transferred to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library on a Columbia University Libraries-provided hard drive on September 26, 2013. Additional digital records in the series were transferred from more than 400 digital media carriers received in 2013 and 2014 in shipments of paper records from the IFP Secretariat.
Contents
Access and use
- Parent restrictions:
-
There are no boxes numbered 158-160, 180, 313, 322, 328, 334, 346, or 357 in the collection
Selected content, such as publications, the IFP media library, and archived Internet sources, is publicly available and searchable online. Unrestricted paper and electronic administrative files and correspondence are accessible in the RBML reading room. Paper and digital materials from the collection that contain personal and other sensitive informations are restricted until 2075.
The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 1-369. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
- Parent terms of access:
- Paper records may not be photocopied. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.
- Contact:
- rbml@library.columbia.edu