Presidential Search Records, 1945-2002

The nominee files contain nomination letters, curriculum vitae or resume, Who's Who entry and/or a biographical sketch created by the Committee, relevant press clippings and articles, and some evaluation of the candidate's qualifications. At the beginning of the search process, these nominee files were used extensively by Committee members for comparisons and to determine what other information was still needed. After the selection of the Faculty Consulting Committee, selected portions of the files deemed non-confidential for their purposes were made available to them. The files of those candidates being most seriously considered by the Committee were most heavily used and tended to contain the most information. To ensure confidentiality, materials provided at the Search Committee meetings were retrieved by the Secretary at the end of each meeting for return to the Committee office. As the search process narrowed and intensified, most Committee members relied on the information provided at meetings (abstracted for them from the nominee files) rather than on a review of the actual nominee files themselves.

These files contain copies of the acknowledgment letters sent by Committee members to individuals who nominated candidates or provided advice concerning the qualities the President should have, usually in response to the community mailing. The chronological files contain all other outgoing and inter-office correspondence and related materials from the Search Committee. There are also materials related to the planning for the mailing of 180,000 letters announcing President Sovern's resignation and soliciting nominations for his successor. There is information about the formation of the Faculty Consulting Committee to assist the Search Committee and biographical information of its nine members. There are also notes, articles and memoranda concerning searches conducted by other universities, status reports, mailing lists, and materials related to other universities' presidential searches.

Materials sent to candidates who were to be interviewed by search committees. These were meant to provide the candidates with in-depth information about Columbia's history, facilities and programs, financial data and relevant current issues.