Administrative History
Marquette University formally established the Division of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions in 1959, naming Brother Leo V. Ryan, CSV as its first director. Many of the programs for which the division had assumed responsibility had been in existence for some time before the formation of the division.

For the forty years of the division's formal existence, “continuing education” was construed in the broadest sense possible. Under the Division of Continuing Education’s auspices, programs were often developed in response to the needs of both the Marquette community and the Milwaukee community at large, as well as emerging trends in higher education for adults. As a result, the division’s responsibilities encompassed a wide and ever-changing range of programs and activities.

Amongst the many programs administered by the division were refresher non-credit courses offered in the professional schools; non-credit conferences, institutes, programs and courses offered in Engineering and through the Center for Business Services; non-credit courses in general education; evening credit courses in Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Engineering, Nursing, and the Graduate School; summer school, credit and non-credit courses, institutes, workshops and special conferences in both day and evening summer school; area studies programs consisting of the Asian, Slavic and German Institutes; the Reading Center and the Reading Center Clinic; college skills courses for prospective students; international and national study tour programs; special conferences and lectures; a convention bureau; educational television and radio programming; the administration of the southeastern Wisconsin Science Fair; programming for alumni; the Emerging Scholars Program; the Office of the American Indian Counselor; certificate programs in Law Enforcement, Labor/Management Relations, and Quality Assurance; management of the home study center, a tutorial project in inner city Milwaukee; and community service programs. Members of the continuing education staff were frequently involved in local efforts focused on education in inner city Milwaukee that grew out of funds authorized by Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

In the mid-1960s, Marquette applied for and secured approval to serve as a contractor administering training programs for Peace Corps volunteers. Specifications of the training program, mandatory governmental procedures, and budgetary details were formalized in a negotiated cost-reimbursement contract. Marquette hosted training programs for Peace Corps volunteers assigned to Brazil in the summers of 1964, 1965, and 1966.  With the University’s permission, Brother Leo V. Ryan had previously explored with Congressman Henry Reuss and Eric Waldman the possibility of establishing a multinational Peace Corps program matching the staff, faculty, and students of Marquette with those of West German educational institutions. These efforts were instrumental in helping the Germans to establish the German Development Service (Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst).

Many of the programs for which the division was responsible were later transferred to other academic and administrative units, and in May 1996, the Board of Trustees approved the formation of the College of Professional Studies and two off-campus sites in Kenosha and Waukesha counties to serve a growing population of non-traditional students. The nucleus of the new college was the Division of Continuing Education’s Organization and Leadership program, established in 1994 as a full-scale degree program to meet the needs of working adults. Dr. Robert J. Deahl was named the first dean of the College of Professional Studies and the Division of Continuing Education was absorbed by the new college.

Processing Note
The records of the Division of Continuing Education were reprocessed in 2006/2007 to provide better access to the records. A simpler arrangement scheme was devised to allow the researcher to more easily find material within the records, and the bulk of the material was arranged in an administrative subject file. Due to the changing nature of the division’s work and the frequency with which staff members changed positions, files generally contain material that crossed the tenure of a number of staff members. Under the previous arrangement scheme, correspondence files were scattered throughout the collection, with material arranged topically, chronologically, and by correspondent. The bulk of the material that remains is in the Administrative Subject Files and because it had previously been arranged in a number of series, no attempt was made to unite correspondence into one file or one arrangement scheme topically or chronologically. Researchers should look for correspondence relative to their topic using both topical and chronological search strategies.

Separation Note
At the time of reprocessing, a number of publications about Milwaukee that were collected, rather than produced, by the division were removed for cataloging and integration into the Library's general book collection.

Scope and Content Note
The records of the Division of Continuing Education document the ever-changing roles and responsibilities for a broad range of continuing education and community-related activities for the period from 1955 through 1989. The record group is arranged in four series: Administrative Subject Files, Records of the Directors/Assistant Directors, Records of the Office of the American Indian Counselor, and Records of the Peace Corps Training Projects.

Series 1 – Administrative Subject Files, 1955-1989 (8.1 cubic feet) is arranged alphabetically and includes correspondence, reports, budgetary, and policy material related to the many programs and subunits within the division or external organizations with which the division had an involvement. Amongst those most strongly documented are the Educational Extension, English as a Second Language (ESL), Emerging Scholars, and Law Enforcement Programs; as well as the Evening and Part-Time Studies Divisions. As federal funds became available through the ESEA, members of the continuing education staff were frequently called upon to participate in community educational projects aimed at Milwaukee’s urban poor and alternative learners.  Approximately 1.2 cubic feet of material relates specifically to the development and administration of Title I programs. Records related to legal cases and other sensitive topics are currently restricted and have been separated and arranged in Series 1.1.

Series 3 – Records of the Directors/Assistant Directors, 1960-1973 (.3 cubic feet) is arranged by director and topically there under. This series contains topical files that were generated by individuals within the division in a capacity that appears to have been outside the official duties of the office, or where the relationship between the external program and Marquette University is unclear. The series also contains correspondence arranged author and secondarily by topic or chronology dealing with the administration of programs within the division.  Related correspondence exists in Series I, arranged topically.

Series 4 – Records of the Office of the American Indian Counselor, 1976-1980 (.3 cubic feet) is arranged alphabetically and documents the creation of an office to support and recruit Native American students on campus and to facilitate interactions between Marquette and the Milwaukee communities.

Series 5 – Records of the Peace Corps Training Projects, 1960-1969 (1.8 cubic feet) is arranged alphabetically and documents Marquette’s administration of an on-campus Peace Corps training program in the mid-1960s for volunteers assigned to Brazil. The series also documents Marquette’s efforts to establish a multinational Peace Corps program with West Germany in the early 1960s. The series contains reports, syllabi, and correspondence related to these efforts. Records related to individuals who participated in the program are currently restricted and have been separated and arranged in Series 5.1.

 

Series 1	Administrative Subject Files
Series 1.1	Administrative Subject Files (Restricted: Inventory in Archives)
Series 3	Records of the Director/Assistant Director
Series 4	Office of the American Indian Counselor
Series 5	Peace Corps Training Projects
Series 5.1	Peace Corps Training Projects (Restricted: Inventory in Archives)