Skip to main content

The California State University Master Plan for Higher Education Collection

 Collection
Identifier: CSU-018

Scope and Content

Correspondence, testimony, news clippings, recommendations, issue papers, legislation, staff reports, agendas and minutes dated from 1959 to 2004. Includes “Master Plan for Higher Education in California, 1960-1975,” Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education (1972-1973); Master Plan for Higher Education Commission (1985-1986); Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Education - Kindergarten through University (2002); and other committees. Includes statements and reports by Glenn Dumke, Lee Kerschner, and W. Ann Reynolds. The 1972-1973 Plan includes reports on African Americans, Asian-Americans, Chicanos and Public Education, and Independent Higher Education in California. Also includes architectural master planning for campuses including Humboldt, CSC Palos Verde/Dominguez Hills, San Jose, Long Beach, and San Francisco State.

Dates

  • 1959-2004

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material is in English

Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Institutional History

The California State University System was formally established in 1960 by the Donahoe Higher Education Act. It is the nation’s largest university system, with 23 campuses. The CSU is one of three public higher education systems in the state of California (the others are the University of California and the California Community College System). The System is the direct descendant of the California State Normal School (now, San Jose State University) established by the California Legislature on May 2, 1862. By 1895 there were four State Normal schools. In 1921, the schools were re-named the State Teacher’s Schools. In 1935 the colleges were re-named the California State Colleges and were run by the State Department of Education. With the creation of the California Master Plan for Higher Education along with the Donahoe Act, the California State Colleges were placed under control of the CSC Board of Trustees. In 1972 the system was renamed the California State Colleges and Universities. The term "Colleges" was dropped in 1982.

Responsibility for the California State University is vested in the Board of Trustees, whose members are appointed by the Governor of the State of California. The Trustees appoint the Chancellor, who is the chief executive officer of the system, and the Presidents, who are the chief executive officers of their respective campuses. The Academic Senate of the California State University, made up of elected representatives of the faculty from each campus, recommends academic policy to the Board of Trustees through the Chancellor. Chancellors of the system include Buell Gallagher (1961-1962); Glenn S. Dumke (1962-1982); W. Ann Reynolds (1982-1990); Ellis E. McCune [Acting] (1990-1991); Barry Munitz (1991-1998); Charles B. Reed (1998-2012); Timothy P. White (2012-2021); and Joseph I. Castro (2021- ).

Timeline of studies relating to the California Master Plan taken from "The History of the California Master Plan for Higher Education" a project of the center for studies in higher education.

  1. 1932: State Higher Education in California: Report of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Recommendations of the Commission of Seven
  2. 1948: A Report of a Survey of the Needs of California in Higher Education
  3. 1955: A Restudy of the Needs of California in Higher Education
  4. 1957: A Study of the Need for Additional Centers of Public Higher Education in California
  5. 1960: A Master Plan for Higher Education in California, 1960-1975
  6. 1960: The Donahoe Education Act
  7. 1966: The Master Plan Five Years Later
  8. 1972: The California Master Plan for Higher Education in the Seventies and Beyond
  9. 1973: Report of the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education
  10. 1986: The Challenge of Change: A Reassessment of the California Community Colleges
  11. 1987: The Master Plan Renewed: Unity, Equity, Quality, and Efficiency in California Postsecondary Education
  12. 1989: California Faces . . . California's Future: Education for Citizenship in a Multicultural Democracy
  13. 1993: Master Plan in Higher Education in Focus, "Draft Report"
  14. 2002: The California Master Plan for Education

Extent

10 boxes (8.33 Linear Feet)

Abstract

Reports, correspondence, minutes, and other materials relating to the Master Plan for Higher Education in California and its various revisions and updates. Also includes some CSU campus architectural master planning.

Arrangement

Records are arranged chronologically by decades. Please note that some files' dates overlap into more than one decade, such as "Master Plan: Higher Education Reports, 1966-1978."

Acquisition Information

Materials in this collection were transferred by the Chancellor’s Office, California State University and collected by archives staff. It is a growing collection.

Related Material

California State University Reports Collection

Processing Information

Processed during 2004-2006 CSU System-wide Archives Processing Project. Finding aid updated by Petra Warren in fall 2021.

Title
The California State University Master Planning Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Greg Williams and Petra Warren
Date
2006 and 2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the California State University Archives Repository

Contact:
California State University, Dominguez Hills
University Library South, 5039 (Fifth Floor)
1000 E. Victoria St.
Carson CA 90747
(310) 243-3895