Records of the Faculty Alliance for Rutgers (FAR), 1985-1998

The records of the Rutgers University organization Faculty Alliance for Rutgers (FAR) are dated between 1985 and 1998, with the bulk of material representing the years 1996 to 1998. These records reflect the members' dissatisfaction with the presidency of Francis L. Lawrence. There is a fair amount of correspondence to and from FAR members, including its convener the history professor John R. Gillis. The correspondence includes letters, e-mails, and letters to the editor of the Rutgers Daily Targum. There are also newspaper articles collected by the members that reflect their interest in various Rutgers issues, particularly athletics and Lawrence.

Of particular concern to the members was the Rutgers University Quality and Communication Improvement (QCI) program. This 1994 initiative focused on Rutgers as a service provider and as such asked for assessments to improve its organizational quality and communication.

The collection also includes articles written by FAR members and other members of the Rutgers community along with those that FAR members collected as part of their research into various topics. There are also membership lists, solicitation letters, meeting minutes (from FAR and the New Brunswick Faculty Council), and copies of the five FAR newsletters published between February 1997 and February 1998. Examples of their "Open Letter to the Middle States Accreditation Committee" (1998) and the "Report of the Evaluation Team to the Faculty, Administration, Trustees, and Students of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey," the accreditation review by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (1998) are also found in this collection. Also included are background material and notes on the New Brunswick Conference and Academic Freedom, Tenure and University Governance (April 3, 1998), sponsored by the Rutgers New Brunswick Chapter the Association of American University Professors (AAUP) and the New Jersey State Conference of AAUP.