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Collection Overview

Creator:
Princeton University. Special Committee on Sponsored Research..
Title:
Special Committee on Sponsored Research Records
Repository:
Princeton University Archives
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/5d86p021j
Dates:
1965-1972 (mostly 1970-1971)
Size:
7 boxes
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Box 1-7
Language:
English

Abstract

The Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) established the Special Committee on Sponsored Research (SCSR) in May 1970 to recommend policy regarding often conditional outside funding for research projects at the University. The committee was informally called the Kuhn Committee after its chairman, Professor Thomas S. Kuhn. The collection is comprised of materials collected and maintained by the chairman and his research assistant. Included are files intended for the committee's research purposes (Series 4 through 7), the chairman's personal committee files, a collection of reports and other committee output, and administrative documents and correspondence.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

This collection contains Chairman Thomas S. Kuhn's personal papers relating to his committee work; administrative files of the committee, including its minutes, budget, membership files, and memos; a collection of documents produced by the committee and its members; is a compilation of material about the influence of the federal government and national special interest groups on sponsored research collected during a trip to Washington involving a few of the committee members in August 1970; documents about sponsored research and research policy at Princeton University that was open to committee members; documentation from universities throughout the United States about their sponsored research projects and policies.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into seven series, organized as closely as possible to the original filing system. Within each series, folders are arranged alphabetically by name or topic.

Collection Creator Biography:

Princeton University. Special Committee on Sponsored Research..

The executive committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC), chaired by President Robert Goheen, established the SCSR in May 1970 in response to growing faculty and student outcry over ties between researchers in the Princeton University community and the U.S. Department of Defense. The committee became known as the Kuhn Committee after its chairman, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science Thomas S. Kuhn. CPUC charged the committee to recommend how best the University could eliminate sponsored military research activities, but the committee later expanded its mission to cover sponsored research in general. The members of the committee included faculty (both scientists and non-scientists), graduate students, undergraduates, and staff members, as well as two non-voting administrators to advise on technical and financial matters.

During the summer of 1970, Professor Kuhn hired a graduate student assistant, Harold Feiveson, to handle the administrative and much of the research needs of the committee. The two initiated correspondence with dozens of research universities across the United States seeking materials and feedback regarding sponsored research policies and practices. The committee also sought information and advice from Princeton University department chairs and project coordinators involved in sponsored research, as well as professors who had sat on the University Research Board. In August 1970, a few members of the committee visited Washington, where Representative Emilio Daddario (D-Conn.) was conducting hearings on government-sponsored research at universities, and to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which had just finished reformulating its own sponsored research policies.

In the fall, the Kuhn Committee wrote reviews of sponsored research at Princeton and other universities, and sponsored a series of public meetings to canvass the views of the faculty and the student body. Throughout, Kuhn kept the President and Provost William Bowen informed of the committee's progress, and sometimes asked for their reactions and advice. The committee issued its controversial preliminary report in December 1970 and its final report the following June. Kuhn's committee recommended that the University's sponsored research policy be strengthened and its research board be granted more oversight so that ethically inappropriate research projects could be rejected. The committee could find no reason to phase out Department of Defense research altogether, but suggested the University look into the potential negative influence of outside funding in general. Most controversially, the committee recommended that the Classified Library on campus (which required military clearance for access) be slowly phased out. CPUC adopted the committee's recommendations in January 1971, and the faculty agreed to most of the committee proposals in February and March. The faculty did not, however, approve the committee's recommendation regarding the Classified Library, preferring instead to adopt the library committee's proposal to permit access to classified materials by individuals with clearance. The Undergraduate Assembly belatedly took up the subject following the last faculty discussions in March.

The collection provides access to the heart of a debate over the University's mission. The committee wrestled with issues such as the transparency of the administration and the morality of accepting conditional funding from outside sources-especially those tied to the Department of Defense. But the debate also raged among Princeton faculty over the existence of and access to restricted collections, particularly the Classified Library, and the role of the University in restricting faculty freedom to research. Series 7 of the collection provides an excellent introduction to the responses to sponsored research dilemmas at universities across the country.

Collection History

Acquisition:

Received by the University Archives in February 1978 .

Appraisal

Appraisal information was not available at time of accessioning.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Matthew Reeder in December 2002. Finding aid written by Matthew Reeder in December 2002.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. The Trustees of Princeton University hold copyright to all materials generated by Princeton University employees in the course of their work. For instances beyond Fair Use, if copyright is held by Princeton University, researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of materials from the Princeton University Archives.

For instances beyond Fair Use where the copyright is not held by the University, while permission from the Library is not required, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Special Committee on Sponsored Research Records; Princeton University Archives, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/5d86p021j
Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Box 1-7

Find More

Related Materials

The Audio Visual Collection (AC #47) includes audio tapes of the proceedings of seven Special Committee on Sponsored Research meetings: Box 79, Item 591 and Box 80, Items 606 through 611.

Subject Terms:
Education and state.
Endowment of research -- Ethics.
Federal aid to research.
Military research.
Genre Terms:
Budgets.
Correspondence
Memoranda.
Minutes.
Names:
Princeton University
Kuhn, Thomas S.