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A Guide to the Records at the Indiana University Archives

Finding aid prepared by Alison Reynolds

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities.

Collection No.
C481

Extent
22.6 cubic feet (23 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English. Some materials in Thai.

Abstract
The Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA) was established in 1964 with the support of a grant from the Ford Foundation. This organization worked to foster international cooperation, shared education, and economic development through the establishment of institutions of higher education in countries overseas. This collection consists of MUCIA Administrative files, such as meeting minutes and agendas, correspondence, and files from the Program for Advanced Study in Institution-Building and Technical Assistance Methodology (PASITAM). Also included are the records, reports, correspondence, and research relating to the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), an institute of higher education focusing on public administration in Thailand administered by Indiana University from 1966-1977.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Advance notice is required for access to the collection.

Administrative History

The Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA) was established in 1964 with the support of a grant from the Ford Foundation. Founding institutions included Indiana University, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin, and Michigan State University. This organization worked to foster international cooperation, shared education, and economic development through the establishment of institutions of higher education in countries overseas. MUCIA also encouraged international research and education by training faculty members to teach at these international universities and by providing internships for graduate students wishing to conduct dissertation research abroad. The institutions developed by MUCIA emphasized programs in education, government, business, economics, and public administration in order to promote the growth of these countries' economies and governments. At the same time, the U.S. institutions involved in MUCIA hoped to strengthen the academic programs, instruction, research, and service at their own campuses.

MUCIA Board of Directors members from Indiana University included Lynne L. Merritt, Jr. from the Chemistry Department (1968-?), David R. Derge (1968-1972) and J. Gus Liebenow (1972-1974) from the Department of Political Science, and George M. Wilson (1974-1978) and John V. Lombardi (1978-?) from the History Department. Merritt served as Chairman of the Board from 1971-1974. These professors also held several administrative positions throughout their tenure at IU. Merritt served as Associate Dean of Faculties and Vice President and Dean of Research and Advanced Studies, Derge as Dean of Administration and Executive Vice President, Liebenow as Dean of Research and Advanced Studies and Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs, Wilson as Director of the East Asian Studies Center, and Lombardi as Director of Latin American Studies, Dean of International Programs, and Dean of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, University Presidents Elvis Stahr and John Ryan each served as Vice Chairman of the MUCIA Council of Institutional Members during their respective presidential terms.

Indiana University's most significant contribution through MUCIA was the establishment of the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) in Bangkok, Thailand. NIDA offered graduate-level instruction in economic development, statistics, and various areas of business and public administration. Four Indiana University faculty members from these fields comprised the original NIDA faculty and taught courses while also conducting research in Thailand. Indiana University had been assisting Thailand's programs of higher education since 1954, largely through the School of Education with grants from the U.S. Foreign Operations Administration (FOA) and the Agency for International Development (AID). These programs, along with faculty and student exchanges, focused on education and public administration in universities throughout Thailand between 1955 and 1964. In May of 1955, Indiana University signed a contract to establish an Institute of Public Administration (IPA) at Thammasat University in Bangkok. This institute would eventually be incorporated into NIDA.

It was not until 1965, after years of planning and negotiation, that the Ford Foundation provided a grant to MUCIA for the creation of NIDA. Indiana University was chosen to lead this project because of its close connections with the Thai government from previous educational endeavors. NIDA was officially established on April 1, 1966 and included Schools of Public Administration, Business Administration, Development Economics, and Applied Statistics, each with an inter-disciplinary core curriculum. Indiana University's Graduate School of Business served as the administrative management for this project. MUCIA and IU’s support of the NIDA project lasted until 1977, when the Ford grant concluded.

The exact date when Indiana University withdrew from MUCIA is uncertain, but the last mention of this organization in the University Board of Trustees minutes is in September 1994.

Arrangement

Collection is organized into the following three series: Administrative, Thailand, and PASITAM (Program for Advanced Study in Institution-Building and Technical Assistance Methodology). The Administrative series includes the subseries Agendas and Minutes and General. The Thailand series includes the subseries Administrative, Correspondence, Research, and Reports.

Scope and Content Note

The MUCIA records span the years 1952-1981 with the bulk of the materials covering 1955-1973. The collection is organized into three series: Administrative, Thailand, and PASITAM (Program for Advanced Study in Institution-Building and Technical Assistance Methodology).

The Administrative series (1963-1981) contains the subseries Agendas and Minutes (1968-1981) and General (1963-1974). The first subseries is arranged chronologically and includes agendas and minutes from the MUCIA Board of Directors meetings and the Council of Institutional Members meetings. The General subseries is arranged alphabetically and contains items such as committee files for various international projects, budget information, and grant proposals.

The Thailand series (1952-1975) contains the subseries Administrative (1952-1975), Correspondence (1953-1975), Research (1957-1974), and Reports (1954-1965). This series includes files from the university's involvement in higher education in Thailand both before and during MUCIA's establishment of the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA). All folders are arranged alphabetically within each subseries.

The Administrative subseries contains documents about the creation of a library at NIDA, program reviews, and training materials for American instructors in Thailand.

The Correspondence subseries contains personal and professional letters from faculty and administrators involved in the Thailand program.

The Research subseries contains publications by Indiana University professors teaching in Thailand and focuses on their research conducted abroad. It also includes publications and research by Thai students enrolled in the Institute of Public Administration and NIDA.

The Reports subseries contains administrative reports about the Thailand educational programs and institutions, as well as assessments of their progress and goals.

The PASITAM series (1965-1981) contains administrative files, largely consisting of contracts and grant proposals for projects funded through this program. Prior to 1973, PASITAM was called PASIDTAM, the Program for Advanced Study in Institution Development and Technical Assistance Methodology. This series is arranged alphabetically.

Oversize items are located in Box 23 and are noted in the folder list.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities --Archives.
  • Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities --Records and correspondence.
  • Sathāban Bandit Phatthanabō̜rihānsāt (Thailand)- -Archives.
  • Sathāban Bandit Phatthanabō̜rihānsāt (Thailand)- -Records and correspondence.
  • Pasitam --Archives.
  • Pasitam --Records and correspondence.
• • Topics
  • Economic development --Developing countries --History --Sources.
  • Public administration --Developing countries --History --Sources.

Separated Material

Two photographs were removed from this collection and transferred to the University Archives Photograph Collection.

These photographs were taken at the MUCIA Council of Institutional Members Retreat Meeting at Lutsen, Minnesota between September 30 and October 3, 1973. One photograph shows 5 men standing and the other shows a group of 19 people sitting at a table during a meeting. All people in the photographs are unidentified.

Related Material

Related photographs may be available in the University Archives Photographs Database

Collection C488, the University of Islamabad Project records, contains a Reference series of reports, contracts, and books about international programs sponsored by other American universities that were used as reference materials for the international programs administered by Indiana University. Some of these files may have been used as reference materials for this program.

Administrative Information

Folder List