Finding Aid for School of Industry and Technology General File, 1952-2006

Industrial education has played an important role at Stout since its founding in 1891 as a manual training school. Early course work for men included traditional industrial arts areas such as wood and metal working. The industrial education program at Stout grew in importance and in national recognition with the arrival of Clyde Bowman as director and later the first dean of the School of Industrial Education; serving from 1919 to 1953. For many years Stout's reputation in industrial education was based on its ability to prepare teachers who were skilled in the use of tools and equipment. In essence, the program was designed to turn out skilled craftsmen but craftsmen with little understanding of industry beyond a trade area. Bowman was succeeded as Dean of the School of Industrial Education by John Jarvis (1953-1964). It was towards the end of the Jarvis tenure that program changes began which established the basis for the present-day School of Industry and Technology. It was Jarvis who made the decision to prepare some industrial education students for direct placement into industry since many graduates were already pursuing careers in industry rather than teaching. The first year in which Stout began broadening its approach to include industry was 1956 when it offered a program in industrial technology. The program was designed to place students directly into industry. Four years later, Stout offered courses in Industrial Management, Quality Control, Production Control, and Cooperative Industrial Assignment. These courses were offered in an attempt to prepare students for industrial management. This change in emphasis allowed Stout to prepare graduates able to provide the know-how to fill the link between engineering theory and production. In 1964, the concept was given greater emphasis with the advent of the American Industry Project. This Project, conducted during the tenures of Deans Robert Swanson (1964-1966) and Herbert Anderson (1966-1980), began as an attempt to explain what industrial arts should be. It resulted in identifying 13 conceptual areas of industry from which competencies were identified. It was also in 1964 that the name of the School of Industrial Education was changed to the School of Applied Science and Technology. The name change was to describe more accurately what the school actually was and had been for some time. In 1971, there was another reorganization and the name of the school was changed to the School of Industry and Technology. The primary purpose for making the change was to provide a broader instructional base for industry and technology and to increase flexibility for needed program planning. M. James Bensen, the former assistant dean, succeeded Herbert Anderson as Dean of the School of Industry and Technology in 1980.This collection includes correspondence, project materials, and committee records relating to the School of Industry and Technology