Catalogue description Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas: Correspondence and Papers

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Details of BW 90
Reference: BW 90
Title: Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas: Correspondence and Papers
Description:

Correspondence and papers of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas (ICHEO), relating to the promotion of co-operation and links between universities and other higher educational institutions in the United Kingdom and overseas, including the provision of advice on academic policy to overseas universities, and assistance with staff recruitment.

Six files relating to higher education in Malaya (BW 90/544-549) pre-date the creation of the council.
Date: 1929-1984
Arrangement:

The records are essentially listed in the order they were originally registered by the IUC, and then transferred to the Public Record Office. The first part (covering 1946 to c1970) coincides with the Official History (Universities in Partnership), and comprises pieces BW 90/1-1307. The second part, (covering c1971 to 1984) commences at BW 90/1308. It should be noted, however, that certain papers discovered after the initial transfer appear in the second rather than the first half.

University and Geographical Files: Originally the universities and university colleges associated with the IUC from its inception in 1946 were each given a numbered series separate from their geographical area. Papers on the university series related to matters specific to the university; those on the relevant geographical series dealt with developments in higher education in the area as a whole. Later foundations did not always receive this distinction, and many are registered as sub files of the relevant geographical series. Others, which started as departments or campuses of an existing university, remain registered as sub files of their parent institution. In IUC practice they became university series and the distinction between them and the geographical series was maintained. Additionally, some universities were registered first on the geographical series, and then given their own separate individual reference.

Subject Files: Separate numbered series were given to other organisations with which IUC had dealings, to files on subjects under instruction, and to specific topics of importance. These, together with IUC's own secretariat and 'domestic' files, comprise the subject files of the series.

General Notes on Arrangement:

  • (i) Papers for the first two years of IUC's existence (1946-1947) are registered on a different numbered series (from nos 2 to 119, and 400 and 405) to those from 1948 onwards (nos 401, 402 and 600 onwards);
  • (ii) In general the first numbered reference to appear on the list against a geographical or university series denotes policy, although this sometimes means no more than general correspondence (these are the files without a numerical suffix on the geographical and immediately post 1946 university series, and with usually only one numerical suffix for the later universities). There was no apparent standardisation in the order in which sub files were registered, even though subject matter was often common to the universities;
  • (iii) 'Supplement': the IUC Archive contained several boxes or bundles of loose, unregistered papers, seemingly acquired as background material or presented by members of the IUC. These are listed as 'supplement to' the appropriate numbered series;
  • (iv) Personal papers of Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders and Mr Richard Griffiths (presented by Mrs P Griffiths, July 1985) relating to the IUC are listed at BW 90/1300 and BW 90/2506 respectively.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Not Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Inter-University Council, 1946-1955

Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas, 1955-1981
Physical description: 2550 file(s)
Access conditions: Open unless otherwise stated
Publication note:

I C M Maxwell, Universities in Partnership: The Inter-University Council and the growth of higher education in developing countries 1946-1970 (Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1980);Sir A M Carr-Saunders, New Universities Overseas (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1961);Eric Ashby, Universities: British, Indian, African (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1966);Martin Kolinsky, The Demise of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas: A Chapter in the Idea of the University (article in Minerva, Spring 1984, pp 37-80); andReports presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Colonies as Cmd.7331 (1948), Cmd.7801 (1949), Colonial No.273 (1951) and Cmd.9515 (1955).
Unpublished finding aids:

Two indexes (to University and Geographical Files; and to Subject Files) are available in the public areas as part of the original introductory note of the series. These two indexes give the principal cross references to the main series of other papers re

Administrative / biographical background:

In March 1946, the Inter-University Council (IUC) was established on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies. It was to act to promote co-operation between universities in the United Kingdom and the colonies, independent of government, and did not at that stage dispose of any funds, although in academic matters it was to guide the Colonial University Grants Advisory Committee. It used funding from the Colonial Office, and later from the Development departments, to further these objectives. At first it could only give informal help to countries which were not colonies, notably Ethiopia and the Sudan.

In 1955, its title was changed to the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas (ICHEO) and its boundaries extended beyond the Commonwealth. The membership of the council was made up entirely from British universities with ex officio the Educational Adviser of the Colonial Office, until 1968, when bodies such as the Council for Overseas Colleges of Arts, Sciences and Technology were invited to nominate members.

In 1968 the ICHEO was reorganised and became able to handle government funds, taking over the functions of the Committee on University Secondment. In October 1970 it was incorporated as a limited company which, with effect from April 1971, disposed of greatly increased funds from the Ministry of Overseas Development. By the 1980s its functions were diminishing and on 1 April 1981 it was amalgamated with the British Council and membership was extended to include representatives of British polytechnics as well as universities.

The main constitutional body was the council, composed of representatives from all British universities with alternates, plus certain ex officio and nominated members and a number of co-opted members. Major policy decisions were taken by the council, which also appointed the Executive Committee and reviewed and confirmed its decisions. It met three times a year. The Executive Committee met six times a year or more frequently if there was a need and was responsible for the day-to-day decisions affecting the work of the council. It received reports from sub-committees and working groups and reports from individuals or teams returning from overseas visits and passed these on, where necessary with recommendations, to the council.

In addition there were territorial and functional sub-committees and working groups, composed of three members of the Executive Committee and other individuals who were not necessarily Inter-University Council members. These reported to the Executive Committee in the first instance, then to the council. The Territorial groups were:

  • the West Africa Working Group;
  • the East and Central Africa Working Group;
  • the Caribbean and South Pacific Working Group; and
  • the South-East Asia Working Group.
The functional committees were:
  • the Rural Development Working Group;
  • the Manpower and Training Committee (renamed The Academic Policy Committee in 1970); and
  • the Finance Committee.

Over and above these permanent groups and committees, anything up to two hundred advisory selection committees could be operating at any one time, helping to choose staff for overseas appointments, together with large numbers of special committees advising on grants for specific purposes. Many members serving on these last two types of committee were not members of the council.

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