Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the Vice President for Administration, records of James J. Culliton

The collection is composed of records of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They primarily document James Culliton’s term as Vice President for Administration from 1994 until his death in 1996, although there are a few records dating from Culliton’s term as vice president for financial operations, 1984-1994.

In 1994, after the death of Vice President Constantine Simonides, Vice President for Financial Operations James J. Culliton was named Vice President for Administration. In his new role, Culliton was responsible for heading the Office of Admissions (box 1), Career Services and Preprofessional Advising (box 1), the Department of Athletics (boxes 1, 6), and the Medical Department (boxes 1-3). He continued to have responsibility for the Bursar’s Office (box 1), the Registrar’s Office (box 3), the Office of Sponsored Programs (box 3), and the Student Financial Aid Office (box 4). The collection documents the administration of these offices through budgets, space planning, memoranda, correspondence, and minutes. Culliton’s involvement with Academic Council is reflected in memoranda and minutes of the Council (boxes 4-5).

During the mid-1990s, MIT conducted a wide-ranging reengineering program, intended to examine and improve upon administrative office operations throughout the Institute. Culliton’s involvement with this program is documented through correspondence, memoranda, and materials from meetings with Student Services (a sub-office of the Bursar’s Office ) (box 6). Other items of interest in the collection include surveys completed for the Administrative Computing Steering Committee (boxes 4-5), and budgets for and staff meeting notes from the Office of the Vice President for Administration (box 5).