Archives of NAFSA: Association of International Educators
About the Collection
NAFSA: Association of International Educators concluded an agreement with the University of Arkansas Libraries in 1987 establishing the Special Collections Department as the archival repository for the association. These papers chronicle the work of the association since the foundation in 1948. The National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA) will continue to set aside its permanently valuable records for inclusion in the archives.
The archives document the history of NAFSA and its on-going operations. The official records, including minutes of the various governing boards of NAFSA, the name change in 1963-64, and the reorganization of the association in 1972-73, make up the first group within the archives (1948-1979).
The Education for International Development files, 1960-1986, underscore the collaboration between NAFSA and the Agency for International Development to enhance the experiences of AID participants from the developing world. Files pertain to the work of the Global Issues Committee, particularly on hunger and population awareness.
NAFSA also participates in several programs funded by the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). The records of one such program, the Field Service, demonstrate NAFSA's efforts to develop opportunities for professionals and volunteers to study aspects of international education, including organization and allocation of resources, administrative procedures, and program activities. Included are files of contacts with other organizations active in international education, ranging from the American Council on Education to the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Records of the Cooperative Grants Program document programs that enrich the experiences of international students in the U.S.
The Government Regulations Advisory Committee files, 1974-1988, record the work of the association with U.S. government agencies, such as the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The archives will also preserve copies of more than eight hundred NAFSA publications and audiovisual materials produced between 1948 and 1993. These cover a wide range of topics related to working with foreign students and scholars and to U.S. students studying abroad.
Included are the NAFSA Newsletter, the Adviser's Manual of Federal Regulations Affecting Foreign Students and Scholars, NAFSA Principles for International Educational Exchange, and the NAFSA Directory, a list of more than seven thousand institutions and individuals.
About NAFSA
NAFSA: Association of International Educators is a nonprofit membership association that provides services to professionals in international educational exchange. It was founded as the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers in 1948, in response to the changes in international education at the end of World War II. The NAFSA Archives reflect the impact on the foreign student population of both world events and American policy; for example, the effect of American unemployment on jobs for foreign students, the changing fortunes of Chinese students over five decades, the problems of Vietnamese students in 1975 or Iranian students in 1979. The archives provide opportunities for investigation connections between the academic community and government entities, such as the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, as well as local American communities and organizations.
In 1964 NAFSA altered its name to the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs. The organization adopted its present name in 1990. In 1994, it had 7,500 members, from the United States and more than sixty other countries, representing colleges and universities that enroll 90 percent of the foreign students in the United States. Other Members represent elementary and secondary schools, educational associations, exchange organizations, corporations and foundations, and community organizations. NAFSA's activities are governed by a Board of Directors elected annually by the membership. Day to day administration is conducted by the Executive Director and professional staff from offices in Washington, D.C.
Special Collections holds other manuscript resources for the study of international education and cultural exchange: the records of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES); the papers of Elizabeth Lam Vieg, executive secretary of the Committee on the International Exchange of Persons (now CIES) between 1950 and 1971; the archives of the United States Information Agency's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; and the J. William Fulbright Papers. The department welcomes inquiries from NAFSAns whose papers might be useful resources for research in international education. For example, Clara L. Simerville, long-time foreign student counselor at Oregon State University, donated her papers to the department in 1994.
Access
A descriptive finding aid to the collection is available online.
Access to the archives of NAFSA: Association of International Educators is open to students, faculty, and others upon application to the Special Collections staff. Researchers may direct inquiries to Special Collections, but extensive projects will require a visit to the archives. To facilitate their work, researchers who wish to use the papers are advised to write or telephone the department in advance.