Northern Iowa Student Government Records
Scope and Contents
The Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG) records date from about 1981 to 2022 and represent the work undertaken by NISG on behalf of the University of Northern Iowa’s population. Types of materials across the acquisitions include administrative files, such as agendas, reports, committee information, guidelines, minutes, resolutions, bills, and election rules; financial information for various events and organizations on campus, including funding and requests for payment files.
Senate resolution topics cover a range of topics such as a smoke-free campus, discrimination, buildings, parking, funding and recognition of student organizations, and more. Senate bills also focused on a variety of subjects, including committee work, funding, and student organizations.
The files in this collection additionally provide insight into the types of activities created and sponsored by student organizations, with the folders for the represented organizations including requests for payment, organization registration forms, contingency fund applications, and event information.
This collection also contains web content captured using the web archiving tool, Archive-It. To view this content, please visit the Northern Iowa Student Government web archive.
Dates
- c. 1981 - 2022
Creator
- University of Northern Iowa. Student Government (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Most materials are open for research. The Budgetary files, Requests for Payment files, and the Student Organization files contain sensitive and personally identifiable information that must be reviewed by SC&UA staff before providing access.
Technical Access
Access and use of thes microcassette tapes in this collection requires special playback equipment and may require the production of a listening copy. Please ask SC&UA staff about access options.
General Use, Reproduction, and Copyright Policies
Many items housed in the Rod Library Special Collections & University Archives, including unpublished images and manuscripts, may be protected by copyright, publication rights, trademarks, or model release rights which the library does not own and for which the library cannot grant permission or licensing. Materials currently under copyright are usually still available for research and limited reproduction under Fair Use laws. However, it is the sole responsibility of the patron to determine whether or not their use of a given material falls within Fair Use guidelines and to obtain permission for said use from the rightful copyright owner.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy or similar laws, and the Iowa Open Records Law (see Iowa Code § 22.7). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of Northern Iowa assumes no responsibility.
Biographical / Historical
The University of Northern Iowa has had a formal form of student government since Fall 1916, when, as the Iowa State Teachers College, the Student Council was established. The goal of this first iteration of student government was to provide students the opportunity to work with the school’s president and faculty for the betterment of the institution.
The student government’s name has changed numerous times since its inception. It became the Student League Board in 1945, the Student Senate in 1965, and the University of Northern Iowa Student Association (UNISA) in 1970. At this point, the structure that is currently in place was created, with the formation of three branches within student government: legislative, executive, and judicial. UNISA became the Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG) in 1989 following a campus vote via a special election.
Extent
26.69 Linear Feet (60 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two subgroups: materials that arrived prior to 2024 and materials that arrived in 2024.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Northern Iowa Student Government records have been transferred to Special Collections & University Archives in increments over the years. In 2024, Mike Bobeldyk, director of Student Involvement & Event Services, transferred additional materials dating from 2016 to 2018.
Processing Information
Material initially processed and finding aid prepared by University Archivist Gerald L. Peterson in August 2000; files re-processed to integrate acquisitions by Library Assistant Shanna Taylor and new finding aid prepared by Gerald L. Peterson, October 2006; additions to collection processed by University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee graduate student intern Dana Wallace, spring semester 2010; Public History Intern Eric Kann, October-November 2013; student assistants Lindsay Beyer and Ashley Thronson, April 2015; modified March 29, 2016 (GP).
Updated contents by Library Assistant Joy Lynn, October 11, 2017. Updated by Library Associate Dave Hoing, January 2018 and April 2018 and by Archival Processor Tessa Wakefield, March 2021. The 2024 acquisition was processed by Tessa Wakefield in July 2024.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin