Samuel A. Kirk Papers | University of Illinois Archives

In the Summer of 1952, President George A. Stoddard recommended the establishment of the Institute for Research on Exceptional Children for research on physically and mentally handicapped children; the study of coordinating public welfare services, the study of gifted children and offering advanced programs of study.[sup]1 [/sup]On July 16, 1952, it was approved by the Trustees "to advance knowledge about exceptional children and to make more attractive the work of public and private agencies in their behalf."[sup]2 [/sup]The Institute worked with the Illinois Departments of Public Welfare and Public Instruction. Both departments provided facilities within institutions and public schools for research purposes, as well as staff to assist in the research.[sup]3 [/sup]A budget was approved late in 1952, with provision for additional funds from the University,[sup]4 [/sup]private foundations and governmental agencies.[sup]5 [/sup]In 1965, the Trustees granted the right to establish a "Training, Research and Development Program for Pre-school Disadvantaged Children" to provide in-service training to worker in operational programs and to institute doctoral programs.[sup]6 [/sup]The Institute for Child Behavior and Development (ICBD) was created by the Board of Trustees on July 1, 1975.[sup]7 [/sup]It was a merger of the Institute for Research on Exceptional Children (IREC) and the Center for Research on Children (CRC). The new research unit was intended to encompass many of the functions of CRC and was to be composed of elements from existing entities on campus with the conduct of interdisciplinary research on children as the primary goal. It was stated that efficiency in the use of resources and collaboration and cooperation" among faculty would be enhanced under a single administrative structure" in the College of Education.[sup]8 [/sup]In 1980, the Urbana-Champaign senate recommended the transfer of the Institute for Child Behavior and Development from the College of Education to the Graduate College. It was stated that "the transfer is desirable to nurture an expanding program in human development that reaches beyond the College of Education into such areas as medicine and social welfare.[sup]9 [/sup]The transfer was accomplished in December 1980. Subsequently, the Urbana-Champaign senate recommended the transfer of the Institute for Child Behavior and Development from the Graduate College to the College of Applied Life Sciences. It was stated that the "transfer to the College of Applied Life Sciences should facilitate the Institute's interdisciplinary activities and the transfer was approved.[sup]10[/sup] 1. Board of Trustees Transactions, 46th Report, June 19, 1952, p. 1523; Samuel A. Kirk and Willard B. Spalding, "The Institute for Research on Exceptional Children at the University of Illinois," The Educational Forum, XVII (May 1953), p. 413. 2. Board of Trustees Transactions, 47th Report, July 16, 1952, pp. 5-6. 3. Barbara D. Bateman and Samuel A. Kirk, Ten Years of Research at the Institute for Research on Exceptional Children, University of Illinois, 1952-62 (Urbana, 1963), p. 1. 4. Board of Trustees Transactions, 47th Report, October 24, 1952, p. 441. 5. Kirk and Spalding, "The Institute for Research on Exceptional Children at the University of Illinois,"p. 417. 6. Board of Trustees Transactions, 53rd Report, December 15, 1965, pp. 969-70. 7. Report to the College of Education, Institute for Child Behavior and Development, November, 1979. 8. Board of Trustees Transactions, 58th Report, April 16, 1975, pp. 257-58. 9. Board of Trustees Transactions, 61st Report, March 21, 1980, p. 117. 10. Board of Trustees Transactions, 63rd Report, July 18, 1985, p. 342.