Collection inventory

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Drew Allbritten Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


The adult education holdings are collectively known as the
Alexander N. Charters Library of Resources for Educators of Adults.

Finding aid created by: MRR
Date: Oct 2006

Biographical History

Drew Allbritten (b. 1947) is an American educator, administrator, consultant, policy expert and scholar in public administration and management.

Dr. Drew Allbritten has been an active leader in education and government at the local, state, and national levels for over thirty years. In education, he served as a secondary and postsecondary teacher, counselor, and administrator. In government, he served in elected and appointed positions at the state and federal levels, respectively. In addition to effectively managing associations, foundations, and political action committees at the state and national levels, Allbritten was a committed community leader and advocate as well as an active participant in workshops, conferences, symposia, advisory councils, and consultations.

Allbritten began his career as a middle school and high school mathematics and science teacher. He served as a college administrator and was a state representative in the Michigan legislature, executive director of the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees, and a presidential appointee for Intergovernmental Relations at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

From 1991-1998 he was Executive Director of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE). During his tenure he played an instrumental role in the development and implementation of the association's strategic plan and reorganization; orchestrated national public policy efforts that increased federal funding for adult learning by 35%; reduced AAACE spending by nearly 35% (saving nearly $800,000) and increased membership by 7% and publication subscribers by 8%.

From 1998-2002 he served as Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Educators, overseeing its restructuring and actively participating in political issues related to education in Georgia. In 2003, Allbritten became Executive Director of the Arlington, Virginia-based Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), a special education association dedicated to serving professionals, organizations, and parents of children with a variety of physical, mental, and emotional challenges.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Drew Allbritten Papers reflect Allbritten's interest in educational policy, consisting primarily of material relating to his positions as Executive Director of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) (1991-1998), Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) (1998-2002), and Executive Director of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) (2003-2005).

Biographical material consists of desk calendars with extensive annotations, clippings about Allbritten or in which he is quoted, personal journals covering 16 years, and miscellaneous material such as a family holiday letters, a handmade card, and an invitation to grandparents' day.

General, which contains material professional in nature but unrelated to the three organizations listed above, is divided into correspondence-subject files and memorabilia. Correspondence-subject files concern oganizations or programs with which Allbritten was involved, including American Federation of Teachers, Coalition of Lifelong Learning Organizations, Iowa Association of Community College Trustees, James Monroe Foundation, National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET), National Education Association, National Middle School Association, and Virginia Business-Education Partnership Program. There are also four videotapes of various events. Memorabilia includes nametags, badges and photographs from several different education-related events.

Charles Drew University material relates to several projects undertaken for the private non-profit in Los Angeles, California, including planning for a network of local health clinics, four-year medical school planning committee, and the University's efforst to obtain the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBU) and Predominantly Black Intitution (PBI) designations.

Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE) consists of material from Allbritten's tenure as Executive Director of the AAACE. This series includes Correspondence-subject files (COABE's grievances with AAACE, a mock trial in which AAACE was convicted of not serving its members, history and bylaws of COABE, conference planning handbooks, directories, job descriptions, newsletters, policy manuals, and miscellaneous correspondence internal to COABE as well as between AAACE leadership and COABE leadership); Conferences (planning and execution of COABE conferences from 1993 to 2001, including site selection, hotel and convention center bids, catering negotiations, calls for papers, and so on); Financial (reimbursement requests, financial reports); and Miscellany consisting primarily of Allbritten's handwritten notes on various topics. Due to the amount of internal COABE correspondence, it is possible that some at least of these files were not originally Allbritten's but rather came from someone at COABE.

Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) consists of material from Allbritten's tenure as Executive Director of GAE. This series includes Correspondence-subject files (alternative teacher preparation, GAE constitution and bylaws, various GAE staff and committees, other Georgia education organizations, state and national education legislation and policy, and notable individuals such as Governor Roy Barnes, Senator Zell Miller, and School Superintendent Linda Schrenko); Meetings (agenda, minutes, and Allbritten's own notes for GAE Board of Director, Executive Committee, and other meetings); Writings (articles, introductions, remarks, speeches, and notes, including Allbritten's notes for a speech given soon after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on 11 Sep 2001); and Miscellany consisting primarily of Allbritten's handwritten notes on various topics.

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) covers Allbritten's tenure as Executive Director of CEC. This series includes Corresp ondence-subject files (CEC directories, various CEC staff and committee meetings, other education organizations such as National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Yes I Can! Foundation); Meetings (agenda, minutes, and Allbritten's own notes for CEC Board of Director and other meetings); Writings (articles, introductions, remarks, speeches, and notes); and Miscellany material consisting primarily of Allbritten's handwritten notes on various topics.

Arrangement of the Collection

Within each series material is arranged alphabetically by type or topic.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The library holds a considerable number of collections related to adult and continuing education. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing. In particular, see the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) Records.

Subject Headings

Persons

Allbritten, Drew William.
Barnes, Roy.
Miller, Zell, 1932-
Schrenko, Linda.

Corporate Bodies

American Association for Adult and Continuing Education.
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
Coalition of Lifelong Learning Organizations.
Commission on Adult Basic Education (U.S.)
Council for Exceptional Children.
Georgia Association of Educators.
Republican Party (Ga.)

Subjects

Adult education educators.
Adult education.
Continuing education.
Early childhood special education.
Special education educators.
Special education.

Places

Georgia -- Teachers.

Genres and Forms

Agendas (administrative records)
Calendars (documents)
Correspondence.
Diaries.
Drafts (documents)
Electronic mail.
Job applications.
Minutes (administrative records)
Newsletters.
Notes (documents)
Photographs.
Videotapes.

Occupations

Adult education teachers.
Educators.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Drew Allbritten Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Drew Allbritten, 2002-2010.

Table of Contents

Biographical material

General

Charles Drew University

Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE)

Georgia Association of Educators (GAE)

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)

Inventory