Section 09 – The 1980s Irvin Hall’s Centennial: 1925-2025Miami University, Oxford, Ohio Home Previous Section Next Section
![SHRIVER WELCOMES RETURN TO TEACHING
by Cindy Null
…says now-full-time history professor Phil Shriver with a grin, "It feels good."
And it should. The former Miami president is once again pursuing his first love — teaching. And (after 16 years of administrative work, he is glad to he back with his fellow educators in Irvin Hall.
"The number one reason I went into education was to teach," Shriver says. "Teaching is the essence of education."
Shriver comes from a long line of educators. His father was a teacher for 48 years. His grandfather and various aunts and uncles also commanded a classroom for a living.
And while Shriver has kept his hand in these past 16 years by teaching a course "every year but one," he has missed a full-time teaching load. Now that he's back in academia on a full-time basis, he admits that he's had to adjust to some changes.
[…] He expects some changes, too, within his new full-time profession. One of those is going back to grading his own papers. Shriver had a graduate student grade exams while he was president, but now he’s doing all the marking himself. "I’ve been sharpening all my red pencils," he says with a laugh.
ANOTHER, more welcome change from his part-time teaching will be more time with his colleagues in the department. He is looking forward to day-to-day discussions and office talk which will come his way.
[…] But all this is secondaray to the fact that Shriver is thrilled to be back. He’ll be teaching three sections this semester, in Miami and Ohio history, as well as reading and researching extensively for a new course titled "American Biography” slated for the fall of 1982.
Without a doubt, the former president is back in teaching.
And it feels good.](https://sites.miamioh.edu/meyersde/files/2025/06/IRV100-255-1024x576.png)
![TRANSITION FROM PRESIDENCY TO TEACHING EASIER THAN EXPECTED, SHRIVER SAYS
By Linden Katon
After teaching for a year, former Miami President Phillip Shriver says, "I love it — it's not work, the only thing I don't like is grading papers. The rest is sheer joy."
Returning to teaching was somewhat hard for Shriver, who said the thing he misses most about not being president is "the sense of direct involvement with everything that’s going on in campus."
Yet, he does not regret leaving office. "I delight in being here in Irvin Hall," he said. "The beauty of Miami and Oxford is that you can continue to be involved, even if it is in a different role."
Some of those different roles this sear have involved lecturing at most residence halls, attending banquets — and most recent Is — being a timer for the 20/20 bike race last Saturday.
Shriver also teaches classes in Ohio and Miami history and keeps busy with many projects, having recently written and published several articles. Fie also has more time to indulge his
interests in archeology by visiting various digging sites and museums.
[…]
At the beginning of the year, many faculty and students were uncertain about approaching the former president in his new position. But he found they soon accepted him as a member of the teaching staff.
He said he felt the transition from president to professor was easier than it might have been because he had continued to teach throughout his administrative career. Shriver taught at least one course a semester during his presidential term.
Although Shriver has settled into his new position as faculty member, it is still hard for him to get used to grading papers. As president, the history department provided him with a graduate assistant to help him. Shriver said he forgot how time-consuming grading essays can be.](https://sites.miamioh.edu/meyersde/files/2025/06/IRV100-256-1024x576.png)
![BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES
December 6, 1986
REPORT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCE AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS
The Chairman called upon Mr. Demske for his report. The report follows:
In addition to the items on the Finance and Business Affairs portion of the agenda, there are a number of other items I would like to call to your attention.
[…]
44. Window Replacement - Various Buildings: Replace existing windows in McGuffey Hall, Gaskill Hall, Rowan Hall and Irvin Hall with energy efficient windows. Construction documents are currently being prepared and should be forwarded to the Department of Industrial Relations in January 1987 for plan approval. Project to be completed during the summer of 1987.
[…]](https://sites.miamioh.edu/meyersde/files/2025/06/IRV100-265-1024x576.png)
![UPHAM HALL:
.4 million renovation scheduled for conversion to classes, offices
by Vickie Schmitt
More than half of .8 million the state is appropriating to Miami through a capital improvements bill will be used to renovate Upham Hall.
The .4 million renovation will convert “the space in laboratories to regular classrooms and office space,” said Edward Demske, vice president for finance and business affairs.
The botany, microbiology and zoology departments will move from Upham Hall to the new biological sciences building once it is completed, and the space in Upham Hall will be used to relieve crowded conditions in other buildings.
The increase in space available has a “domino effect. The point of the overall plan is to make changes in space,” Demske said.
The north area of the hall will house offices and classrooms from the School of Business Administration, relieving a shortage of space in Laws Hall.
The marketing department will move to Upham Hall from Hughes Hall, allowing expansion of the computer center in Hughes.
The south area of the hall will house sociology and anthropology offices and classrooms, relieving space problems in Harrison and Hoyt Halls.
It will also house history department offices and classrooms, providing added room for foreign language departments in Irvin Hall.
Finally, the south area will house philosophy offices and classrooms.
Upham Hall will continue to house the College of Arts and Sciences administrative offices, Hefner Zoology Museum and Turrell Herbarium.
A group of representatives from the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business Administration have been chosen to plan the changes with a state architect.
Demske said this group “may come up with a different configuration of departments.” […]](https://sites.miamioh.edu/meyersde/files/2025/06/IRV100-266-1024x576.png)
![BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES
June 17, 1987
RESOLUTION ON CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS REQUESTS
On recommendation of the President, Mr. Davis moved, Mr. Tenhover seconded, and by voice vote Resolution R87-83 was adopted.
RESOLUTION R87-83
WHEREAS, the Board of Regents have requested that the University submit a capital improvement request for the biennia 1989-90, 1991-92, and 1993-94; and
WHEREAS, the Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs has sought the advice of the Select Committee on Campus Planning, the Council, of Academic Deans and other campus groups; and
WHEREAS, the President has approved the recommendations of the Provost and the Vice President for Finance and BUsiness Affairs;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees authorizes the President and the Vice President for Finance' and Business Affairs to submit to the Board of Regents the following capital improvement request:
[…]
1991-92 Oxford Campus:
1. Utilities and Renovation Projects $ 2,000,000
2. Harrison Hall Rehabilitation 3,300,000
3. Minor Rehabilitation Projects (such as
HVAC work in Irvin and Laws Halls) 2,000,000
4. High Density Library Facility (joint
venture between MU, UC, and possibly
Wright State) 1,000,000
5. Campus Chilled Water Loop (Phase 3) 1,800,000
6. Phillips Hall Rehabilitation 3,000,000
7. Culler Hall Renovation 3,000,000
8. Benton Hall Renovation 3,750,000
Oxford Campus Sub-total ,850,000
[…]](https://sites.miamioh.edu/meyersde/files/2025/06/IRV100-267-1024x576.png)
![HISTORY DEPT. CONSTRUCTS PLANS FOR MOVE TO UPHAM HALL BY YEAR 1990
by Jim Kruggel
History students al Miami have been attending classes in Irvin Hall since the building opened in 1925. But In 1990 they will move to Upham Hall if university plans proceed on schedule, according to Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences Richard Smith.
Moving the history department is a part of the university's plans to renovate Upham Hall and finish moving the biological science departments, now in Upham, to the new biological sciences building on High Street.
“We know when we hope it will take place.., in the summer of ’90," Smith said.
The history department would occupy the second floor of the south wing and much of the central wing, he said.
The department has been in Irvin Hall for most of its existence as a separate discipline al Miami, said history professor Thomas Coakley.
The space the history department leaves will be filled by the foreign language departments, which also occupy Irvin, he added.
The decision was made between three and four years ago to give both departments "more and better space," Smith said.
The move affects 21 faculty members, two secretaries, approximately 10 grad students and nine teaching fellows. History Chair Allan Winkler said that the department's intended uses for the space included individual offices for each person with more room and offices for the teaching fellows that would be adjacent to the faculty offices.
The current faculty and teaching fellow offices in Irvin are separated by two floors.
An instructional media center with microfilm readers, slides and other audio visual materials, more storage space and a reproduction of the department's McNiff Reception and Seminar Room would also be part of the new location, Winkler said.
"It's going to be very nlce... lt’s a good move," he said. […]](https://sites.miamioh.edu/meyersde/files/2025/06/IRV100-268-1024x576.png)
![BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES
June 23, 1989
RESOLUTION ON CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS REQUESTS
On recommendation of the President, Mr. Marcum moved, Mr. Tenhover seconded, and by voice vote Resolution R89--69 was adopted.
RESOLUTION R89-69
WHEREAS, the Board of Regents have requested that the University submit a capital improvement request for the biennia 1991-92, 1993-94, and 1995-96; and
WHEREAS, the Provost and the Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs have sought the advice of the Campus Planning Committee, the Council of Academic Deans and other campus groups; and
WHEREAS, the President has approved the recommendations of the Provost and the Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees authorizes the President and the Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs to submit to the Board of Regents the following capital improvement request:
COMPREHENSIVE SIX-YEAR CAPITAL PROGRAM
MIAMI UNIVERSITY - OXFORD CAMPUS:
BIENNIUM 1991-92
Irvin Hall Rehabilitation $ 3,000,000
Campus Avenue Building Rehabilitation 2,400,000
Basic Renovation Projects (by formula) 3,730,341
Central Steam Plant Addition 3,000,000
Alumni Hall Rehabilitation - (Phase I) 4,000,000
Campus Chilled Water Loop (Phase III) 1,000,000
MacMillan Hall Rehabilitation 1,250,800
Supplemental Basic Renovation Projects 2,000,000
Sub-totals ,380,341
Academic Equipment $ 1,500,000
Computer Equipment 1,500,000
Asbestos 500,000
Totals ,880,341
[…]](https://sites.miamioh.edu/meyersde/files/2025/06/IRV100-270-1024x576.png)
