Academic Health Center History Project

ABOUT A better institutional understanding comes from a well-documented institutional history. About the History Project The Academic Health Center History Project is a collaborative effort between the Academic Health Center and the University Libraries. The goals of the Academic Health Center History Project are to identify, collect, and make available the institutional and historical documentation of the Academic Health Center, its six schools and colleges of medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and veterinary medicine, and its interdisciplinary centers at the University of Minnesota. The project will ensure that this documentation is preserved and made accessible for scholarly and administrative uses at the University of Minnesota Archives, in accordance with Board of Regents policies, University of Minnesota records retention policies, legal requirements, and professional standards. The Academic Health Center History Project will preserve and document broadly the functions of education, research, outreach, and patient care and activities of the AHC. The administrative units, schools and colleges, interdisciplinary centers, and faculty that perform and oversee these functions of the Academic Health Center will be the primary source of materials. These materials include documentation leading to the AHC’s formation and organization as well as institutional records thereafter until present time. Material from the above sources may consist of, but are not limited to, annual reports, committee minutes, organization charts, policy and procedure documentation, planning reports, publications, correspondence, press releases, financial reports, legislative documents, curriculum and programming materials, photographs, films and videos, and additional media formats. Materials also may consist of the personal papers of identified faculty and administrators and the records of affiliated programs and campuses. Additionally, oral history interviews will focus on individuals who were involved in the formation of the AHC, served in leadership roles, or have specific insights into institution’s history. The oral histories will complement the archival records and personal papers by adding an interpretive element to the materials collected and, where needed, will act as a source of information in areas where there are gaps in documentation. The oral history interviews will also serve as a means to encourage participants to consider what documentary evidence they may have in their possession that is related to the overall History Project. Once collected, these records are available to researchers, scholars, departments, and the public to better understand the AHC’s role in preparing health professionals and supporting research efforts to improve the health of Minnesotans and the world.