Academic Health Center
History Project Advisory Committee
Wednesday 1:00-2:00 pm
March 7, 2007
Room 475 ChRC
MINUTES
In attendance: Dr. Frank Cerra, Elaine Challacombe, Sarah Evans, John Eyler, Jennifer Gunn, Erik Moore, and David Rhees
1. Review of two recent events: AHC history round table discussion (Feb. 21) and AHC history project launch/speaker event (Feb. 28)
All committee members who were able to attend the round table discussion held Feb. 21 agreed that it was both a success and a model for future discussion groups. Sarah Evans noted that some of the advantages to the group format included participants’ ability to spark ideas among the others present, allowed for the juxtaposition of differing experiences, and held all participants accountable to each other. Erik Moore added that Dr. John Kersey (a round table participant) remarked that the group format kept them all honest.
Committee members then discussed the advantages of conducting similar round tables in the near future and variations in terms of the invitees and topics discussed. A discussion group focused on faculty would aid in establishing an intellectual history of research conducted at the AHC. A round table focusing specifically on the schools and colleges would highlight the issues surrounding education. A discussion focusing on the interdisciplinary centers would focus on the working relationships between disciplines in the AHC.
The committee then discussed the potential outcomes of additional group interviews. One outcome would be a broad understanding of AHC issues from varying view points. Another outcome would be the use of the interviews to follow up with individual interviews for many of the participants. Finally, several participants could be invited back to have a similar conversation in a more public forum. This would be an interesting product of the project, one perhaps loosely based on the “Great Conversations” model.
Jennifer Gunn has a copy of the DVD of the round table. A copy still needs to be delivered to the archives.
Several committee members were able to attend the Gretchen Krueger speaker event and official launch of the AHC History Project (Feb. 28). Dr. Frank Cerra, Jennifer Gunn, and Erik Moore all delivered brief remarks at the event. Erik Moore reported being approached by several people after the event interested in either discussing AHC history in more detail or wanting to learn more about how to donate relevant materials.
2. Next steps for oral history project
Several committee members volunteered to help gather information needed to make a formal oral history project plan. Erik Moore and a sub group of the advisory committee will gather the information and compile a proposal for Dr. Frank Cerra to review. The plan will include a listing of potential interviewees and topics to cover, sequence of interviews, equipment specifications, and budget information related to conducting the interviews, purchasing equipment, and creating transcripts.
It was agreed that an additional benefit from the round table discussion and future round tables will be a foundation for the individual oral histories. The person(s) who will eventually conduct the individual interviews can use the group discussion recordings as a means to become versed in the AHC history and understand the context of events.
3. Discussion of digital access to materials
A discussion about digital access to materials gathered during the project included a brief overview of the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (http://conservancy.umn.edu), the need to establish priorities in what would be digitized and how those items would be made accessible, and the pros and cons of various digital asset management systems and how they could be employed.
Next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 2007, 11:00 – 12:00 pm