Clayton State Receives Planning Grant Award Notification for Archival Studies Masters from Department of Education

Based on a July 2007 U.S. House of Representatives Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, Clayton State University has received notification from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) of a $310,479 planning grant for the establishment of a Master of Arts in Archival Studies at the University.

The grant is the work of U.S. Congressman David Scott (D-GA), a long-time friend of the University and education. Three institutions with an already-established partnership that are located in Scott’s congressional district – Clayton State, the Southeastern Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Georgia Archives – and all will benefit from the proposed masters program.

“I am proud of Clayton State University for its vision of the archives programs,” says Congressman Scott. “I was pleased to be able to speak at the dedication ceremony of the National Archives in 2005 and at the time I understood the University’s long-term commitment to archival studies. This grant will help expand the University’s national reputation and provide the citizens of Georgia with an important field of study. You can count in my continued support for Clayton State University and the archives facilities.”

Clayton State and the two archives have worked together on a number of initiatives since the two facilities opened adjacent to the Clayton State campus earlier in this decade. Morrow, Ga., is the only location in the country where a state archives and a regional headquarters of the National Archives are co-located. The archives connection with Clayton State initially came about at the invitation of the University in conjunction with Clayton State’s reputation as one of the most technologically-advanced institutions of higher learning in the state. With archival studies having become a field wherein its records management relies heavily on Information Technology (IT), and with Clayton State’s IT and History programs being among the best in the state, the partnership was a natural one.

“There is a lot of energy toward archival studies at Clayton State, and this grant will allow us to capture that energy,” says Dr. Randall Gooden, assistant professor of History at Clayton State. “It will let us move forward in building a program that will supply interns and employees to institutions like the Georgia Archives and the National Archives, and in turn these institutions will provide hands-on learning experiences for our students. It is a win-win prospect.”

According to Dr. Sharon Hoffman, Clayton State provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, the DOE planning grant will be used to hire an archivist to head up the Masters of Archival Studies program and to provide stipends for Clayton State graduate interns who will be working at both NARA and the Georgia Archives under the program. The University intends to submit the proposal for the Masters in Archival Studies – a program that would be unique in the southeastern United States – to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia for approval this fall. A team drawn from the Clayton State History faculty, NARA and the Georgia Archives will put together the proposal and develop the curriculum for the Masters in Archival Studies program.

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.