To celebrate American Archives Month, library panel will discuss GSN’s first 25 years
When the Graduate School of Nursing was founded in 1985, its purpose was to establish a master’s-level nursing program at the state’s only public medical school. Twenty-five years later, the GSN has become a leader in nursing education, offering a range of programs that prepare students for careers as nurse practitioners and nursing educators, leaders and advocates.
In celebration of American Archives Month, the Lamar Soutter Library and the Office of Alumni Relations are hosting a panel discussion on the history of the GSN on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. The program, “Look How Far We’ve Come (and How We Got Started),” will feature founding deans, pioneering faculty and early alums, and will be moderated by current GSN Dean Paulette Seymour-Route, PhD.
Among the most innovative initiatives of the GSN in the past 25 years have been the establishment of the Graduate Entry Pathway Program, designed to help ease the nursing shortage by offering students with non-nursing backgrounds a pathway into nursing, and the development of the doctor of nursing practice program, which helps prepare advanced practice nurses leaders for roles as policy makers and health care system administrators. These and the other GSN offerings have helped shape nurses and nursing across the UMass Memorial Health Care system, the region and the state.
American Archives Month, sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, encourages participating libraries to hold events that raise awareness about the value of archives and archivists. The library’s Office of Medical History and Archives, headed by Ellen More, PhD, collects and preserves materials that document the history of UMMS. It also supports historical research, teaching and other activities that highlight the history of UMMS and the history of American medicine and health care.
“Look How Far We’ve Come” will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 19, in the Faculty Conference Room from noon to 1 p.m. (lunch will be provided beginning at 11:30 a.m.). Panelists include the GSN’s first dean, Kathleen Dirschel, PhD; its second dean, Lillian Goodman, EdD; pioneering GSN faculty members Mary K. Alexander, EdD; Gail Frieswick, EdD; Anne Bourgeois, EdD; and Sue Roberts, DNS; and inaugural-class alum Karen Coteleso, MS, APRN.
