Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies

University of Arizona

The Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies is designed to give students a solid grounding in the core knowledge of the archives and records management profession. The curriculum is structured around the guidelines for graduate programs set by the Society of American Archivists, ensuring that students will be competitive for jobs in a range of institutions possessing archival collections.

For graduate students in other degree programs, the Certificate will provide an opportunity to learn more about archival practices as they affect the composition and meaning of cultural artifacts and the historical record. In addition, the program will offer advanced continuing education opportunities to practitioners working in libraries and archives, especially on the challenges posed by the emerging of digital recordkeeping.

Student Outcomes

This program is built around the official guidelines of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) for graduate archival studies programs, which call for a minimum of 18 credits as a foundation for archives and records management professionals. Upon graduation, students will have a thorough grounding in the core knowledge of the profession, focusing on the nature of records and the basic archival functions of records appraisal, acquisition, arrangement, description, preservation, reference, access, outreach, and archives administration. Students will also gain essential contextual knowledge of the organizational, legal, and cultural factors shaping archival records as they are created and managed over time.