Guide to the Gretchen T. Bersch papers
1973-2008
Collection number: HMC-0666.
Creator: Bersch, Gretchen T.
Title: Gretchen T. Bersch papers.
Dates: 1973-2008.
Volume of collection: 3.0 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Papers of Anchorage Community College and University of Alaska faculty in Developmental Education.
Biographical note:
Gretchen T. Bersch graduated from Homer High School in Homer, Alaska, in 1962. She attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington (1962-1964) before earning a Bachelor of Science degree in General Science and Mathematics at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (1967). She began work as a faculty member in the University of Alaska System in 1971 in the Developmental Education program. She later received a master’s degree in Secondary Education from the University of Alaska, Anchorage (1973), and a doctoral degree in Adult Education from Florida State University (1990). While at ACC and UAA, Gretchen Bersch worked on the Adult Literacy Lab Project, coordinated the Credit for Learning program; co-created the UAA/Magadan student exchange, an international student exchange program with the International Pedagogical University in Magadan, Russia (beginning in 1992); and participated and organized other international educational activities. In addition, Bersch was active in numerous Anchorage Community College and the University of Alaska Anchorage committees. The ACC staff/career development committee, ACC/UAA Institutional Planning committee and Academic Policy and Curriculum Board, UAA’s Program Assessment Committee and Academic Affairs Task Force are just a few of the university committees in which Bersch participated.
Collection description:
This collection consists of two series: Faculty records and educational videocassettes. Series one, faculty files, contain portfolios Gretchen Bersch created and turned in for retention and/or promotion at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Included in this series are her requests for sabbatical and her curriculum vitae. Series one also contains faculty papers (such as correspondence, newsletters, programs, flyers, and cartoons) that relate to the committees and work she did while a faculty member. Series two contains videocassettes of educational presentations on various topics related to teaching and staff development. Many of the videocassettes feature ACC and UAA faculty.
Arrangement: The collection is divided into two series by record type. Series one contains Bersch’s faculty papers. Faculty activity and promotion files in series 1 are in chronological order. Faculty papers retain the order in which they arrived at the archives. In series two, educational videocassettes are in chronological order.
Digitized copies: Digital copies of collection material are not available online. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Archives and Special Collections owns copyright to the materials Gretchen Bersch owns copyright. Copyright restrictions may apply to materials not created by Gretchen Bersch. For more information, please contact an archivist.
Preferred citation: Gretchen Bersch papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials:
ACC Adult Literacy Laboratory Project (ALL Project); 1970-1982. UAA-0071.
ACC Adult Education Associate Degree program records; 1982-1983. UAA.0075.
ACC Institutional Planning Committee records; 1984-1986. UAA-0073.
Alaska Council of Teachers of Mathematics newsletters; 1977-1983. EPH-0084.
Alaska Education Association Focus newsletters; 1980-1991. EPH-0086.
UAA/ACC Academic Policy and Curriculum Board records;1988 UAA-0070.
UAA School of Education Educational Leadership Program records; 1999. UAA-0099.
UAA/ACC School of Education Early Childhood Program records;1989-1991. UAA-0098.
UAA/ACC Learning Resource Center records; 1983-1990. UAA-0097.
University of Alaska 6 year plan correspondence;1985-1986. UAA-0072.
Acquisition note: The collection was presented to the archives by Gretchen Bersch in 2004. Later additions were presented in 2009. A deed of gift was signed in 2011. In 2012, Bersch donated another addition to the collection.
Processing information: The first accession of the collection was arranged and described by Jeffery Sinnott in 2008. In 2011, Mariecris Gatlabayan integrated additions into the earlier accession and updated collection description. University records in the collection were separated into university series. In accordance with the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA), records and/or papers containing student information were removed from the collection in order to protect student privacy. In 2013, Mariecris Gatlabayan updated the collection description to reflect the 2012 addition to the collection.
Container list:
Series 1: Faculty papers; 1977-2001. 2.3 cubic feet. Records are in order by record type.
| Box | Description | Date |
| 1/1 | Professional development leave application. | 1980 |
| 1/2-1/4 | Faculty activity file. | 1988 |
| 1/5-1/8 | Faculty activity and promotion to professor file. | 1988-1989 |
| 1/9-1/10 | Post-tenure faculty review. | 1992 |
| 1/11-1/13 | Post-tenure faculty review. | 1995 |
| 1/14 | Sabbatical leave request. | 1995 |
| 1/1/15 | Curriculum vitae (include CD-R disc). | circa 1996 |
| 1/16 | Review for professor emeritus. | 1997 |
| 1/17 | Academic Task Force. UAA. | 1988 |
| 1/18 | Academic Task Force. Consolidated course schedule and catalog work group. UAA. | 1987 |
| 1/19 | Action in Alaska Community College Conference memorandum and copy of proceedings. | 1977 |
| 1/20 | Career Development Committee meeting minutes. ACC. | 1980-1981 |
| 1/21 | Career Development Committee newsletter, College Communicator. ACC. | 1982 October, November, 1983 February |
| 1/22 | Center for Women and Men schedule programs. UAA/ACC. | 1984-1992 |
| 1/23 | Community college, Rural Education and Extension (CCREE) part-time welcome letter and packet. | 1983 |
| 1/24 | Credit for Prior Learning brochures, memoranda, student and faculty handbooks, handouts, applications, and CD-R disc. ACC/UAA. | 1985-1994 |
| 1/25 | Developmental Education/Learning Center teacher records. Includes teacher training workshop materials. ACC. | 1984, undated |
| 1/26 | Eskimo Teacher Education Program papers and newsletters. | 1981, undated |
| 1/27 | Faculty and administration handbook. ACC. Includes Gretchen Bersch’s narrative about the Adult Literacy Laboratory project (ALL project). | 1979-1980 |
| 1/28 | Fall convocation workshop papers, “Helping the Returning Adult Succeed in College.” UAA. | 1990 |
| 1/29 | Innovative Teaching at Anchorage Community College speakers series invitation to speak. ACC. | 1984 |
| 1/30 | Institutional Review Board draft handouts. UAA. | undated |
| 1/31 | Joint Russian/Alaskan activities reports and CD-R disc. | 1989-2003 |
| 1/32 | Khabarovsk State Teacher’s Training College faculty visit papers. Includes fliers, itinerary, and agreement. UAA. | 1993 October |
| 1/33 | Liberal Arts degree in 3 years proposal papers. UAA. | 1991 |
| 1/34 | Math 054-055: research and correspondence relating to the decline in offering basic math classes. ACC/UAA. | 1984-1989 |
| 1/35 | Program Assessment Committee planning documents, policies, and newsletters. UAA. | 1994 |
| 1/36 | Staff development committee memoranda, fliers, programs, correspondence and newsletters. Includes Innovative Teaching Speaker Series programs and lists faculty of professional development leave. ACC. | 1984-1986 |
| 1/37 | Task Force on International Students memoranda, letters, meeting minutes. UAA. | 1993-1996 |
| 1/38-1/42 | UAA/Magadan student exchange records. | 1991-1995 |
| 3/1-3/5 | Professional development and pedagogical workshop training materials created for ACC and CREE adjunct faculty. | 1980s, undated |
| 3/6-3/12 | Adult Learning Colloquium: masters’ degree presentations event flyers. Includes list of masters’ theses topics from 1995-1996. | 1993-1999 |
| 3/13 | Innovation Abstracts: Published by the National Institute for Staff Organizational Development. Incomplete set. | 1983-1987 |
| 3/14 | ACC Faculty Association flyers. | 1978-1980 |
| 3/15-3/16 | UAA Adult education graduate program records. Includes records related to the formation of the program. | 1990-1996 |
| 3/17 | Adult Education Program changes: CCGs, course outlines, and documentation. | 1995 |
| 3/18-3/32 | UAA Adult education graduate program records. Includes workloads for faculty, syllabi, and curriculum planning records. | 1990-2001 |
| 3/33 | Womens’ studies/issue file. | 1995 |
| 3/34 | “Other Course Outlines-UAA” file. | 1990-2000 |
| Oversize 1, folder 1 | Academic Policy and Curriculum Board cartoon poster, “I survived the APCB: Spring 1988.” Includes Bersch’s description of her experience with the merger and as co-chair of the board. | 1988 |
| Oversize 1, folder 2 | General Education Requirements Committee game, “The Exciting Game of General Education” that outlined Bersch’s perspective of the committee’s process of reexamining GER courses and what courses should be added. | 1988-1989. |
| Oversize 1, folder 3 | Exhibit of the 2004 Yukon Island Summer Adult Education retreat. Contains photos of the participants and visiting scholar. | 2004 |
| Oversize 1, folder 4 | “The AAB Circus” cartoon poster. | undated |
Series 2: Videocassettes of educational presentations; undated, 1985-1993. 0.7 cubic feet. Videocassettes are in chronological order.
| Box | Description | Date |
| 2/1 | Motivational & Learning Theory: A Classroom Model by Lin Bauer. TLC Speaker Series presentation. | 1985 April 19 |
| 2/2 | Office Occupations by Darlene Appel. Innovative Teaching Series. | 1985 October 18 |
| 2/3 | Western College Reading and Learning Association Conference Anchorage Community College edited master. | 1985 November 15 |
| 2/4 | Drawing Thinking Skills into the Classroom by Becky Patterson and Kate Sandberg master tape. | 1985 November 22 |
| 2/5 | What’s a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Class Like This? by Con Bunde, ACC speech instructor. Innovative Teaching Speaker Series. | 1986 March 21 |
| 2/6 | Why Am I So Embarrassed to See Myself on TV by Dr. Peter Dowrick, Associate Professor of Psychology. CAS Lecture Series, no. 1 master tape. | 1987 October 13 |
| 2/7 | Early Views of Aviation in Anchorage, Save Your Machines or Science Fiction by Dr. Steve Haycox. CAS Lecture Series, no. 2 master tape. | 1987 October 20 |
| 2/8 | A Profile of Alaska’s Seniors by Karen Seccombe, Ph.D.. CAS Lecture Series master tape. | 1987 November 3 |
| 2/9 | Doctors and Nurses in the 1870’s, Have Things Changed?by Judith Moore, Ph.D.. CAS Lecture Series master tape | 1987 November 17 |
| 2/10 | Tips for Writing a Research Papers by Karen Hancock master tape | 1989 January 10 |
| 2/11 | Canfield Learning Styles Inventory by Tom Gier and Karen Hancock master tape. | 1989 January 13. |
| 2/12 | How to Change Your Moods – Cognitive Loop by Amy Bollenbach master tape. | 1989 January 13 |
| 2/13 | How to Change Your Moods – Record by Amy Bollenbach master tape. | 1989 January 13 |
| 2/14 | How to Change Your Moods – Cards by Amy Bollenbach master tape. | 1989 January 25 |
| 2/15 | Teaching Effectiveness Workshop I by Kate Sandberg and Kate Odell master tape | 1989 October 6 |
| 2/16 | Student Collaboration: Making a Difference in the Classroom by Kate Sandberg master tape. | 1989 November 3 |
| 2/17 | Teaching Large Classes master tape.Teaching in Excellence Series. | 1990 January 23 |
| 2/18 | Making Curriculum More Balanced as to Gender, Culture, and Ethnicity by Dr. Peggy McIntosh, Associate Director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women master tape. | 1990 February 7 |
| 2/19 | Instructor Designed Interactive Computer Learning by Jim Pollard, Spokane Community College master tape. | 1990 March 23 |
| 2/20 | Simple Wills Workshop by Kris Cassity, Attorney, USUAA Legal Services master tape. | 1990 March 27 |
| 2/21 | Credit Short-Cuts to Your Degree by Gretchen Bersch for Toni Croft’s Class master tape. | 1993 February 22 |
| 2/22 | Introduction to the Compaq Computer, Training Tape #1 by Tom Gier and Clay Walker, ACC. | undated |
| 2/23 | Introduction to the Compaq Computer, Training Tape #2, How to Use Wordstar on the Compaq Computer by Clay Walker and Tom Gier. | undated |
| 2/24 | Introduction to the Compaq Computer, Training Tape #3, Beginning MS D.O.S. on the Compaq Computer by Clay Walker and Tom Gier. | undated |