Documenting COVID-19 Offers Jobs For Furloughed Student Employees

Library Creating Historic Reference

Image of historic Old Main at Minnesota State University Mankato as the cover photo for the University Archives website.

Posted April 22, 2020

RETURN to the inSIDER

By LENNY KOUPAL, CSU Communications Coordinator

A COVID-19 archival library project documenting the historic impact of the pandemic is offering remote work opportunities for 200 furloughed student employees at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

While University student employees continue receiving an average paycheck, one segment of student workers furloughed by the campus shutdown were employees with Sodexo, the University dining services partner.

Dining service is one of the campus’s largest student staff employers with 243 student workers.

Many of these employees are international students who are restricted to work on-campus.

In an effort to support those students, and in collaboration with Dr. Anne Dahlman, interim dean of Global Education, the University Archives at Minnesota State Mankato initiated the COVID-19 Community History Project.

‘In collaboration with campus and community partners, the University Archives will collect, preserve, and provide access to experiences of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.’

MONIKA ANTONELLI, Outreach Librarian

According to Monika Antonelli, outreach librarian, the archival project by the Memorial Library at Minnesota State Mankato will document the historical and social effects of the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted our lives in the last few weeks, and we expect that to continue for some time,” Antonelli said. ” In collaboration with campus and community partners, the University Archives will collect, preserve, and provide access to experiences of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Personal experiences may include journals and diaries, essays or creative works, scrapbooks and oral history interviews.

“We want to document the stories, feelings, and experiences felt by students, employees, and the community during this time,” she said. 

Student participants are trained and will work online under the direction of a university supervisor for 8-10 hours per week, for as long as funding is available.

As of April 20, 170 students were employed – many of them furloughed international students – for the project. As many as 200 could participate.

To learn more, please visit the archive’s project website. International students can contact the office of the Interim Dean of Global Education. Domestic students can email at archives@mnsu.edu

For more information about the University Archives and Southern Minnesota Historical Center, please visit our website.

RETURN to the inSIDER

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *