In the Beginning ...
In
November 1955, twelve
Records Administrators from various New York
Corporations and City Government Agencies founded the Association of
Records Executives and Administrators (AREA), a non-profit organization
chartered to facilitate the exchange of records management information.
The new organization provided record keepers with a forum to discuss
their record keeping concerns, namely the organization, maintenance,
retrieval, preservation, and destruction of information.
Around
the
same time, another
group, the American Records
Management Association (ARMA), was formed for the same purpose. AREA
and ARMA merged in 1975, thus creating a new organization, the
Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA). ARMA
International continues to be a leader in the field of records and
information management by providing educational programs and
opportunities, as well as a forum for networking among records and
information management professionals.
Because
the
earlier American
Records Management Association
had a defined educational purpose, a tax exempt Education and
Scholarship Fund had been created in January 1973. The application for
tax exempt status stated that the Fund was being created for the sole
purpose of granting scholarships to individuals enrolled full time in
an institution of higher learning and following a course in the field
of records management. This restriction ultimately became a major
drawback, since it severely limited how the Fund could be used and,
thus, made it difficult to promote contributions.
A broader
role...
By
the
mid-1990's, the Board
of Directors of ARMA
International realized that the Education and Scholarship Fund did not
meet the needs of individual ARMA members, chapters, or the field of
records and information management. Consequently, at the January 1996
meeting of the Long Range Planning Committee, a report of the
Educational Delivery Systems Task Force, which recommended that ARMA
pursue changing the Education and Scholarship Fund to an exempt
501(C)(3) organization (a Foundation) was accepted. This change would
broaden the funding opportunities beyond the very limited scholarships
available for full-time students in approved program schools.
A
motion to
create a
Foundation was presented to the ARMA
Board of Directors at their meeting in March 1996. The motion passed
and steps were immediately undertaken to investigate the dissolution of
the original Fund and the creation of a Foundation.
A foundation is
created...
The
ARMA
International
Educational Foundation, which was incorporated
August 11, 1997, received its 501(C)(3) tax-exempt status in January
1998. The Foundation is an outgrowth of ARMA International. The
Foundation will help to define the future of records and information
management by funding educational opportunities and instruction to
individuals for the purpose of improving and developing their
capabilities in the area of records and information management; funding
scientific research in records and information management; and awarding
grants, scholarships and fellowships to individual students and
educational institutions to further promote and develop records and
information management.
