Section X: Roundtables
Guidelines for SAA Rountables
List of SAA Roundtables
Frequently Asked Questions
Guidelines for SAA Roundtables
I. MISSION STATEMENT
A. Serve as Advocate for Interest Around Which the Roundtable Is Formed
Roundtables focus attention on and give voice to the concerns that form the Roundtable’s particular areas of interest. Roundtables function as communities of interest engaged in generating ideas and meeting the intellectual interests of the membership in areas of topical interest. They focus expertise and interest in the professional functions and responsibilities to carry out the archival profession’s mission to identify, administer, and promote the use of records of enduring value.
B. Encourage and Provide Communication
Roundtables provide a forum for members to discuss matters of interest within the body. They also provide channels of communication from the Roundtable to the membership of the Society and to the Council on matters of concern to the Roundtable. As Roundtables may exist as online communities, communication may take place in the form of Roundtable electronic discussion groups.
C. Perform Work
Roundtables provide mechanisms for members to initiate activities of common interest and also review material referred to them by the Council for comment or action. Roundtables can formulate specific projects, for which task forces would be created to execute the projects. Roundtables give and institutionalize opportunity for members to focus, on a longer term basis and in a national forum, on specific matters of practical interest.
D. Integrate New Members
Roundtables provide a vital mechanism for new and prospective SAA members to become active in the work of the Society and for meeting members with common interests. Roundtables provide new members a chance to participate and to contribute to the work of the group and the Society.
Although it is expected that the core of a Roundtable is composed of Individual members of SAA, anyone may belong to a Roundtable. Because of this, Roundtables play a unique and significant role in recruiting new members to the Society. Roundtables are therefore required to compile records of attendance at the Annual Meeting on forms provided by the SAA Executive Office; these will be used by the SAA Executive Office for outreach purposes and to monitor the overall effectiveness of Roundtables in attracting new members to the Society.
E. Develop Leadership
The Roundtables offer opportunities to their members to take leadership in working with and for their colleagues. Through the years, a considerable number of the elected and appointed positions within SAA have been filled by persons who began their leadership roles in Roundtables.
II. GOALS AND AREAS OF ACTIVITY
Roundtables are charged to be active in four areas.
- They identify and consider issues in which a significant number of members have an interest. Members may investigate different facets of the issues, then report and discuss their findings during Roundtable meetings and through Roundtable mailings or electronic communications.
- They recommend to the Council, through memoranda or formal papers, an action or a position the Roundtable believes appropriate for SAA. The Council remains the policy-setting body for SAA, and only it can promulgate a formal position for SAA or any of its constituent bodies.
- They suggest program sessions for the SAA Annual Meeting and, with the advice of the Executive Director, plan Roundtable meetings for the SAA Annual Meeting. Representatives of the Program Committee will visit Roundtable meetings to present their early plans for the next meeting; to explain the program-building process, the pre-conference workshop possibilities, and the Roundtable endorsement process; and to advise Roundtables on how to submit well-crafted program proposals in collaboration with other SAA units.
- They communicate Roundtable activity within the Roundtable and to the Society at large.
III. RECOGNITION AND STANDING
A. The Council may establish Roundtables upon submission of a group’s application. The Council will consider the merits of each request in light of existing SAA groups and the specific statement of intent and goals of the applicant group.
B. New applications for recognition shall be submitted no later than January 1 for Council action before the next Annual Meeting.
C. Application shall be made by petition to include signatures of at least 50 SAA members, a publishable statement of purpose and goals of the Roundtable, and a statement indicating why a separate Roundtable would be advantageous to the Society.
D
. Roundtables that do not maintain an official membership level of at least 25 members and meet annual reporting requirements may be dissolved as an official SAA Roundtable after due notice and an opportunity for Roundtable officers to appeal.
E. Should a Roundtable decide that a more formal structure and greater degree of activity are necessary to carry forward its work, it may petition the Council to become a Section. Such petitions should indicate a plan of work for specific projects that can be carried out more effectively through the Section structure.
IV. MEMBERSHIP
SAA members may join an unlimited number of Roundtables. The SAA office will maintain and report on the official list of Roundtable members as an aid in allocating resources and tracking member services. Participation in electronic discussion lists is open to nonmembers of the Society.
V. GOVERNANCE
A. Roundtables will adopt and report to the Council a governance structure that is consistent with their need. Roundtable leaders will be elected annually. No person may serve as the senior leader of a Roundtable for more than three successive years. Only SAA members are eligible to serve as or vote for Roundtable leaders. Roundtables may conduct their annual leadership elections online. If a Roundtable chooses to do so, it must comply with the criteria and rules for Section elections.
B. The leaders of the Roundtable are expected to notify the SAA Executive Office promptly of newly appointed or elected leaders so that the official SAA leadership list (“saaleaderlist”) can be updated and mailings can be circulated properly.
D. Roundtable conveners will take office at the close of the SAA Annual Meeting.
E. It was never the desire in creating Roundtables to establish bodies that spend more time on the structure of doing business than on the discussion of archival issues within their fields of activity. Roundtables may operate as formally or informally as suits their needs; they are not required to draw up bylaws.
VI. ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
A. Roundtable conveners are required to report the name(s) of their convener(s) for the coming year to the SAA office within 14 days of the close of the Annual Meeting. Conveners are required to complete and file with the Executive Director an annual report within 90 days of the close of the Annual Meeting, regardless of whether the Roundtable convenes in conjunction with the Annual Meeting. (Download the report form.)
B. Failure to complete and file an annual report within six months of an Annual Meeting places the Roundtable in a probationary status and may result in a loss of Roundtable privileges. Failure to file an annual report within one year of the close of the Annual Meeting will result in a notice from the president of the Roundtable’s dissolution. Roundtables receiving such notice may file an appeal with the Council.
C. Roundtable annual reports, including the update of purpose and activity statements, will be published by on the Roundtable's website.
D. Roundtable conveners will be asked to acknowledge annually that they understand and will comply with the responsibilities of their position. The president or designee will contact Roundtable conveners annually by e-mail to request a response that they have read pertinent sections of the Council Handbook regarding their duties. The convener is responsible for acknowledging receipt and compliance with the annual notice of leadership responsibilities and for contacting the Council regarding all other issues of concern to the Roundtable’s members.
VII. ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS
The Society invites Roundtable leaders to work collaboratively and creatively with the Council and staff to allocate limited meeting space by suggesting alternative ways of gathering within and outside of the conference hotel. All Roundtables will be guaranteed either shared or dedicated meeting space at the Annual Meeting. Roundtables may be required to meet certain conditions in order to secure dedicated rooms and other resources, especially equipment, that may be available during the Annual Meeting.
A. Conveners will receive an annual notice from the SAA office on the availability of meeting rooms for Roundtables, with deadlines for responding. Roundtables that request a meeting room may be allocated shared meeting space at the Annual Meeting. The following criteria, among others, may be used to determine the allocation of shared space.
1. The SAA office receives a request for space by the deadline established by the Executive Director.
2. All reporting requirements for the previous year have been met.
B. Roundtable requests for a dedicated meeting room and/or equipment at an SAA Annual Meeting will be evaluated and determined by the Executive Director, in consultation with the SAA president as appropriate, from among the following criteria:
- The convener submits a timely request before deadlines published by the SAA office,
- The Roundtable has organized a special presentation or program that advances the Society’s strategic priorities,
- The Roundtable is engaged in a collaborative exercise with another Roundtable or Section,
- The historical and expected attendance are large enough to warrant dedicated space in order to accommodate members, and/or
- All annual reporting requirements for the previous year have been met, including the convener’s acknowledgment of leadership responsibilities.
C. New Roundtables are eligible for a dedicated meeting room at the SAA Annual Meeting for their first organizational meeting after approval by the Council.
D. Roundtables that are allocated dedicated meeting space at one Annual Meeting will not receive priority over other Roundtables requesting dedicated space at the next Annual Meeting.
E. Roundtables that do not meet at one Annual Meeting but that wish to reserve space at a subsequent meeting may request allocation of space without penalty.
F. SAA staff will report annually to the Council on Roundtable meeting attendance, the allocation of space and other resources at the SAA Annual Meeting, the official membership numbers of the Roundtables, electronic list subscribers and activity, compliance with annual reporting requirements, and other activity that will assist the Council in regularly assessing the status of Roundtables.
VIII. CONSULTATION WITH THE COUNCIL
A. The president will extend an invitation to Roundtable conveners to attend the annual Leadership Forum. Attendance for Roundtable conveners will not be mandatory.
B. Roundtables may submit requests directly to the Council through the SAA Executive Director. The Council is responsible for addressing Roundtable matters, making recommendations about Roundtable matters, and communicating actions concerning Roundtables to the conveners.
IX. COMMUNICATIONS
A. Roundtable conveners will provide to the SAA staff, and update as necessary, broad information on the goals, leadership, and activities of the Roundtable for display on the main SAA website. This information should be reviewed annually and used to orient incoming Roundtable leaders.
B. Roundtable websites, e-mail discussion lists, document workspaces, and online social networks will conform to Uniform Guidelines for SAA Websites and Online Communications.
C. Any mailings or electronic communications from Roundtable leaders to their members should also be distributed to the Council and the SAA Executive Office.
D. Announcements of employment opportunities shall appear only in SAA’s Online Career Center, not in any Roundtable publication or electronic communication. In this way the Society is able to fulfill its legal and fiscal responsibilities to 1) review and, if necessary, edit or refuse announcements that include discriminatory statements inconsistent with principles of intellectual freedom or the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its subsequent amendments; and 2) provide the services contracted for by the institutions and organizations that place ads and announcements in SAA publications.
E. The SAA office will contact conveners, in time for publication in the Annual Meeting program book, to request information on plans for the Roundtable meeting at the Annual Meeting.
X. FUNDING FOR ROUNDTABLE ACTIVITIES
A. SAA’s fiscal year extends from July 1 to June 30. Budget requests from Roundtables will be submitted as part of the annual report due to the Council within 90 days of the close of the Annual Meeting. A form is provided on which the Roundtable leadership describes the activity planned for the Roundtable and proposes a budget sufficient to accomplish it. The deadline will be strictly adhered to; budget requests received after the deadline will not be considered.
B. Funds allocated to a Roundtable during one fiscal year are not automatically carried over to the next fiscal year. If an allocation needs to be deferred to the next fiscal year, the Roundtable must formally request the carryover in its annual report.
C. Otherwise, in pursuing its work, a Roundtable (with the exception of its limited appropriation) is not authorized to spend any monies or commit any monies to be spent without specific authorization from the Council. Although exceptions can be made, the Council expects to appropriate money for activities of Roundtables through the regular budget process.
D. Roundtable conveners may submit special funding requests directly to the Council through the Executive Director.
E. If a Roundtable wishes to seek resources (whether in cash or in kind) from any source outside SAA, Executive Committee approval must be obtained in every instance before approaching the source. Proposals should be routed through the Executive Director, with sufficient time for consideration by the Executive Committee, which will respond within 30 days.
XI. USE OF SAA NAME, LOGO, AND AUSPICES
The use of SAA’s name, logo, and auspices for publications, meetings, mailings, websites, social networks, electronic communications, and other activities is available only through specific provision of the Council and shall conform to Uniform Guidelines for Use of the SAA Logo. Roundtables, although they are within the SAA structure, are not empowered to take action in the name of SAA, or request money in the name of SAA or the Roundtable itself, without specific prior authorization of the Council. This firm rule is required to protect SAA and its members from potential legal complications.
Revised: March 2007, February 2009, June 2009, August 2009, February 2010.
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