Council Minutes
August 16 & 20, 2005
New Orleans, Louisiana
President Rand Jimerson called to order the first Council session at 8:10
am on Tuesday, August 16, 2005. Present: Vice President/President-Elect Richard
Pearce-Moses, Treasurer Fynnette Eaton, and Council members Frank Boles, Mark
Duffy, Elaine Engst, Aimee Felker, Peter Gottlieb, Kathryn Neal, Christopher
Ann Paton, Peter Wosh, and Executive Committee Member Joel Wurl. Also present
were Elizabeth Adkins (2005-2006 Vice President/ President-Elect) and Ben Primer,
Carla Summers, and Sheryl Williams (elected to Council for 2005-2007), SAA
Executive Director Nancy Beaumont, Publishing Director Teresa Brinati, Education
Director Solveig DeSutter, and Member and Technical Services Director Brian
Doyle. Cheryl Pederson, president of ARMA International, joined the group from
3:00 to 3:30 pm. The first session was adjourned at 5:00 pm.
I. COUNCIL BUSINESS
A. Adoption of the Agenda
The Executive Committee moved and seconded adoption of the agenda, as amended
with addition of motions honoring Journal Editor Phil Eppard (III.H.2.) and
Membership Committee Chair Scott Schwartz (III.H.3.), as well as an agenda
item regarding Executive Order 13233 (III.H.4.). PASSED.
B. Approval of the May 2005 Minutes
The Executive Committee moved and seconded approval of the May 2005 Council
meeting minutes as written. Felker and Eaton corrected the minutes (line 564)
to indicate that they had abstained on a vote regarding OpenTheGovernment.org.
PASSED.
C. Review of the May 2005 Action Item List
Council members reviewed the items on the May 2005 Action Item List and provided
an update on completed and incomplete items.
II. REPORTS
A. Report of the Executive Committee
Wurl noted that since May 2005 the Executive Committee, as authorized by Council,
reviewed and approved three retention schedules for record series maintained
by the SAA Archives (at UW-Milwaukee).
The Executive Committee met via conference call on August 8, 2005, to discuss
several items. In response to a request from Trudy Huskamp Peterson that SAA
participate in a grant proposal to the U.S./Japan Friendship Commission for
funding of a travel exchange program on the subject of access, the Committee
asked Peterson to draft an outline of a grant proposal for Council review at
its January 2006 meeting. The group also discussed a suggestion that SAA issue
a response to Executive Order 13233 in light of the interest in the John Roberts
papers based on his nomination to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. This item
was placed on the Action agenda as item III.H.4.
In addition, the Executive Committee approved the following on behalf of the
Council:
Allocation of FY05 Net Gain
Approved motion: That the SAA Treasurer and staff be
approved to transfer the Society’s FY05 net gain of $129,325 as follows:
$73,000 to a Technology Fund for consulting, development of a request for
proposal, and initial costs of purchasing a new association management software
system; $20,000 to the Education Fund; $20,000 for the Publications Fund,
earmarked for Web publication unless otherwise released by the Executive
Committee or Council; and $16,325 to the General Reserve Fund.
Support Statement: This allocation of the FY05 net gain addresses
several of the Society’s needs in reinvesting in its infrastructure and
member services. SAA has a critical need to re-develop its membership database
and related systems in order to serve members more effectively and efficiently.
Allocation of $73,000 to a Technology Fund will enable significant progress
in this area, although this amount is not likely to cover all expenses associated
with a new system. Both Education and Publications have proven to be excellent
sources of non-dues revenue, and the allocation of $20,000 to each refreshes
those programs with development capital. In the case of Publications, the targeting
of funds to Web publication may also address SAA’s top strategic priorities
relating to “technology” and “public awareness.” Finally,
allocation of the remaining amount to the General Reserve Fund is consistent
with SAA’s goal of ensuring that the fund is adequate in case of emergency
or other critical need. With this allocation, the General Reserve Fund will
total $472,485.
Support of Federal Tax Legislation for the Donation of Literary
Papers
Approved motion: That SAA express its support for pending
federal legislation that would allow for the use of a fair market tax deduction
for the donation of self-generated works of literary value to non-profit
institutions such as archival repositories;
That the Executive Director be directed to communicate with her counterparts
in the Association of Art Museum Directors, the National Coalition for History,
and other organizations as appropriate to explore how best the Society can
support this effort collaboratively, including but not limited to letters
of support and advocacy; and
That the chairs of the Acquisitions and Appraisal and Manuscript Repositories
sections be asked to track legislative efforts on this issue, notify the
SAA Council if immediate action is needed or would be useful, and report
annually to the Council on the status of the legislation.
Support Statement: These recommendations were forwarded to
the Executive Committee from the Intellectual Property Working Group (IPWG)
and Council Liaison Mark Duffy. The IPWG requested that the SAA Council and
an appropriate body of SAA become actively involved in supporting pending legislation
that would increase the tax incentive for the donation of private papers as
part of the charitable giving exemption. This issue relates to the donation
of literary papers during the lifetime of the creator for a tax deduction at
fair market value. The legislation would benefit repositories that solicit
what is typically referred to as “literary papers,” a category
that would be broadly applicable to the archival acquisition of papers of political,
civic, and social figures as well as donations of belles lettres. Legislation
to this effect has been introduced as far back as 1999, but just recently independent
bills have been merged into identical House and Senate language. The acts (H.R.
1120 and S. 372) fall under the rubric of the Artists’ Fair Market Value
Deduction bills. The lead professional association on this issue has been the
Association of Art Museum Directors. A full description of their efforts is
found under Ongoing Issues on their website: http://www.aamd.org/advocacy/.
As is often the case, legislation that supports the humanities will undergo
a lengthy period of submission before a compromise bill can be ushered through
to passage. SAA may be able to add its voice to this continuing effort provided
that it can create a vehicle for sustained monitoring and advocacy.
B. President’s Report
Jimerson’s written report covered a variety of items, including the
following:
- A review of recent press coverage of SAA’s professional concerns,
including articles on military service records at the St. Louis Personnel
Records Center, Allen Weinstein and NARA, and the Theodore Kaczynski papers
case.
- A summary of recent advocacy efforts, including those related to the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA), National Historical Publications
and Records Administration (NHPRC) funding, the Kaczynski amicus curiae brief,
copyright issues, and the Cheney amicus brief.
- Recent interactions with other groups, such as the National Association
of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) and the Council
of State Archivists (CoSA, formerly the Council of State Historical Records
Coordinators), the National Coalition for History, and the American Historical
Association.
- Recent diversity-related activities, such as his attendance at the March
Diversity Committee meeting and his invitation to a local tribal archivist
to provide a welcome at the Opening Plenary Session of SAA’s 69th
Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
- And his involvement in various policy-related issues and tasks, such as
the search for a new editor of The American Archivist, task force
discussion of Program Committee endorsement guidelines, the Task Force on
Fundraising, strategic issues, and other matters.
Jimerson referred Council members to a written report prepared by Gary Peterson,
who represented SAA at a U.S. Copyright Office Public Roundtable on “Orphan
Works” in Washington, DC, on July 26-27, 2005.
C. Vice President’s Report
Pearce-Moses reported on the status of two items:
2005-2006 Appointments: The Society of American Archivists
is committed to diversity. The Society believes that its leadership should
look like its membership, its membership should look like the broader populous
it documents, and the records that its members collect should reflect that
populous. Council has asked for reports on the diversity of key groups within
the Society so that it can monitor efforts to ensure that the Society’s
activities are inclusive and reflect the membership of the Society as a whole.
To help ensure that all members were aware of opportunities for service, Pearce-Moses
authored an article encouraging volunteerism in Archival Outlook and
the Society mounted an application form on its website. Those applications
were the primary source of names. Pearce-Moses and the Appointments Committee
(Bruce Bruemmer and Helen Tibbo) added names to the list, especially when a
position had very specific requirements. More than 100 individuals submitted
186 applications (or were nominated) for 26 positions. Pearce-Moses provided
a breakdown of appointees by race/ethnicity, sex, repository type, and geographic
region.
“New Skills for the Digital Era” Conference: The
SAA Council has identified the impact of technology on the archival profession
as a strategic issue of primary importance. To help address this strategic
issue, Pearce-Moses, through his affiliation with the Arizona State Library
Archives and Public Records, is developing a conference to address the practical
skills that archivists must have to work with electronic records and other
digital materials. The conference will be open to all, although key individuals
will be targeted with personal invitations. The conference will be co-hosted
by the National Archives and Records Administration and the Arizona State Library,
Archives and Public Records. The Council has given its support, in principle,
to the development of this conference. SAA, CoSA, and NAGARA are sponsors.
The conference is tentatively scheduled for spring 2006 and will be held in
Washington, DC, and Phoenix.
D. Treasurer’s Report
Eaton led a discussion of the year-end variances between the FY05 budget and
actual income and expenses. She reported that the net gain for the fiscal year
(July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005) totaled $129,325 due to a healthy increase
in membership; successful implementation of the annual meeting, continuing
education, and publications programs; and a conscious and considerable effort
to contain costs. She then reiterated the rationale for Executive Committee
action to allocate the net gain to reinvest in the SAA infrastructure.
E. Staff Reports
Executive Director: Beaumont’s written report provided
updates on membership development (with a new high in membership of 4,169);
work in progress on the tribal archives grant from NHPRC; work in progress
on the IMLS grant for the A*CENSUS project; planning for the 2006 Joint Annual
Meeting with NAGARA and CoSA; and headquarters operations.
Education: DeSutter’s written report provided updates
on activities since May 2005, including the status of existing continuing education
programs, new programs under consideration for development, and a summary of
marketing efforts.
Publications: Brinati’s written report provided updates
on activities since May 2005, including the status of The American Archivist, Archival
Outlook, Employment Bulletin, and the 23 book publishing projects
that are underway in some form. She noted that sales for FY05 were robust in
comparison with budget due to the availability of new titles, and that FY06
would benefit from several new titles as well. She announced several conference
events related to periodicals and publications, including a book signing by
the authors of five recently released titles and an “Opportunities for
Authors Breakfast” to stimulate participation in the journal and book
publishing programs.
Annual Meeting: Beaumont’s written report noted that
all indicators were on target for the New Orleans 2005 meeting to meet or exceed
income projections. She reviewed a list of assignments for Council members
to visit with exhibitors and sponsors to thank them for their support at the
meeting.
Status of Association Management Software Project: Doyle’s
written report provided an update on the development of a functional requirements
document that will be issued as a request for proposal in late August. Duffy
asked whether staff has in place a mechanism to ensure that the list of prospective
vendors includes minority-owned businesses, and that prospective vendors are
asked about their diversity policies. Staff agreed that this information would
be included in the RFP. Wurl noted that it would be very helpful if the functional
requirements include our desire to ensure that election/nomination information
is available for the Nominating Committee, and that annual meeting program
content is somehow captured and shared with the Program Committee in a way
that the program structure can be analyzed.
F. Diversity Committee
Committee Liaison Joel Wurl noted that Lynda DeLoach has resigned as co-chair,
effective at the end of the New Orleans meeting, but will continue as a regular
member of the Committee for the duration of her appointment; that Committee
members will meet in New Orleans with many sections, roundtables, and committees
to discuss SAA’s diversity agenda and to open dialogue on possible diversity-related
activities and ideas; that Committee Chair Michael Doylen will provide a brief
report on the Committee’s progress at the 2005 business meeting; and
that the Committee will discuss planning for a Diversity Fair (featuring information
from archival repositories, projects, opportunities spotlighting diversity
themes) for the 2006 Joint Annual Meeting.
G. 2005 Program Committee Report on Diversity
The Program Committee, co-chaired by Elisabeth Kaplan and Kathy Marquis, provided
a written report in which it noted that:
- Committee membership included broad-based representation of the profession.
- The proposal selection process included a visual shorthand system for tracking
the balance of the program as it developed. Each proposal was identified
with multiple colored Post-Its TM. These indicated topics of particular interest
for various constituents (e.g., business archivists, religious archivists),
traditional archival functions (e.g., appraisal, electronic records), and
proposals that seemed to address central diversity concerns (e.g., ethnicity,
gender, GLBT issues, and newcomers to the profession). Endorsements from
sections and roundtables were carefully considered at this time.
- Michael Doylen, co-chair of the Diversity Committee, compiled a list of
eight sessions ultimately included in the program that were identified as
directly and explicitly addressing traditional diversity issues:
- HerStory: Trends in Women's History and Archives (#108)
- The Historical Black Colleges and Universities Archives Institute:
A Model for Archival Training (#205)
- Hidden Treasures: Strategies for Broadening Archival Access Via Visual
Materials Depicting Women and Minorities (#307)
- Pluralizing the Archival Paradigm: How Archival Education Can Help
(#405)
- A Sense of A*CENSUS (#407)
- Managing Diversity Programs in Archives (#509)
- Making "Us vs. Them" into "We": Resolving Conflicts
Between Institutions and Minority Groups (#602)
- Latinos in the Archives: Documenting a Community on the Rise (#702)
- In addition, several other sessions covered topics that have considerable
diversity implications. These included sessions concerning wartime preservation
of records in Iraq and the Balkans (#201), controlling human reproduction
(#207), records of truth commissions (#309), archival advocacy (#506), international
archival solidarity (#508), learning about Canadian archives (#601), and
documenting the Middle East (#606).
H. 2005 Host Committee Report on Diversity
The 2005 Host Committee, co-chaired by Alfred Lemmon and Leon Miller, provided
a written report noting the following:
- The Host Committee membership included representatives from two African
American institutions, Xavier University and Amistad Research Center. The
Host Committee desk was staffed by six representatives from those two institutions.
The tour volunteers included two representatives from those two institutions.
- In recommending possible tours, the Host Committee was aware of SAA’s
desire to ensure that the tours reflected the diversity of and within New
Orleans and environs. One tour was specifically aimed at the role of African
Americans in New Orleans history. Unfortunately, the tour was cancelled because
it had just three enrollees and thus could not support the costs associated
with a bus for the tour. Most of the tours included some diversity-related
components. On the plantations tour, for example, one plantation focused
on slave life and the other focused on construction by a free person of color.
- Articles about New Orleans published in Archival Outlook leading
up to the conference reflected diversity in both content and authorship.
- Lemmon was in contact with the SAA Diversity Committee for several months
prior to the conference as he worked to locate a Native American tribal representative
to provide a “welcome” at the Opening Plenary session. He ceased
the search when Diversity Committee member Marnie Atkins was able to locate
a tribal representative to provide a welcome.
I. 2006 Program/Host Committees Report on Diversity
The 2006 Program and Host committees provided very preliminary written reports,
acknowledging that each group is committed to ensuring that the 2006 meeting
reflects SAA’s commitment to diversity.
III. ACTION ITEMS
A. Journal Editor Selection Task Force (Executive Session)
In Executive Session, Journal Editor Selection Task Force Liaison Frank Boles
reported on the work of the task force and made the following motion:
MOTION
THAT the SAA Council accept the unanimous recommendation of the American
Archivist Editor Selection Search Committee that: both candidates
interviewed by the Search Committee are highly qualified for the position;
that the position be offered to X; that if, for whatever reason, X declines
to accept the position, the position be offered to Y; and that, consistent
with Council guidelines and assuming satisfactory performance, the appointment
will be from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2008.
[Moved by Boles; seconded by Eaton] PASSED (unanimously).
B. Fundraising Task Force
The Task Force on Fundraising created by the SAA Council in May 2005 met in
June to address the following Council charge: “To develop for Council
consideration in August 2005: 1) a compelling mission statement and/or purpose
for the Special Funds and 2) a proposed infrastructure for SAA’s fundraising
efforts.” Task Force members were the following: Jimerson, Pearce-Moses,
Eaton, Trudy Huskamp Peterson, Fellows Steering Committee Chair William Joyce,
Len Weitz (principal in the audit firm Mann, Weitz), and Beaumont. The Task
Force put forward four recommendations, of which only the following was adopted
by the Council:
MOTION
THAT the SAA Council authorize the regrouping of special funds for
accounting purposes, ensuring that due diligence is exercised while maintaining
the integrity of each fund based on the donors’ intent. The funds should
be consolidated or regrouped using one or both of the two schemes that follow,
based on the purpose of the communication:
By type of award:
- Prizes: Coker, Hamer-Kegan, Leland, Pease, Posner (all temporarily
restricted)
- Travel Awards: Holmes (temporarily restricted), Peterson
(permanently restricted)
- Diversity Awards: Pinkett (temporarily restricted)
- Scholarships: Ham (permanently restricted)
- General Funds: Publications, Education (possibly including
Norton Fund), Brack, Assistance (a proposed new fund—not yet created—that
would include individual or institutional, domestic or international) (all
Council-designated and all unrestricted)
By accounting category:
- Permanently Restricted: Peterson, Ham
- Temporarily Restricted: Coker, Hamer-Kegan, Leland, Pease,
Posner, Holmes, Pinkett
- Unrestricted: Publications, Education, Assistance (proposed),
Brack, Norton
Support Statement: In reviewing the status of each fund,
including its financial health and purpose, the Task Force developed two schemes
for grouping the funds in order to streamline their accounting and strengthen
the overall fundraising message. Either scheme would simplify the accounting
process, and both would require that due diligence be exercised in order to
ensure that donors and heirs agree with “collapsing” funds into
more general categories. “Unrestricted funds” are those that may
be used in their entirety for the general purpose to which they are intended. “Temporarily
restricted” funds are those that are restricted by the donor(s) as to
time and/or purpose). “Permanently restricted” funds are those
for which the principle is permanently restricted, and only the interest may
be used.
[Moved by Eaton; seconded by Wurl] PASSED.
Council members then discussed the need to establish a Development Committee,
and a subgroup of Council was asked to develop a motion for Council consideration
on Saturday, August 20. (See Agenda Item I.E.2.)
C. Program Committee Guidelines/Endorsement Process
Following the 2004 Annual Meeting in Boston, the SAA Council received a petition
(signed by 69 SAA members) asking the Council to do the following:
- Clarify the process by which sections and roundtables endorse session
proposals.
- Provide guidelines to Sections and Roundtables for endorsing sessions
and inform them how their endorsements will be used.
- Establish stronger guidelines for ensuring institutional and functional
diversity on the Program Committee, as reflected by the various Sections
and Roundtables.
- Publish the guidelines on the SAA website as standard operating procedures
to ensure that they are consistent from year to year and from committee to
committee.
- Incorporate guidelines into the Program Committee by-laws as appropriate.
In response, the Council created a Council task force to review SAA’s
guidelines for the Program Committee, particularly those related to the submission
process and the effect of section and roundtable endorsement of session proposals.
The following motion was put forward by the task force.
MOTION
THAT the SAA Council adopt the following procedures for section, roundtable,
and committee endorsement of annual meeting program proposals, for inclusion
in the Council Handbook, Section VII. Standing Committees and Boards, Program
Committee, Section IV.D. The procedures will be implemented beginning with
the 2007 Annual Meeting.
1. If a session proposer wishes to seek endorsement of her/his proposal from
an SAA group (section, roundtable, committee), the proposer should send a copy
of the proposal to the group before the Program Committee’s proposal
submission deadline, and preferably earlier to ensure that the group has adequate
time to review the proposal carefully. The “official copy” of the
proposal should be sent directly to the Program Committee. Endorsements should
be sent to the Program Committee separately and should be received within one
week of the published deadline for proposals.
2. Group leaders should send a list of endorsed programs (received from others
or generated within the group) to the Program Committee co-chairs within one
week following the published proposal deadline. This communication may be as
simple as a list of endorsed session proposals or may be a more detailed statement
of why the group thinks that the session is of particular value to the broader
Annual Meeting audience (because of the topics, the speakers, or some other
factor).
3. The Program Committee will consider groups’ endorsements as one factor
among other criteria when selecting proposals that together support the meeting’s
theme or the broader goal of providing a diverse program that meets the needs
of members. Endorsement(s) of a session do(es) not guarantee that a session
will be accepted for presentation.
[Moved by Felker; seconded by Duffy]
Following discussion, the following amendment was proposed.
AMENDED MOTION
THAT the SAA Council adopt the following procedures for section, roundtable,
and committee endorsement of annual meeting program proposals, for inclusion
in the Council Handbook, Section IV.D. The procedures will be implemented
beginning with the 2007 Annual Meeting.
1. If a session proposer wishes to seek endorsement of her/his proposal
from one or more SAA groups (section, roundtable, committee), the proposer
should send a copy of the proposal to the group before the Program Committee’s
proposal submission deadline, and preferably earlier to ensure that the group
has adequate time to review the proposal carefully. The “official copy” of
the proposal should be sent directly to the Program Committee.
2. Groups may not endorse more than two program proposals. Endorsements
should be sent directly to the Program Committee separately and should be
received within one week following the published deadline for proposals.
3. Group leaders must send their endorsements (received from others
or generated within the group) to the Program Committee co-chairs within
one week following the published proposal deadline. This communication may
be as simple as a list of endorsed session proposals or may be a more detailed
statement of why the group thinks that the session is of particular value
to the broader Annual Meeting audience (because of the topics, the speakers,
or some other factor).
4. The Program Committee will give appropriate weight to single and
multiple groups’ endorsements when selecting proposals that support
the meeting’s theme or the broader goal of providing a diverse program
that meets the needs of members. Endorsement(s) of a session do(es) not,
however, guarantee that the Committee will accept a session presentation.
Support Statement: The SAA Council wishes to establish a
simple process to allow groups within the Society to provide the Program Committee
with appropriate input on session proposals. Endorsements by groups are one
factor among many that the Program Committee considers during the process of
developing a balanced, diverse program. An endorsement by a group is not a
guarantee that a proposal will be accepted. Because the 2006 meeting is a joint
meeting with NAGARA and CoSA, it is appropriate to suspend this SAA-specific
process until the 2007 Annual Meeting.
[Amendment moved by Duffy; seconded by Felker] PASSED.
D. Archives and Archivists Listserv
Per a Council motion approved at the May 2005 meeting, Felker, Primer, and
Doyle formed an ad hoc task force to formulate a plan to relocate
the Archives & Archivists (A&A) Listserv, as requested by current coordinator
Robert Schmidt at Miami University. The task force also considered additional
listserv needs of various SAA units (i.e., staff, Council, committees, sections,
roundtables, etc.) that might be accommodated via a single list solution. Because
of the complexity of the issues, Council members agreed to provide general
reactions to several key questions and to defer more detailed analysis of the
issues to a small working group.
MOTION
THAT the working group that developed the report entitled “A&A
Relocation and Other Listserv Issues” (0805-A&AList-IIID) prepare
a recommendation for Council consideration based on further comparative cost-benefit
assessment, with a report to Council at its January 2006 meeting.
[Moved by Wurl; seconded by Duffy] PASSED.
E. Spotlight Award
In August 2004, Daria D’Arienzo and Diane Dimkoff, co-chairs of the
Awards Committee, forwarded to Council a recommendation for a new “Unsung
Hero” award. At their August 3 meeting, Council members raised some concerns
about the specifics of the proposed award, particularly that the award proposal
did not follow existing format for awards and that certain questions about
the award therefore remained unanswered. Pearce-Moses volunteered to re-draft
a motion that would change the name of the award and that would present the
award details according to the standard format so that the award could be evaluated
based on those details.
MOTION
THAT SAA establish the “Spotlight Award” to recognize
the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the profession
and of archival collections and whose work would not typically receive public
recognition. The nominee(s) should have made outstanding contributions to
the profession in one or more of the following ways:
- Participating in special projects;
- Exhibiting tireless committee or advocacy work;
- Responding effectively to an unforeseen or pressing need or emergency;
- Contributing innovative or creative ideas to the profession;
- Performing extraordinary volunteerism; and/or
- Quietly but effectively promoting the profession.
Eligibility: Individual archivists or a group of up to five
archivists who have collaborated on a project. Preference is given to archivists
working in smaller repositories, especially those without institutional support
for professional activities.
Sponsor and Funding: The Society of American Archivists,
by waiving Annual Meeting registration fees for up to five individuals.
Prize: A certificate and free registration to the Annual
Meeting occurring in the year in which the award is presented.
Selection Committee: The Subcommittee consists of three members
of the Society of American Archivists and one of the co-chairs of the Awards
Committee (ex officio).
Nomination Form: Download the form here.
Application Deadline: All nominations shall be submitted
to the Awards Committee by February 28 (or other date as announced) of each
year.
Support Statement: The Spotlight Award would honor a group
of “unsung heroes” whose work contributes significantly to the
profession but who may otherwise go unrecognized by the professional society.
As SAA faces critical challenges in the areas of diversity, public awareness,
and advocacy, this award could provide a stimulus to archivists to “act
locally” on behalf of the profession.
[Moved by Neal; seconded by Eaton.] PASSED.
F. Pinkett Award Criteria Revision
An advisory group of the Archivists and Archives of Color (AAC) Roundtable,
led by co-chairs Rose Roberto and Teresa Mora, asked that Council consider
revisions to the eligibility requirements for the Harold T. Pinkett Minority
Student Award, increasing the minimum grade point average for applicants and
limiting the award to graduate students.
MOTION
THAT the eligibility requirements for the Harold T. Pinkett Minority
Student Award be revised as follows, effective for the 2006 competition:
“Awarded to minority students, with preference given to full-time
students possessing a minimum scholastic grade point average of 3.5 while
enrolled in a graduate program focusing on archival management during the
academic year preceding the date on which the award is given.”
Support Statement: In the ten years that the Pinkett Award
has been awarded, all but one recipient has been studying archival management
at the graduate level. It is commonly perceived in academic circles that a
grade point average of at least 3.0, which is one of the eligibility criteria,
is far from exceptional in a graduate setting. Therefore, in order to ensure
the continued prestige of the Pinkett Award, the AAC Roundtable suggested that
the Council change the current minimum grade point average from 3.0 to 3.5
and limit the award to students at the graduate level. The revisions will help
to ensure that the pool of applicants for the Pinkett Award remains of high
quality without sacrificing the purpose of the award to recognize and acknowledge
students of African, Asian, Latino, or Native American descent who demonstrate
an interest in becoming professional archivists and active members of SAA.
[Moved by Neal; seconded by Paton] PASSED.
G. Section v. Roundtable Distinction
In response to a February 2005 Council discussion about the proliferation
of new roundtables and a concern that the distinction between sections and
roundtables is not well understood, Felker prepared for Council review a brief
discussion paper outlining the distinctions (or lack thereof) between sections
and roundtables, including membership requirements, focus, and provision of
staff support.
MOTION
THAT a task force of five individuals (two Council members and three
nonmembers of Council) be charged to examine the definitions, functions,
and purposes of sections and roundtables and present a report to the Council
at its January 2006 meeting.
Support Statement: Review of the Council Handbook reveals
a lack of clarity about the respective purposes and functions of, and the distinctions
between, roundtables and sections. The task force should look at such questions
as: What do we want the difference(s) to be? How can we make the structure
more effective in the future? What support will each group receive?
[Moved by Wurl; seconded by Neal] PASSED.
H. Additional Action Items
“Archives Week”
MOTION
THAT a task force be formed to draft a detailed project plan describing
the tasks and expenses necessary to implement an American Archives Week (or
Month) program, for presentation to the SAA Council at its January 2006 meeting.
[Moved by Pearce-Moses; seconded by Eaton] PASSED.
Resolution Regarding Executive Order 13233
MOTION
THAT the SAA Council reiterates its objections to the President’s
Executive Order 13233, which violates the Presidential Records and Materials
Act of 1978; and that Council authorizes the Executive Committee to explore
options for making this position publicly known, including the possibility
of forming or joining an alliance of organizations in bringing legal action
against Executive Order 13233.
[Moved by Executive Committee; seconded by Duffy] PASSED. [Eaton, Felker,
and Pearce-Moses abstaining]
Resolution Honoring American Archivist Editor Philip Eppard
Council members adopted by acclamation the following resolution honoring Philip
Eppard upon his retirement from the editorship of The American Archivist in
December 2005, and agreed that the award would be conferred upon Eppard at
the Annual Business Meeting on Saturday, August 20.
MOTION
SAA Council Resolution in Honor of Philip B. Eppard,
American Archivist Editor 1996-2005
Whereas Philip B. Eppard has furthered professional
discourse through his editorship of The American Archivist from 1996
to 2005; and
Whereas he facilitated the transition from quarterly
to semi-annual publication; and
Whereas he re-established a timely production schedule
for the journal; and
Whereas he balanced the content mix with theoretical
and practical articles and oversaw publication of theme issues on graduate
archival education, encoded archival description, and user studies; and
Whereas he harnessed new technologies to streamline
the editorial review process; and
Whereas at SAA Annual Meetings he hosted new author
forums and, together with editorial board members presented sessions on how
to conduct research projects and produce publishable papers from them; and
Whereas he brought a personal warmth to the editorship
that encouraged new authors to submit manuscripts to the journal; and
Whereas his sharp intellect and analytic perspective
enhanced the quality of the journal;
Therefore Be It Resolved That the Society of American
Archivists owes a debt of gratitude and expresses its sincere thanks to Philip
B. Eppard for advancing he professional discourse through his nine-year editorship
of The American Archivist.
[Moved by Executive Committee; seconded by Paton] PASSED.
Resolution Honoring Retiring Membership Committee Chair Scott Schwartz
MOTION
SAA Council Resolution Honoring Scott Schwartz,
SAA Membership Committee Chair 1996-2005
Whereas Scott Schwartz has served with distinction
for ten years on the Society of American Archivists Membership Committee, nine
years of which he has served as its chair; and
Whereas during his tenure the organization has experienced
increased membership; and
Whereas he has enthusiastically and passionately
supported the recruitment and retention of members through tracking and reporting
on membership statistics and trends and through the Key Contact Program, Mentoring
Program, Career Center, annual raffle and silent auction, and other development
initiatives;
Therefore Be It Resolved that the Society of American
Archivists extends its sincere gratitude to Scott Schwartz for his outstanding
leadership of the Membership Committee.
[Moved by Neal; seconded by Pearce-Moses] PASSED.
STRATEGY SESSION
Council members reviewed and discussed the work of the four subgroups assigned
to draft one-page statements on the priority issues, as well as reactions received
to date from the posting of the priority issues on the SAA Leadership List
and publication in Archival Outlook. Few comments had been received
by the time of the start of the Annual Meeting, but Council members were prepared
to present and discuss the issues at the Leadership Orientation and at all
committee, section, and roundtable meetings.
V. COUNCIL BUSINESS
A. Annual Meeting Coverage by Council Members
Jimerson and Beaumont reviewed Council members’ assignments for coverage
of committee, section, and roundtable meetings; encouraged attendance at the
Leadership Orientation and Conversation with the President sessions on Wednesday;
and discussed Council members’ visits with exhibitors and sponsors as
a means of thanking these “industry” partners for their ongoing
support.
B. Council Liaison Assignments
Paton reviewed the following liaison assignments:
Sections:
- Acquisitions and Appraisal—Duffy
- Archivists of Religious Collections—Duffy
- Business Archives—Summers
- College and University Archives—Primer
- Description—Primer
- Electronic Records—Duffy
- Government Records—Felker
- Manuscript Repositories—Williams
- Museum Archives—Summers
- Oral History—Williams
- Preservation—Paton
- RAO—Paton
- Visual Materials—Paton
Roundtables:
- Architectural Records—Felker
- Archival Educators—Wosh
- Archival History—Gottlieb
- Archives Management—Paton
- Archives and Archivists of Color—Neal
- Congressional Papers—Summers
- EAD—Primer
- International Affairs—Duffy
- Issues and Advocacy—Gottlieb
- Labor Archives—Gottlieb
- LAGAR—Primer
- Local Government Records—Gottlieb
- Lone Arrangers—Summers
- Metadata and Digital Object—Duffy
- Performing Arts—Williams
- Privacy and Confidentiality—Felker
- Recorded Sound—Paton
- Records Management—Duffy
- RLG—Neal
- Science, Technology, and Health Care—Wosh
- Security—Williams
- Visual Materials Cataloging—Summers
- Women’s Collections—Felker
- Women Archivists—Williams
C. Review of August 2005 “To Do” List
Council members briefly reviewed the Action Item List from the meeting and
Eaton indicated that she would send it to Council members within one week.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm. [Moved by Wurl; seconded by Boles]
Saturday, August 20, 2005
SAA President Richard Pearce-Moses called the meeting to order at 7:00 am
on Saturday, August 20. Present: President Richard Pearce-Moses; Vice President/President-Elect
Elizabeth Adkins; Treasurer Fynnette Eaton; Council members Mark Duffy, Aimee
Felker, Peter Gottlieb, Kathryn Neal, Christopher Ann Paton (Executive Committee
member), Ben Primer, Carla Summers, Sheryl Williams, and Peter Wosh; and staff
members Nancy Beaumont, Solveig DeSutter, and Brian Doyle.
I. COUNCIL BUSINESS
Pearce-Moses welcomed Adkins, Primer, Summers, and Williams as new members
of Council and the group conducted a “de-briefing” of the comments
and concerns that they had heard during the Annual Meeting.
Pearce-Moses briefly reviewed his ideas for how Council meetings should be
conducted, and then asked all Council members to share their ideas for improving
the mechanics of Council meetings.
Pearce-Moses then asked Council members to share with the group their preferences
for issues that they may wish to shepherd during their tenure on the Council.
II. ACTION ITEMS
Committee to Comment on NARA Strategic Plan
NARA has asked SAA to provide comments on the Agency’s soon-to-be-distributed
draft strategic plan. Pearce-Moses will issue a call on the Council listserv
for ideas about who might be asked to comment on the plan. Wosh asked that
Council members also be notified of what information NARA has asked for
and how responses might be formatted.
Development Committee
MOTION
THAT a Development Committee be appointed to draft a fundraising development
plan, for presentation to the Council at its January 2006 meeting, that shall
include the following:
- Evaluation of past fundraising efforts, including the work of the
2005 Task Force on Fundraising;
- Identification of categories of potential donors;
- Inventory of needs that reflect the Society’s mission;
- Recommended policies for the governance of development activities,
including naming of funds, endowment levels, and planned giving; and
- Identification of a consultant to assist with the plan.
[Moved by Summers; seconded by Eaton] PASSED.
III. STRATEGIC PLANNING
Pearce-Moses announced that he has asked Immediate Past President Rand Jimerson
to continue to lead Council’s strategic planning efforts. Council members
will discuss next steps via email during the fall.
IV. COUNCIL BUSINESS
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 am.
[Moved by Wosh; seconded by Adkins] PASSED.
Approved by the SAA Council on January 5, 2006.
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