Council
Minutes
August 23, 1999
President Luciana
Duranti called the meeting to order at 8:39 a.m. Present was Vice President
Thomas Hickerson, Treasurer Robert Sink, and Council members Valerie Browne,
Fynnette Eaton, Anne Gilliland-Swetland, Dennis Harrison, Peter Hirtle, Karen
Jefferson, Jane Kenamore, Helen Tibbo and Wilda Logan Willis. Also present was
incoming Council member Mark Greene and Executive Director Susan Fox.
Adoption of
the Agenda
Hirtle moved
adoption of the agenda as modified by the Executive Committee. Eaton seconded.
PASSED.
Approval of
minutes of the June 1999 Meeting
Hirtle moved
approval of the minutes. Eaton seconded. PASSED.
Report of
the Executive Committee
Hirtle reported
on electronic transactions by Council and the Executive Committee since the
last Council meeting. The Executive Committee approved participation with the
American Association of Museums and the Association of Research Libraries on
a proposed planning grant to increase diversity within the professions. The
Executive Committee also approved using SAA=s name in a proposal developed by
Duke University to the Delmas Foundation in support of travel expenses for the
EAD Working Group.
Report of
the President
Duranti reported
on the appointment of members to the Task Force on Continuing Education (Richard
Cox, Chair; Paul Conway, Susan Davis, Tim Ericson, David Haury, Bill Landis,
Wilda Logan Willis, Reneta Webb). Because of lack of feedback requested from
sections on the issue of NARA=s Naval Research Laboratory Records, Duranti appointed
Gilliland-Swetland to represent SAA in the matter.
Report of
the Vice President
Hickerson reported
on his committee appointments. He said that SAA had been asked to participate
in a University of Maryland Electronic Records Conference. Hickerson moved and
Eaton seconded the motion that SAA participate in the proposal and planning
process with the University of Maryland, with the idea that SAA would be a co-sponsor
of the meeting. PASSED. After a discussion regarding which other organizations
would be asked to co-sponsor and about the intended audience for the conference,
Tibbo agreed to represent SAA on the conference steering committee.
Report of
the Treasurer
Sink said he
would address three areas: an update on the budget, a review of his presentation
to the business meeting regarding the dues increase, and a report on a conversation
he had with Hickerson regarding fundraising for the Society.
He said there
was not much new to report on the budget, since SAA was only in its seventh
week of the new fiscal year. He did, however, have the final FY99 figures, which
showed SAA with a surplus of $12,632, which would be added to the reserve fund.
If the Society had fully budgeted for the reserve, however, the budget would
have reflected a deficit of approximately $22,000.
Hirtle asked
about the reserve fund policy. Sink said that the auditors were preparing an
recommendation for Council about what they consider to be a proper reserve fund
policy.
Sink said he
wrote a column for the May/June issue of Archival Outlook explaining the necessity
of a recommended dues increase. The column was also posted on the website. He
received no comments. When he posted the recommended increase to the SAA leadership
listserv he received two comments, both of which said they were persuaded by
the need. He said he would hold an Aopen house@ during the annual meeting to
solicit further comments.
Hirtle said he
thought the dues increase should have an inflation factor built in so that it
wouldn=t have to come to the business meeting every time.
Sink then reported
on fundraising planning. He said it was important to look at fundraising as
a broad category, from the current situation of an annual appeal to what might
ultimately become a capital/endowment campaign. What was needed was a survey
of the landscape of possibilities. The first and most important step was to
develop a philosophy of support for SAA among membership. That step was enhanced
greatly by the fact that to date six Council members had contributed over $1,000
since the last Council meeting in June when Council passed a resolution supporting
100% Council participation in the fundraising campaign. He said there was conflicting
opinion on Council regarding the issue and he had had conversations with those
individuals. The Executive Committee discussed the issue and reiterated support
for the new policy. Nonetheless, future Councils would have the opportunity
to revisit the issue if they so desire. The issue that came to the fore was
the concern that the requirement not in any way put a barrier on any member
wishing to agree to run for Council. Sink said that it would be important to
emphasize to prospective nominees that there was no set dollar figure of support,
it could be $1 or $5. If, however, the Nominating Committee found a candidate
that could not meet that requirement (for example, a member of a religious order)
then another Council member could step in and contribute in that person=s name.
Browne expressed
high discomfort with the requirement, especially for the Council members coming
on who did not know about it beforehand. She feared it would make it difficult
for the Nominating Committee to recruit candidates.
Tibbo said people
who belong to boards of directors are commonly asked to contribute to the organization.
The difference in this case was that the SAA Council was not a philanthropic
board. Administrative boards are often not asked to contribute and by
doing so Council might be mixing apples and oranges, especially because SAA
did not have a foundation to serve the development function.
Hickerson said
he saw it very differently. What Council voted on was the fact that it was in
favor of a fundraising campaign for the Society, and that Council, to feel open
about soliciting from colleagues, would need to say, Awe have given.@ Previous
Councils had had this in place. If Council wanted to vote in January to rescind
the resolution, it certainly could do that. But this was an effort to create
cohesiveness, a mutual agreement. He suggested that was the spirit in which
the resolution was adopted. The minimum really is a minimum, $5 or less.
Jefferson said
it would be possible to have Council vote every year to support 100% participation
so that each Council member could confirm or reconfirm their commitment. This
approach would reaffirm the concept and bring the new Council members up to
speed on fundraising and expectations.
Greene concurred
that each new Council should have a formal opportunity to revisit the donation
issue. He was uncomfortable with the requirement because it seemed to overlook
the out of pocket expeneses that most Council members already made above and
beyond their normal membership expenses, such as extra days at the annual meeting
and the cost of travel and lodging for one of the two additional Council meetings.
Shouldn=t these personal expenses, made to further the work of SAA, be considered
donations? To then ask Council members to contribute more seemed excessive.
Sink said he
thought it was important to ask Council to contribute to the annual giving campaign
because philosophically it would be difficult to ask people to give when leadership
did not. SAA=s success was the volunteerism of membership. Many members gave
in many ways, both in time and money. Council needed to take the lead with 100%
participation. It wasn=t the amount that was important, it was the fact that
Council needed to take the lead. It was also important that no one be prevented
from running for Council because of this expectation.
Hickerson noted
that Council voted to raise the profile of fundraising within SAA, of doing
a better job of encouraging participation. He said it was entirely possible
that at every winter Council meeting resolutions would be offered to suspend
actions or motions of prior councils. He saw it as important, however, to introduce
the concept of a philosophy of support SAA.
Hirtle returned
to the FY2000 budget and noted how close to the line SAA operated, especially
given the fact of the recent economic boom had buoyed the economy overall. He
applauded the recent institution of program area cost accounting, which he said
would allow Council to make informed decisions about resource allocation and
possible downsizing.
Hickerson said
the new strategic plan would help Council focus on priorities when looking at
cost centers.
Duranti stressed
it was important for SAA to be involved in research so it could identify new
intellectual resources, such as EAD. One big problem with the dissemination
of research, she said, was how slow the process was within SAA, especially with
Scarecrow Press. She said SAA should be firm in participating in groundbreaking
research, but should engage a faster production cycle. A book with Scarecrow
took three or four years to be published. By the time a reader had a book in
hand everything in it would be out of date. Duranti recommended that Council
communicate to the new Scarecrow Press editor this displeasure and, if no action
occurred to rectify it, find another publisher.
She said the
key issue of how SAA identifies areas important to the profession and makes
money for the profession raised interesting questions about how to internationalize
the practice. Gilliland-Swetland said it was also tied to SAA=s image as a leader
in the profession. If the Society was able to establish that foothold, it would
attract more professionals.
Report of
the Executive Director
Fox gave an update
on the statistics for the annual meeting. She said that she expected over 1,000
people to attend and noted that for the first time ever there were no canceled
tours. She reviewed key annual meeting events that required Council attendance.
She then gave
a brief report on her research into implementing a system of monthly or quarterly
automatic credit card deductions of member dues. After posting a query to the
Association Executive listserv and speaking with individuals in allied associations
she determined that those associations who use automatic deductions were able
to do so because their banks provided the service to larger associations as
an added incentive to do business with their bank. SAA keeps most of its funds
in interest bearing money markets (Merrill Lynch) and used the bank as a pass-through
account only. Therefore, the bank had little incentive to offer the service
free of charge. The fees for implementing the service were very high and would
have to be recovered as an added service charge which would, in turn, be a disincentive
for members who might wish to take advantage of it.
Fox concluded
her report by noting that she had a demonstration CD of the newly redesigned
SAA Web site due for September launch. She encouraged Council members to borrow
the CD to see the many improvements in store.
Council Committee
on Committees
Gilliland-Swetland
reported that the EAD Working Group had applied to have EAD become an SAA standard.
The Standards Committee had reviewed the application and would send it on to
Council with a recommendation that Council approve the request.
Conference
Call with the Archivist of the United States
Archivist of
the U.S. John Carlin joined the Council meeting via speaker phone, as did his
colleagues Lewis Bellardo and Lori Lisowski. Carlin apologized for not being
able to attend the Council meeting in person, explaining that August was always
peak season in the federal budgetary process, which necessitated a conference
call. He said he was looking forward to coming up to the annual meeting in a
few days= time. He then described the budget and appropriations process in some
detail, expressing optimism for a positive outcome for the agency.
Council engaged
in a brief status report discussion with Carlin on issues of declassification,
archival education, the definition of an archivist, and data standards.
Duranti thanked
Carlin for his time.
Committee
on Sections and Roundtables
Jefferson said
she would be meeting with the Business Archives Section at their request to
discuss issues of concern that had built up over the year. Hickerson and Sink
said they would join her at the meeting.
Committee
on Task Forces, Boards, Representatives
Council engaged
in a general discussion about the pros and cons of having a Standards Committee
liaison from each section and roundtable. The Standards Committee expressed
a need to filter incoming standards so that only those with explicit archival
impact are distributed for comment. Council concluded that Kris Kiesling, incoming
Standards Committee chair, should be asked to propose a restructuring of the
committee. Council also decided to solicit feedback from sections and roundtables
about the idea of establishing a formal liaison with the Standards Committee.
Willis gave a
brief report on the plans of the Task Force on Continuing Education to meet
with CEPD and others during the annual meeting.
Jefferson inquired
about Council=s intentions for the recommendations from the Task Force on Diversity.
She said SAA needed some kind of reporting mechanism on diversity issues. Even
though Council adopted a position statement, it was important to communicate
the true nature of the Society=s commitment to diversity. Perhaps an annual
progress report from the Vice President, President, or Executive Director? Have
units include diversity issues in their annual reports? She opened the floor
for discussion.
Browne thought
it was important to build diversity into the new strategic plan. Gilliland-Swetland
said SAA should publish brochures in Spanish. Greene said CEPD was gathering
information on archival publications in other languages as a resource. Duranti
said that Lodilini had been translated into Spanish, perhaps SAA should add
this to the publications catalog.
Willis saw a
need to address diversity on SAA committees, such as the Program and Host Committees.
Perhaps a session on how to develop program proposals was needed in order to
encourage more diversity.
Sink said he
saw that promoting diversity was Council=s job and an important first step before
soliciting reports and engaging in evaluations. Council needed to develop a
statement that could be read to all groups, reiterated at various fora. He recommended
thinking in terms of promotional steps before thinking in terms of reporting.
Hickerson said
what was needed was an objective for the new strategic plan that would help
develop select criteria that would need to be reported upon as representative
of SAA=s diversity efforts. He saw a need for a specific agenda item on activity
lists.
Archives List
Advisory Committee
Greene and Pearce-Moses
agreed to serve on the Committee, with Eaton as Chair. Fox said she would add
the committee to the leadership list.
Fellows Focus
Group
Eaton said that
all Fellows asked to participate in a Fellows Focus Group agreed, and that she
and Jim Fogerty
were looking to identify how the funds would be used and would be soliciting
ideas from the group about what kind of fundraising event to plan for Denver.
Old Business
Hickerson introduced
the proposal from the Academy of Certified Archivists to establish a Commission
on the Future of the Archival Profession. He said he was generally supportive
of it, but he thought it could be stronger if developed as a joint proposal
between SAA and ACA.
After general
discussion, Tibbo and Kenamore agreed to work with ACA President David Gracy
in developing the proposal for submission to the NHPRC. Council agreed that
SAA desired that the study not establish a permanent Commission, but that it
be established to perform the study an to explore how best to accomplish research
in the field. SAA participation in the commission should be in equal partnership
with other participants. The funding could be administered through the SAA central
office and would be used to hold meetings, hire research, and publish results.
The proposal should include an invitation for NAGARA, the Association of Canadian
Archivists, and other allied associations to also participate.
Sink recommended
that enhancement of the role of graduate archival educators should also be built
into the proposal as a resource or to be in specific reference. In other words,
have at least two graduate archival educators serve on the commission.
Hirtle said he
was concerned that the draft proposal expressed goals which went beyond the
Academy of Certified Archivists mission as a certifying organization and blurred
into the SAA organizational mission. He said he was uneasy that SAA might be
aiding the ultimate development of yet another competing organization.
Greene introduced
a draft letter to the Senate objecting to proposed legislation, S.217, a bill
to amend the IRS Code of 1986 to remove the ambiguity of the tax consequences
of donating personal papers to libraries and archives. After discussion of the
pros and cons of the proposed legislation and its impact on the profession,
Council recommended that Greene revise the letter to make explicit SAA=s belief
in equal access to materials.
New Business
Hirtle moved
that Fox update the Council Handbook to reflect the idea that the President
serves in ceremonial capacity throughout the annual meeting but that the new
Council and officers take office officially at the close of the annual business
meeting. Eaton seconded. PASSED.
The meeting adjourned
at 4:52 pm
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