Mike Bullington, Candidate for Council

Professional Experience: Senior Archives Manager, McDonald’s Corporation, 2005–present. Assistant Archives Manager, Kraft Foods, Inc., 1997–2005. Archivist, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, 1990–1997.Project Archivist, Kraft, Inc., 1987–1990.

Education: MS, American History, Illinois State University, 1989. BS, American History, Illinois State University, 1983.

Professional Activities: Society of American Archivists: Member, 1987–present; Chicago Host Committee, 2011 (Co-chair); Local Arrangements Committee, 2007; Business Archives Section, 2003 (Chair), 2007‒2008 (Vice President-at-Large).  Academy of Certified Archivists: President, 2009; ACA Board of Regents, 2008‒2011. Midwest Archives Conference: Local Arrangements Committee, 1997 (Co-chair); Local Arrangements Committee, 1992–1995; Program Committee, 1999 (Co-chair); Member, 1991; Archives Committee, 1995‒2003 (Chair). Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board/Illinois State Records Advisory Board: 2005‒2007 (Chair); 2001‒2007 (Member). University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library: State Archives Administration of China 2011 Delegation, Member.

Publications: Les 20 ans de l’ Academy of Certified Archivists: historie d’un engagement. La Gazette Des Archives No. 218 Anniee 2010‒2. Association Des Archivistes Francais.

* * *
 

Question posed by Nominating Committee:

How would you leverage your role on the Council as a liaison to various SAA groups to support their initiatives and encourage the general membership to present new ideas to the Council and be more engaged with SAA leadership?

Candidate's Response:

If elected to Council, I would be serving as a liaison for SAA component groups including sections, roundtables and working groups, many of which will be new disciplines to me. I will need to invest myself by listening, learning, and establishing relationships with their leadership and membership to serve as a strong advocate to advance and champion their ideas to the Council.

A trust bank needs to be built between myself and these groups to elevate the discussion beyond the surface. I believe that my trust bank has to be earned and once established it will allow me to best serve their interests. I will also need to keep abreast of news emanating from them through meeting attendance, literature review, and social media posts. To be most effective, I need to ask questions or serve as a “nudge” in responding to issues as they arise.

With an association of more than 6,200 archivists, the responsibility seems daunting to encourage the general membership to present ideas and be more engaged with leadership. My own interactions with members of the Council were established on an association between us. Our relationship could have been cursory, or more established, but the fact that I knew the individual made it easier for me to approach him or her with my issue. Unfortunately, I will never have the opportunity to meet and interact with the entire membership, but I would do my best to meet as many as possible.

Thinking outside the box, another idea is the structure of Council meetings. Agenda and meeting minutes are posted for review. Do they provide the membership with the impetus to interact with the Council? SAA might try a trial of live streaming Council meetings to the membership. Additionally, a membership commentary period could be built into the beginning of the meetings under this format.

2017 ELECTION HOME