Committee on Education

I. Purpose

The Committee on Education has four complementary purposes: 1) to assess the profession's educational needs; 2) to prepare and promote standards for archival education programs based in graduate schools; 3) to prepare and promote post-appointment and continuing education and training programs; and 4) to provide advice to the SAA Education Office.

The Committee on Education's work is based on the following assumptions:

• Education and professional development are essential to the continued advancement of the profession;
• As the profession continues to grow and change, continuing education programs must be addressed in a coordinated manner, ensuring that developments in all areas are based on a common understanding of the profession at all levels;
• Education and professional development offerings must be responsive to the forces and circumstances that could or should shape the profession; and
• Education and professional development should be a cooperative enterprise involving various participants, including SAA; other national, regional, and local archival organizations; graduate-level academic programs; employers; and related professional associations.

II. Committee Selection, Size, and Length of Terms

The Committee on Education consists of eleven members (including a chair, vice chair, and immediate past chair) appointed by the SAA Vice President for staggered three-year terms. The vice chair is appointed by the Vice President normally from among the committee members serving the second year of their appointment. The vice chair assumes the chair in his or her third year on the committee. Following their term as chair, the immediate past chair shall serve an additional one-year term as an ex officio member of the committee. The chair of the Digital Archives Specialist Subcommittee and the SAA Education Director serve as ex officio members of the committee.

The membership of the committee shall include a mix of archival educators and practicing archivists with expertise in one or more of the ACE categories and in continuing education development.

The vice chair of the Committee on Education serves as an ex officio member of the Theodore Calvin Pease Award Subcommittee of the SAA Awards Committee and as an informal advisor to the Students and New Archives Professionals Section.

III. Reporting Procedures

The committee reports to the Council, providing a formal written report in the fall of each year and reporting on special initiatives as necessary or requested.

The committee works closely with the Education Director, serving in an advisory capacity in education-related projects and programs operated out of the executive office.

IV. Duties and Responsibilities

The Committee on Education's charge is to review the needs for continuing education, assist the SAA Education Office in developing relevant programming, and provide guidance to the Society in this area. The tasks and responsibilities of the Committee include:

• Advise the SAA Education Director in:
  • Establishing directions and priorities for the Society's continuing education program; 
  • Monitoring the effectiveness of the offerings in light of professional needs and developments; 
  • Ensuring that the education programs are of high quality; 
  • Coordinating the work of the Education Office with other educational initiatives within SAA;
  • Compiling a list of educational opportunities.
• Review educational initiatives proposed and/or undertaken by other SAA committees and sections, as appropriate;
• Review and assess information provided by the Education Office, the Digital Archives Special Subcommittee, and the Graduate Archival Education Subcommittee on the full range of the profession's educational needs and the degree to which they are being met by existing educational opportunities, and make recommendations or undertake initiatives as appropriate;
• Advise the Council on conditions and developments that affect educational program needs;
• Maintain contact with educational offices / committees in related professions and organizations to explore opportunities for cooperative and mutually beneficial efforts;
• Revise and update Archival Continuing Education (ACE) Guidelines in accordance with policy, including publishing revisions for member comment and submission to the Standards Committee per the internal approval process.

V. Meetings

The committee meets at the SAA Annual Meeting. The committee shall meet monthly; additional mid-year meetings are scheduled depending on the availability of financial resources.

Approved by the SAA Council: August 2008
Revised: January 1992, January 1998, May 2005, August 2008, May 2011, November 2016, May 2022.