Established in 1957, the distinction of Fellow—the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA—is awarded for outstanding contributions to the organization and to the archives profession. Fellows must demonstrate and represent the highest qualities of the Society as articulated in the Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics.
Our Core Values include:
Access and Use
Accountability
Advocacy
Diversity and Inclusion
History and Memory
Preservation
Professionalism
Responsible Custody
Selection
Service
Social Responsibility
Social Justice
Nominees must demonstrate their “dedication, devotion, and faithfulness to archives and the archival profession.” Quantifying these qualities while also including initiative, resourcefulness, impact, and commitment may not be easy. However, through the process of nomination, we ask colleagues to contemplate and give voice to actions that portray an archivist’s “power to originate,” their “ability to overcome difficulties,” and how they excel in achieving the profession’s core values.
Candidates must qualify, illustrate, and exhibit impact in each of the following qualities/criteria:
Appropriate academic education and professional/technical training in any of the fields of SAA’s interest.
Professional experience in any of the fields of SAA’s objectives for a minimum of seven years, which shall include evidence of professional responsibility and leadership.
Contributions to the profession demonstrating initiative, resourcefulness, and commitment.
Outreach activities, projects, and scholarship of superior quality and usefulness demonstrating broad impact and contributing to the realization of SAA’s core values and strategic objectives.
Contributions to the archives profession through active participation in and efforts on behalf of SAA as well as contributions to the broader archival profession including regional organizations.
Nomination Requirements and Deadline:
All nominations must be completed online by February 28 of each year. Individual members, primary contacts of institutional members, student members, and associate members are eligible to nominate SAA Fellows.
In accordance with the SAA constitution, the total number of Fellows may not exceed five percent of the SAA membership as of the previous annual meeting.
Nominators with questions should contact the Chair of the Selection Committee.
To be elected a Fellow, one must have been a member of the Society in good standing for at least seven (7) years, consecutively or non-consecutively.
Overall recommendations:
Nominations must include a core narrative that provides a persuasive argument of how the nominated individual meets each of the criteria.
The nomination must provide convincing information in each of the qualities/criteria areas, although not all must have similar extent of evidence.
A recitation or list of activities, facts, or publications is not sufficient. Nominators must provide evidence of quality and impact.
At least three, but no more than five, letters of support from individuals who are familiar with the nominee’s work or contributions to the profession. Ideally each letter should address a different aspect of the nominee’s contributions to SAA and/or the profession. Letters may be written by individuals who are not members of SAA, but they must follow these guidelines.
The nominee’s resume or curriculum vitae.
Appropriate academic education and professional/technical training is strongly preferred in any of the fields of SAA’s interest.
Academic education: Please describe academic degrees in fields commonly used by institutions hiring professional archivists, including but not limited to history, public history, political science, library science, or archival administration. Coursework focused on archival competencies within that degree should be noted if it is not a more common degree for which such education would be anticipated to exist. If a nominee has a different degree, but one that is relevant to the content/context of their archival work, the nominator should explain the relevance of that degree (e.g., a degree in the sciences for someone working with scientific archives, a degree in the arts for someone working with performing arts archives, etc.). Individuals with other background or training are eligible for nomination, with the proviso that the nominator must very clearly explain qualifications that demonstrate the archival competency of the nominee.
Professional/technical training: Alternative sources of archival education that are offered by institutions/organizations providing training/educational opportunities with curricula drawing from accepted archival standards/best practices and taught by someone with archival competencies. Examples might include various archival institutes (e.g., Modern Archives Institute, Georgia Archives Institute, Western Archives Institute) and/or online or live workshops offered by SAA or regional archival organizations. (If these are the sole education/training for the individual, note the extent of training involved, e.g., number of events, extent/length of training.)
Professional experience in any of the fields of SAA’s objectives for a minimum of seven years, which shall include evidence of professional responsibility and leadership.
Demonstrable work with archival materials in any of the “core functions” of records management, appraisal/acquisition, arrangement and description, access, preservation, reference, or outreach. Experience need not be entirely “hands-on” and may include management or supervision of archival functions.
The Fellows award is specifically reserved for practicing archivists.[1] SAA has other awards that are more appropriate for those who were/are vendors of archival services/materials, major donors of archival records, researchers/historians/genealogists who have promoted or used archival materials (i.e., J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award) or administrators to whom archival programs report, but may not themselves have archival education/competencies, such as the Librarian of Congress, Archivist of the United States, heads of university libraries, state departments of archives and history or departments of libraries and archives, or SAA staff. Additionally, the SAA Council can choose, or it can be suggested to the SAA Council, to honor an individual archivist with a distinguished service award.
Contributions to the profession demonstrating initiative, resourcefulness, and commitment.
Insightful, intellectual, practical contributions that produce long-term impact on archivists and the profession including:
Program oversight, outreach activities, educational services and projects, writing, and scholarship of superior quality and usefulness that:
Contributions to the archives profession through active participation in SAA and innovative or outstanding work on behalf of SAA.
Participating in SAA governance activities including:
And making outstanding contributing to activities on behalf of SAA, including:
See a sample nomination form and support letter (.pdf) here.
Nominations should provide all the information necessary for evaluating the nominee. The evaluation should focus on the quality, quantity, and applicability of the nomination to the criteria. The evaluators should not “fill in” evidence that may be missing. This helps ensure that all nominations are evaluated from a common perspective. Evaluators may or may not personally know or be closely familiar with a nominee and their professional career, so in any given year, those who are on the evaluation committee could influence a decision if factors not included in the nomination are part of the assessment.
Focus of the award is for service to the Society of American Archivists. The nomination needs to demonstrate that the individual has made sufficient contributions to the Society to be named an SAA Fellow. This is an award that honors outstanding contributions through active participation in and efforts on behalf of SAA as well as to the broader archival profession. This is not an award for outstanding contributions to the archival profession nationally or in a region or state without demonstrable contributions to SAA as well. While a nominee’s activities in other venues strengthens the evidence in some of the criteria areas, they do not replace evidence of service in SAA. There are individuals who may be “well-known” but have not participated in the functions and activities of SAA. Such individuals may be appropriate for other awards such as the J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award or distinguished recognition from the SAA Council.
Nominations should demonstrate the nominee meets all criteria. The nomination should demonstrate both how the nominee meets criteria as well as explaining the strengths and impact of their contributions. The nomination should not simply list those items, but explain in a clear and compelling manner how they are superior or exceptional. Nominees will likely have more contributions in some areas compared to others; the final decision to approve a nomination should be based on the whole of contributions demonstrating a significant overall contribution, while meeting the requirement of contributions in each criterion.
Letters provided should demonstrate the quality of the nominee’s contributions. Letters may come from a range of individuals including professional colleagues, individuals in other professions or communities, and users who have worked with or benefited from the nominee’s efforts. These letters do not need to be from Fellows, Past Presidents, or those who might be perceived as having status in SAA. The purpose is to demonstrate the quality of the nominee’s contributions, not restate how the individual meets the criteria.
Comparability of assessment. In evaluating each nomination, evaluators should strive to ensure that their assessments are consistent and comparable between nominations. An evaluator’s knowledge of an individual’s career, or their particular area of expertise and professional focus, should not lead to a more (or less) favorable assessment.
Recusal. Evaluators should recuse themselves from evaluating a nomination when they have a direct working relationship or other professional or personal relationship that may be perceived as too close for objectivity. This might include an individual’s supervisors, supervisees, partners in current or recent professional positions, or partners/spouses or other close relatives. Recusal by any member of the evaluation committee is not a negative factor for the evaluation, but reflects the intent to ensure fair evaluation for all.
[1] Practicing archivist includes any role that involves direct involvement with archives, such as managing an archives, working as an archivist, or providing archival education.
[2] Promotional materials include the use of social media tools, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc., to advance the archives profession in innovative and creative ways.
Preview the nomination form and/or create an account to start a nomination. All nominations must be submitted by February 28 of each year.
Revisions approved by the SAA Council, March 2020.
| Attachment | Size |
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| Sample Nomination_SAA Fellow.pdf | 1.38 MB |