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.

Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Subcommittee

I. Purpose

The Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Subcommittee is responsible for ensuring that the Digital Archives Specialist curriculum remains up-to-date. Because the curriculum is likely to require frequent changes, the Subcommittee suggests and implements changes to the curriculum (including the examinations) as needed. In addition, the Subcommittee is responsible for ensuring the currency of the core competencies for a DAS certificate, overseeing the learning outcomes to ensure that they support the core competencies, and supporting the development of new courses.

II. Committee Selection, Size, and Length of Terms

The Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Subcommittee consists of ten members (including a chair) appointed by the SAA Vice President for staggered four-year terms. Each year, a vice chair will be appointed from among the upcoming second-year members and will serve as vice chair in the second year, as chair in the third year, and as past chair in the fourth year of her/his term. The subcommittee chair serves as an ex officio member of the Committee on Education. The SAA Education Director serves as an ex officio member of the subcommittee.

The membership of the subcommittee shall comprise a mix of practicing archivists with e-records/digital experience and or knowledge, teaching experience, technical skills, expertise covering the archival spectrum, and administrative or supervisory experience. Ideally, the subcommittee as a whole will reflect individual and institutional diversity. The majority of members must have a DAS certificate to serve on the subcommittee. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.

Outgoing committee members will be granted a two-year grace period to allow adequate time for the necessary requirements to maintain and renew their DAS Certificate. Subcommittee members may not sit for the DAS Comprehensive Exam during their term on the subcommittee and must wait at least two year after their term ends to sit for the exam. Courses for which a committee member serves as a course shepherd (i.e. liaison) do not apply toward DAS Certificate renewal.

Members can expect to spend four to five hours per month on subcommittee work.

III. Reporting Procedures

The subcommittee reports to the Committee on Education, providing updates at each meeting and intermittently as appropriate.

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

IV. Duties and Responsibilities

Assess and recommend changes to the DAS curriculum as needed.
Ensure the currency and relevance of the core competencies for a DAS certificate.
Oversee course learning outcomes to ensure that they support the core competencies.
Identify new topics for development.
Liaise with developers/instructors to ensure high-quality offerings.
Author the Comprehensive Examination and assure its integrity.

V. Meetings

When resources are available, the subcommittee meets up to two times each year and via monthly conference calls.

Approved by the SAA Council: May 2011
Revised: April 2012, January 2014, June 2016, February 2017, May 2017.

Graduate Archival Education (GAE) Subcommittee

I. Purpose

The Graduate Archival Education Subcommittee of the Committee on Education is charged with reviewing needs for graduate archival education, drafting and promulgating guidelines, and providing guidance to the Society in this area. The Subcommittee establishes its own agenda in conjunction with the Committee on Education, except as otherwise directed by the Council to perform specific tasks. Due to resource limitations, SAA and the GAE do not address accreditation issues.

II. Committee Selection, Size, and Length of Term

The subcommittee consists of six members (including a chair and vice chair) appointed by the SAA Vice President for staggered three-year terms. The vice chair is appointed by the SAA Vice President normally from among the subcommittee members serving in the second year of appointment. The vice chair assumes the chair in her or his third year on the subcommittee.

The membership of the subcommittee shall include five archival educators and a student or new professional, all selected with an eye to including expertise, perspective, and community input from around the profession. The chair may bring on ad hoc volunteers for expertise as required. The chair serves as a member of the Committee on Education and as a liaison to the Archival Educators Section.

III. Reporting Procedures

The subcommittee reports to the Committee on Education. The subcommittee chair or designee provides updates during Committee conference calls and attends the Committee’s in-person meetings.

The subcommittee works closely with the Education Director, serving in an advisory capacity on education-related projects and programs operated out of the Executive Office.

IV. Duties and Responsibilities

The Graduate Archival Education Subcommittee is charged with reviewing needs for graduate archival education, drafting and promulgating guidelines, and providing guidance to the Society in this area. Duties and responsibilities include:

Regularly assess the Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies (GPAS), publish appropriate revisions for member comment, and submit to the Standards Committee per the internal approval process;
Research existing programs in graduate archival education to create a comprehensive list;
Assist the Education Office with enhancing and maintaining the Directory of Archival Education based on the research;
Maintain contact with graduate archival education programs and other groups in related professions and organizations to explore opportunities for cooperative and mutually beneficial efforts;
Encourage communication about the role of continuing education in tandem with graduate programs, and communicate with SAA’s membership about the role of the Committee on Education in the world of graduate archival education;
Review and assess the full range of the profession's educational needs and the degree to which they are being met by existing educational opportunities, and make appropriate recommendations; and
Assist the Executive Office with issues relating to student chapters.

V. Meetings

The Graduate Archival Education Subcommittee meets via monthly conference calls and may conduct in-person meetings when a need is demonstrated and financial resources are available.

Approved by the SAA Council: November 2016.