Courtney Chartier, Candidate for Council

Professional Experience: Head of Research Services, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives & Rare Book Library, Emory University, 2013–present. Instructor, Administration and Use of Historical Archives, Georgia State University, 2014–present. Assistant Head, Archives Research Center, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, 2010–2013. Project Archivist, Voter Education Project organizational records, Archives Research Center, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, 2009–2010. Project Archivist, Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr., collection, Archives Research Center, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, 2007–2009.

Education: Archives Leadership Institute, 2013. MSIS, Archival Enterprise, University of Texas at Austin, 2006. MA, Southern Studies, University of Mississippi, 2003. BA, American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 2001.

Professional Activities: Society of American Archivists: Chair, Host Committee, 2016; Member, Leadership Forum Task Force, 2012; Member, Annual Meeting Task Force, 2011–2012; Co-chair, Archivists & Archives of Color Roundtable, 2010–2012; Steering Committee, Issues & Advocacy Roundtable, 2009–2011; Webmaster, Issues & Advocacy Roundtable, 2009–2011. Society of Georgia Archivists: Listserv Manager, 2016–2018; Past President & Nominating Committee Chair, 2015; President, 2014; Vice-President & Membership Chair, 2013; Outreach Manager, 2010–2012; Scholarship Committee Chair, 2009. Academy of Certified Archivists: Nominating Committee, 2015–2016; Regent for Outreach, 2012–2014; Member, Certification Maintenance Team, 2012. Archival Practice: Co-editor in Chief, 2013–present.

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Question posed by Nominating Committee:

SAA is a member-governed organization that is composed of dozens of constituent groups with a variety of viewpoints. In recent years, SAA’s governance structure has strived to be more transparent and responsive in addressing member concerns. If elected, how would you help insure that the Council continues on this path and represents the broad interests of our diverse profession in a transparent manner?

 Candidate's Response:

Governance! Governance!

I was interested in running for Council specifically because SAA is moving in this direction. I have some experience serving on an executive board, particularly that of the Society of Georgia Archivists, on which I have served consistently since 2009 and to which I was elected President for the year 2014. Transparency is how organizations strengthen themselves by incorporating a non-stop loop of feedback, as well as how we can prove our value as an important professional resource for a new generation of members.

One of my great pleasures as President of SGA was to start a Strategic Planning Task Force. SGA had never had one before, and while the organization remained strong, our growth was not strategic, and not necessarily based on what members needed, but on what the Board identified as such. The Task Force created an outline of a plan based on priorities derived from years of member surveys, as well as metrics of how well current programs were used. I am very happy that this work was continued under the next President, and has the support of the incoming leadership as well.

Responsiveness is a two-way street, and something that we have struggled with in SGA as well. It does little to post pending decisions, send surveys and request comments when only a slim margin of your membership is willing to contribute their responses. It should be an ongoing goal for Council to find new ways to get member responses in every possible medium. Most of all, Council should cultivate an environment in which members feel both comfortable in contributing in a variety of ways, as well as compelled to do so.

I do have opinions about the transparency and responsiveness of SAA. We all do! But I also have a deep interest in being involved with our governance at this level. I find working with professional organizations, especially when I have the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of colleagues, to be fun and personally rewarding. I am committed to furthering the profession by volunteering to serve, and my skills and background are such that I know I would be successful as a member of Council. I was happy to be nominated for a number of reasons, including the fact that this is how I want to spend my time and energy for the profession. I’ll sum up my feelings to quote Homer Simpson, “Governance! Governance!” 

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