Nominating Committee

I. Purpose

In accordance with the SAA Bylaws, the Nominating Committee selects a slate of candidates to present for membership vote; provides information about the slate of candidates for the SAA Newsletter; drafts questions for inclusion in the candidates' statements; prepares a final report; and reports the election results at the annual business meeting.

II. Committee Selection, Size, Length of Terms

The Nominating Committee is composed of five members who serve for one year. Three members are elected each year by the membership from a slate submitted by the outgoing Nominating Committee and from any petition and write-in candidates submitted by the membership. Two of the three second-year Council members are selected by lot at the spring meeting of the Council to complete this committee. The vice president/president-elect appoints the chair of the Nominating Committee in the event of a tie for that office, according to the procedures in Bylaw 5.A.

The immediate past chair of the Nominating Committee shall serve on the Committee on the Selection of SAA Fellows for a one-year term.

III. Duties and Responsibilities

The committee selects a slate of two candidates for each of the following offices: vice president/president-elect, three members of Council, and three Nominating Committee members. Two candidates for the office of Treasurer are chosen every third year.

Prior to the Annual Meeting, the chair obtains information from the SAA office and/or the SAA Archives regarding the preferential ballot, previous candidate slates, and election results. The Chair sends this information, along with copies of the Nominating Committee Guidelines and Information Sheets for Nominees to the other committee members. She/he also schedules committee meetings at the Annual Meeting, develops meeting agendas, and assigns responsibilities to committee members (e.g., to prepare lists of possible candidates or to contact various groups for suggestions).

The committee normally meets twice during the Annual Meeting. The first meeting, scheduled early in the week, should result in a slate of candidates for each office, a list of alternates, and a draft of the questions for the candidates' statements. (Because so much of the committee's work is completed during the Annual Meeting, if a Nominating Committee Open House is held, it should be scheduled early, perhaps prior to the first committee meeting, so that it can serve as an effective means for securing additional nominations.) The period between the two meetings of the committee is used by committee members to contact prospective candidates, inform them of the duties/ obligations of running for office, provide them with copies of the Information Sheet for Nominees, and secure commitments from as many of them as possible. The second meeting includes preparation of the final slate, the development of plans for contacting any candidates not yet committed, and approval of questions for candidates. A list of suggestions for nominations to be forwarded to the next year's committee also may be prepared at this meeting.

If alternate candidates must be approached after the Annual Meeting, the committee may reconvene by conference call. The final slate is circulated among the committee members for review, and the chair formally writes all candidates to confirm nomination prior to submitting the slate and list of candidates' questions to the Executive Director. The final slate is to be published in the SAA Newsletter. The SAA office handles the preparation and distribution of the ballot and arranges for the tabulation of election results by the Ballot Committee. The Executive Director informs each of the candidates of the results of the election.

The chair of the committee prepares a final report and submits it to the Council.

The chair reports the election results at the following annual business meeting.

IV. Criteria for Selection of Candidates

All candidates must be Individual members of SAA. Although no other formal criteria are listed for candidates, most committees strive for a balanced slate in terms of gender, geographical area, types and size of candidates repositories, and professional interests. The committee may wish to use past service on the Council as a requirement for selection of vice presidential candidates, and active participation in SAA as a requirement for candidates for the Council.

Approved by the SAA Council: June 1988. 
Revised: May 2022.