Assumptions Concerning the SAA Continuing Education Program

Report to Council of the Society of American Archivists Task Force on Continuing Education

APPENDIX FOUR

—Tim Ericson, September 8, 1999

1. Continuing is a valuable member service in which SAA should continue to be involved.

2. In the traditional SAA context, "continuing education" has been defined almost exclusively in terms of workshops and seminars.

3. The SAA continuing education program has traditionally been viewed as a potential revenue source as well as a member service.

4. In actuality, the SAA continuing education program has NEVER been a revenue source and has never even broken even.

5. SAA's most notable successes in continuing education have come as the result of grant funding. (e.g. Basic Concervation, Administration of Photographic Collections, MARC AMC, Library Descriptive Standards, Case Studies Series)

6. The SAA continuing education program has focused its attention on meeting the needs of SAA members rather than meeting the needs of "the profession" in a broader sense.

7. The SAA continuing education program has traditionally tried to address both "basic" and "advanced" needs that archivists have.

8. Financial imperatives confronting the SAA continuing education program have resulted in more attention being paid to short-term goals (ie. the delivery of workshops) rather than long-term goals (ie. planning, data data gathering, long-term evaluation).

9. Traditionally the SAA Annual Meeting has been a primary venue for continuing education workshops and seminars.

10. In past years the SAA has offered continuing education activities either in conjunction with regional associations, as "stand alone" workshops (ie. the business archives workshop) or at specific locations in response to requests by employers or institutions.

11. The SAA has only recently begun to offer new continuing education options such as electronic distance education courses.