Call for Nominations for 2013-2014 AHRT Leadership

Date: June 26, 2013

To: SAA Archival History Roundtable (AHRT)

From:  Charles Dollar & AHRT Steering Group (SG)

Subject: Nominations for AHRT Chair and Vice-Chair and three (3) Members of the AHRT Steering Group

In behalf of the AHRT SG (Melissa Gottwald, Su Kim Chung, Maura Kenny, and John Legloahec) I am pleased to report that the referendum to approve the AHRT Bylaws received no negative votes so the SAA Staff will review the Bylaws and submit them to the SAA Council for approval in early August.  The text of the Bylaws was adapted from the text of Bylaws of another Roundtable that the SAA Council already has approved, so we are confident that the SAA Council will approve the AHRT Bylaws.  We all are indebted to Melissa Gottwald for her leadership in advancing the AHRT Bylaws.

 Section IV of the new Bylaws identify AHRT Officers and the procedures for annual election.

IV. GOVERNANCE.

A. Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is composed of five core members, including the officers (Chair and Vice-chair). The Steering Committee directs and coordinates activities of the roundtable and approves appointments recommended by the Chair. Committee members help establish projects to work on through the year and plan the annual roundtable meeting. A member of the Steering Committee shall take minutes at the annual roundtable meeting and assist the Chair in editing the minutes to be posted on the Archival History Roundtable website.

Non-officer Steering Committee members make a commitment to serve for one year, with a limit of three successive years. An individual who has served three successive years may be elected to the Steering Committee again after a break of at least one year. A non-officer Steering Committee member who is elected to the position of Vice-chair may serve the full two-year term (one year as Vice-chair and one year as Chair) regardless of how many successive years (up to the three-year limit) the member has served on the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee shall appoint any other vacancies to fulfill unexpired terms of elected positions, after which a normal election shall occur.

B. Officers. The Chair and Vice-chair serve as officers of the roundtable. The Vice-chair shall be elected annually for a two-year term, serving in year one as Vice-chair and in year two as Chair.

Officers make a commitment to serve for the following time periods: Vice-chair—one year as Vice-chair, plus one year as Chair; Chair—one year. If for any reason the Vice-chair is unable to serve as Chair for the year following his or her term as Vice-Chair, a new Chair shall be elected in the annual election.

C. Duties of Officers. The Chair directs and reports the activities of the roundtable, organizes and conducts the annual meeting of the roundtable, chairs the Steering Committee, acts as liaison for the roundtable to other bodies, recommends the creation of roundtable committees as needed and the appointment of roundtable members to committee membership or other leadership roles, and is responsible for administrative matters, including, but not limited to, annual reports to the SAA. In addition, the Chair shall fulfill those responsibilities specified in Section X. of the SAA Governance Manual.

The Vice-chair serves as acting Chair in the absence of the Chair and participates as a member of the Steering Committee in all its activities.

D. Nominations. The Chair shall issue a call for nominations, including self-nominations, for the positions of Vice-chair and Steering Committee member every June to all roundtable members via the roundtable’s official email discussion list and website. A slate of candidates shall be established by the officers and announced to roundtable members no later than June 15. All candidates for election must be members of the roundtable and of SAA (either individual members or primary contacts of institutional members of SAA).

E. Elections. Elections shall be conducted online with the assistance of the SAA staff and in accordance with the guidelines for Section elections as specified in Section IX. of the SAA Governance Manual. Availability of the online ballot and the deadline for voting shall be announced by the Chair to all roundtable members via the roundtable’s official email discussion list and website.

Officers and Steering Committee members for the year in which these bylaws first take effect shall be elected during the annual meeting of the roundtable. In subsequent years, if a vacancy exists for an elected position, an election to fill that vacancy may be held during the annual meeting. Elections conducted at the annual meeting shall be determined by a majority vote of members present at the roundtable’s business meeting. Membership shall be determined by the conference attendee’s voting member name badge as provided by the SAA staff.

New leadership assumes office at the conclusion of the SAA annual meeting.

Paragraph 2 of Section E above specifies that in the year the Bylaws take effect the election of Officers and Steering Committee members shall be conducted at the Annual Meeting.  Accordingly, the current Steering Committee is soliciting nominations for a Chair and Vice-Chair and three other members of the Steering Group. The Steering Group will follow the procedures listed below:

•        AHRT members may nominate themselves or may be nominated by one or more AHRT members.
•      Nominations should include the name of the individual, the office (Chair, Vice-Chair, or Steering Committee), institutional affiliation, postal address, email address and telephone number
•       Nominations should be sent to Charles Dollar, AHRT Chair (thecdollar@att.net)
•       The Steering Committee will confirm that each nominee agrees to be a candidate
•       The Steering Committee will invite each nominee to submit a written candidacy statement
•       The Steering Committee will post the list of nominees along with any written candidacy statements on the AHRT SAA listserv and the AHRT web site by August 1.
•       The Steering Committee will conduct the election for Officers (Chair and Vice-Chair) and three other members of the Steering Group during the AHRT Annual Meeting in New Orleans