Candidate Biographies and Statements

Vice Chair/Chair-elect

Michelle Sweetser

Michelle Sweetser is the Head Librarian and University Archivist at the Center for Archival Collections (CAC) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). Before joining BGSU in 2016, she served as the University Archivist at Marquette University (2004-2016). Sweetser has been involved with the C&U Section since 2011, first serving as the newsletter editor and then managing the newsletter’s transition to its current blog format. Sweetser has been involved with SAA throughout her professional career and currently serves as chair of the Membership Committee. She previously served in a variety of roles in the Privacy and Confidentiality Roundtable (steering committee, chair) and the Acquisitions and Appraisal Section (webmaster, chair). She has served as a member of the Midwest Archives Conference’s Council, Symposium Planning, Program, and Nominating Committees, and served as a member of state-level historical records advisory boards (Ohio, Wisconsin). She is an active participant in SAA’s mentoring program. A member of the 2012 Archives Leadership Institute cohort, Sweetser holds an A.B. in Anthropology from Dartmouth College and an MSI from the University of Michigan.

Candidate statement

Having edited the section newsletter and blog for the past eight years, I have enjoyed working with section members to share knowledge and experience with the academic archivist community as well as with section leadership to ensure that news about plans makes its way to members. Through participation in regular conference calls, I am keenly aware of the section’s ongoing initiatives, traditions, and leadership. Our recent practice of selecting an annual theme (e.g., student workers in the archives and issues of campus history and social justice) and working toward useful outputs is one that I believe has served us well and is a practice I would like to continue as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. I believe section members are important in helping to set section priorities; we are a large section and I recognize that it is difficult for many of us to make it to the Annual Meeting on a regular basis due to funding and other challenges, such as the start of the academic year on our individual campuses. I’d like to explore ways that we can foster involvement, participation, and collaboration throughout the entire year and not just at the Annual Meeting, perhaps through periodic webinars or twitter chats. Finally, I would like to learn more about who we are as section, the kinds of work that we currently engage in as academic archivists, the challenges that we face as academia and the broader library systems in which many of us are housed undergo change in the coming decade, and more. The more that we understand about who we are as a group, the better we can tailor our initiatives and advocacy to meet members’ needs.

Steering Committee

Krista Oldman

Krista Oldham is the University Archivist at Clemson University, where her responsibilities include overseeing the acquisition, description, and preservation of University records, as well as supporting and promoting their use. Additionally, Krista is responsible for assisting in developing and managing a comprehensive, institution-wide records management program. She earned a M.I.S. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and earned both a M.A. in History and a B.A. in History from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Prior to starting her position at Clemson, Krista worked at Haverford College as the College Archivist/Records Manager for Quaker and Special Collections and at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Special Collections as the Senior Archivist and the Senior Archives Manager. In addition to her archival work, Krista served as Co-Director of the Arkansas Delta Oral History Project, an initiative led by the endowed Brown Chair in English Literacy. She is a co-author of The Arkansas Delta Oral History Project: Culture, Place, and Authenticity, which was published in 2016 by Syracuse University Press.

Candidate Statement

I welcome the opportunity to serve as a member of Steering Committee of the College and University Archives Section. Over the past several years, I have relied heavily on the Section’s collective wisdom to provide inspiration for and guidance on how to preserve the ephemeral nature of student organizations and activism, how to document the experiences of marginalized identities on campus, and how to increase engagement between the archives and the communities it support. I believe strongly that the College and University Archives Section brings together a community of practitioners with a common goal- to promote the exchange of ideas and provide opportunities and encourage professional growth among its member. This goal is what motivates me to give back to this Section by serving on the Steering Committee. As a member of the Steering Committee, I would actively advocate for and listen to our member’s interests and needs and help develop innovative programming and resources in support of College and University Archives Section’s mission and is inclusive of the Section’s wide range  of institutional perspectives.  I’d be honored to contribute to the group and to help facilitate collaboration among members. Thanks for your consideration!

Karen Trivette

Associate Professor Karen Jamison Trivette is the Head of Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) in the Gladys Marcus Library at the Fashion Institute of Technology, a part of the State University of New York; she is the first incumbent to hold this position and has served in this role since 2008. She holds a Master of Library Science with a concentration in Archives and Records Management from the University at Albany (New York) and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from UNC-Chapel Hill (North Carolina). She has worked primarily in art libraries and art archives (including the Albany Institute of History and Art; the Clark Art Institute Library; and the Museum of Modern Art Archives) except for an over three-year post at the New York State Archives where she primarily advised practitioners on archives and records management matters. She served the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (ART) as its Vice President (2016-2017), President (2017-2018), and then as Past-President (2018-2019). She has presented at many conferences, both national and international in scope, the most recent of which was held in Radenci, Slovenia (April 2019). She recently co-wrote a chapter for The Fashion Forecasters (2018) and edited Fashion Plates: 150 Years of Style (2015), sourced completely from SPARC holdings. Along with her husband-archivist, she co-hosts a weekly podcast entitled, “An Archivist’s Tale,” which has the mission of giving voice to archivists. She currently serves SAA on its Regional Archival Associations Consortium representing ART and on SAA’s American Archivist journal editorial board. She is a member of the International Council on Archives, SAA, and ART and recently oversaw a $4 million dollar renovation of the entire SPARC footprint, bringing it to a state-of-the-art condition for its valuable holdings.

Candidate Statement

Hello! I am Karen Trivette and I am running for a member's seat on the Steering Committee of SAA's College & University Archives (C&UA) Section. I have dedicated most of my professional archivist and librarian life to working with college and university records, my current position being the most challenging and rewarding. I am an Associate Professor Librarian and Head of Special Collections and College Archives at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)-State University of New York; I have held this position for nearly eleven years and am its first incumbent. Beta Phi Mu (BPM), the International Library and Information Studies Honor Society, has the following motto: Aliis inserviendo consumor, meaning, “Consumed in the service of others.” As a member of BPM, I hold this not only as my own chosen motto but also as my chosen practice. Over the last seventeen (17) years in the field, I have served many different constituencies in many different settings; none has given me greater pleasure than serving my own colleagues in the archives field. If elected, I will serve the committee and its section with enthusiasm, curiosity, and diligence while thinking critically and creatively to get the good work of the C&UA section done. I would be honored to serve my C&UA section colleagues as a Steering Committee member and very much appreciate your vote!