2025-2026 IAAS Election: Slate of Candidates

Please find the 2025-2026 IAAS Election Candidate Statements below:

Open Position: Junior Co-Chair

(2-year term: 1^st year as Junior Co-Chair and 2^nd year as Senior Co-Chair)

CANDIDATES (3 TOTAL):

Jenifer Monger

Title: Institute Archivist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and Adjunct Professor for Indiana University

Biographical Statement:

Jenifer Monger is the Institute Archivist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and adjunct professor for Indiana University. She currently serves as the Chair for the Membership Committee for the Society of American Archivists and holds membership with the International Council on Archives. Jenifer began her career in the GLAM sector in 2007 and has experience collaborating with a variety of communities. Early in her career she honed her grant writing skills for cultural heritage projects and embraced the craft of seeking a cross-pollination of professionals to engage communities, promote responsible collections stewardship, and advocate for utilizing open-source systems for asset management and preservation. Jenifer has presented her scholarship and research with the SAA, ACA, ICQI, and IIIF communities. Moreover, Jenifer has been involved with international scholarly communities such as the Paperology Reading and Activity Group which focused on scholarship to deepen the understanding of the material histories, forms, practices, and possibilities of paper. Much of Jenifer’s academic research focuses on autoethnography, memory/forgetting studies, advocacy, trauma, personal archives, and records management and appraisal practices.  

Candidate Statement:

I have been a member of the Society of American Archivists since 2012, enjoying the wonderful professional benefits of so much that SAA offers the archives profession. Throughout the years I’ve been affiliated with numerous sections. Currently I am the Chair of the Membership Committee and a member of the International Archival Affairs Section (IAAS). My professional activity has encompassed co-authoring three articles for Archival Outlook and publishing two book reviews: a micro review and a review published in The American Archivist. In 2022 I was a member of the Archives Leadership cohort at Purdue University (ALI@Purdue). Further still, I have extensive experience collaborating with colleagues to create and implement programs, present at conferences, gather groups for small or large professional meetings, and mentoring others in the profession. Having most recently presented for the International Council on Archives, Section on University and Research Institution Archives in Glasgow, Scotland and being a member of ICA, as well as promoting research with international colleagues in the field, I find it not just of personal interest but also imperative for the growth and understanding of the archives profession to be involved in archival affairs internationally. I feel that I could make a lasting contribution to the IAAS. 

Sarah E Ponichtera

Title: Assistant Dean for Special Collections and the Gallery at Seton Hall University

Biographical Statement:

I am currently working as the Assistant Dean for Special Collections and the Gallery at Seton Hall University, where I manage a unit of both archivists and museum professionals. In this role I have had the opportunity to work with faculty and administration on multiple international projects. Previously I worked as the Project Manager of the Vilna Collections Project at the YIVO Institute, a project which sought to digitally reunite an archival collection fragmented by war between New York and the National Library of Lithuania. In my spare time I do some translation work, for which I received a NEA grant in 2016. Translation has been an instructive experience for my work as a leader - I often think of my work as translating one set of professional requirements into someone else's language so that different parties can understand one another and work together.

My current professional interests center on my most recent international archives project - together with a professor at Seton Hall, I surveyed the national archives of the Sahrawi people, a people living in exile in refugee camps in Algeria. This project was supported by the Modern Endangered Archives Program. I plan to publish about this experience in an upcoming special issue of Comma dedicated to endangered archives. I currently serve as an elected Director for the SAA Foundation Board. 

Candidate Statement:

I am running for Junior Co-Chair of the IAAS this year because this past year's experience has convinced me that there is an urgent need for trained archivists to contribute their expertise to assist with projects around the world. Although this is an interest I believe many of us share, there is a lack of support for such work in the field. So many of us are spread thin with few resources to manage the collections we care for in our professional roles - finding bandwidth for additional projects may seem impossible. The lack of funding for this work is also a major impediment. 

Despite these challenges, the need is great and so is our ability to contribute to the preservation of important historical evidence around the world. I would be honored to help support the work that this section does, and to serve as an ambassador for its importance throughout SAA. 

Sandra Varry

Title: Head of the Special Collections Research Center at the NC State University Libraries

Biographical Statement:

Sandra Varry is the Head of the Special Collections Research Center at the NC State University Libraries. She holds a MFA, a MLIS, and has been a member of SAA since 2008, and a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists since 2013. She participates on committees in the Society of North Carolina Archivists, Society of American Archivists, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College & Research Libraries/ALA. She also belongs to the International Council on Archives. In her previous faculty position at Florida State University, she was Heritage & University Archivist and a past President of the Society of Florida Archivists. She is an alumna of the Archives Leadership Institute, 2015. Her personal research revolves around institutional archives and records management, photographic history and archives, and developing experiential learning opportunities for staff and students at her home institutions and as part of professional organizations. 

Candidate Statement:

My strengths in professional practice are coordinating, facilitating, and creatively supporting others, as well as developing policy and standards for institutions and organizations. My most recent work included updating the Guidelines for College & University Archives for SAA with a team of members, and as a member of the Programming Committee for the 2025 RBMS Annual Meeting. I would leverage these strengths to continue the exceptional programming the section has developed, and work with the steering committee to implement long and short-term goals. I would continue to find ways to engage a worldwide audience in topics of importance including standards, open source applications for archivists, and ways to create community across borders, cultural differences, and politics to the benefit of archives, archivists, and their communities.