2022 P&C Section Election: Candidate Statements

You will be voting for:

• One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, for a three-year term; and
• Two Steering Committee members (two-year terms). 

Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens! 

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Candidates

The following candidates are running for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect position:

Veronica Denison
University Archivist, Kansas State University

Biographical statement:

Veronica Denison is the University Archivist at Kansas State University, where she has worked since September 2019. Previously, she was an archivist for six years at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Candidate statement addressing the question "What projects or initiatives would you be interested in pursuing as part of the Privacy and Confidentiality Section leadership?":

I have had the privilege of serving on the Steering Committee of the Privacy and Confidentiality Section for the last two years. If elected as vice chair/chair elect, I will continue to grow the work of my predecessors on expanding the Section by continuing to host educational and successful events and sessions. Issues surrounding FERPA, HIPAA, donor rights and privacy, as well as unofficial medical and student records continue to be concerns in our profession. As a university archivist, I wrestle with these every day and work to balance the importance of access with professional ethics and privacy rights. Continuing to host discussions or presentations surrounding these concerns is a great way to expand our knowledge. I would also like to continue to host coffee chats with our SAA Sections, come up with news ways to facilitate conversation, and continue to expand our resources list.

Steering Committee Member Candidates

The following candidates are running for the section steering committee:

Sarah Coates
University Archivist, University of Florida

Biographical statement: 

Sarah Coates is the University Archivist at the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida, where she has worked since 2018. She began her archives career at the Oklahoma State University Archives in 2011.

Candidate statement addressing the question "What projects or initiatives would you be interested in pursuing as part of the Privacy and Confidentiality Section leadership?":

I would be interested in pursuing more connections with the archival community by having a Zoom lounge or coffee chat a few times a year where those of us with questions or concerns about privacy and confidentiality can meet informally and discuss projects, solutions, problems, concerns, etc. and get advice from peers. I feel like there are also conversations to be had about protecting privacy and confidentiality in electronic records that needs further discussion and solutions, and I feel having more informal or formal chats or presentations about the issues with electronic records would be very beneficial to this section’s members.

I would also be interested in bringing more resources to help bolster the section’s documentation portal and bibliography. I feel like these are excellent resources to have, and would like to see more participation in submitting materials for these important resources. Having a knowledge bank that is well advertised would be beneficial for all as there would be quick and easy access to a trove of resources to answer questions. 

Elizabeth Russell
Associate Archivist, Providence Archives, Seattle

Biographical statement: 

I am currently Associate Archivist for Providence Archives, the archival repository for the Sisters of Providence and Providence Health & Services in Seattle. I have experience in a variety of repository types (a large university's special collections division; a community college archive; and small non-profit cultural heritage organizations).

Candidate statement addressing the question "What projects or initiatives would you be interested in pursuing as part of the Privacy and Confidentiality Section leadership?" :

If re-elected to serve as a committee member, I would like to continue with current section initiatives to present relevant information to section members and other interested audiences on topics like FERPA and HIPAA. I also have an interest in discussions of issues that lie outside of legal boundaries such as how sensitive information should be handled in an archive. These issues might include the tension between deceased individuals’ right to privacy versus the rights of their descendants and relatives to find out meaningful information about family history; decision-making on a consent-seeking process while archiving web content; and working through policy-setting processes on research access in corporate or non-profit archives where issues of privacy, confidentiality, and sensitivity are front and center.