SAA Council Adopts “Core Values of Archivists” and FY 2012 Budget, Approves New “Digital Archives Specialist” Program

Since its inception in February 2009, the task force assigned to developing a "Statement of Core Values for Archivists" has scanned other professional associations’ statements and solicited member feedback on its various drafts.  That work was concluded at the May 24 – 26 Council meeting as "Core Values of Archivists" was adopted as an official statement of the Society of American Archivists.

"In his 2008 presidential address, Mark Greene challenged SAA to follow the lead of many other professional associations by adopting a statement of values that define our profession,” said SAA President Helen Tibbo.  "We’re delighted that this carefully crafted statement of core values, viewed in conjunction with SAA’s Code of Ethics, clarifies the core purposes of archival practice. And we’re very grateful to task force members Rand Jimerson, Rosalye Settles, Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty, Rebekah Kim, and Shawn San Roman for their good work on behalf of the profession."

To address its long-standing strategic goal of providing education and training "to ensure that [archivists] are aware of relevant standards and adopt appropriate practices for appraising, capturing, preserving, and providing access to electronic records," the Council adopted a set of Committee on Education recommendations to expand SAA’s offerings to include a Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) curriculum and certificate program.

The DAS curriculum, which was created by a group of digital archives experts and focuses on born-digital records, encompasses a four-tier course structure (foundational, tactical and strategic, tools and services, and transformational courses) that guides the learner to choose courses based on specific knowledge, training, and needs. After completing required coursework and passing appropriate course and comprehensive examinations, participants will earn a Digital Archives Specialist Certificate from SAA. The curriculum, which includes both face-to-face workshops and Web seminars, will launch in October 2011. More information is available via the SAA website.

The new DAS curriculum is just one of many factors that the Council considered in its discussion of the proposed FY 2012 budget. The adopted budget projects revenues of $2,418,961, operating expenses of $2,406,122, and expenditures of $1,855 for the 75^th Anniversary Project and $10,000 for "replenishment of Council-directed funds," for a projected bottom-line net gain of $984.

"We’re grateful to the SAA Foundation for awarding grants that will support research and development of the DAS program and our Archival Fundamentals book series in FY 2012,” said SAA Treasurer Aimee Felker. "The Council’s decision to budget for ‘replenishment’ of our Education, Publications, and Technology R&D funds is an important step in ensuring that the organization can continue to grow – and it’s consistent with the membership’s decision in 2010 to approve a three-year stepped dues increase."

In other actions, the Council:

• Adopted two changes in the Strategic Plan’s "Technology" priority. The first alters the charge of the current Communications Technology Working Group to include convening a public forum at the 2011 Annual Meeting to “identify what technology resources, capabilities, and uses individual members and groups want from SAA,” to disseminate that information via online channels, and to "solicit additional comments…and supplement findings through research on trends in user adoption of technology (i.e., such resources as the Pew Internet and American Life Project)." The second adds a new Desired Outcome #4 ("SAA will harness and cultivate the technology expertise of its members to inform strategic planning, educational programming, and internal and external communication") and establishes a Technology Futures Working Group to "survey the current and emerging technology landscape and advise SAA members, the Council, and staff on new developments and tools that significantly affect the documentary record and/or can be applied by the archival endeavor."
• Adopted two recommendations for bylaws amendments to be proposed at the August 2011 Annual Membership Meeting to support the Council’s proposed constitutional amendment regarding referendum voting. See below for "Constitutional Amendments Proposed on Voting Methods, Eligibility to Hold Office."
• Adopted a briefing paper to inform discussion at the Annual Membership Meeting of a proposed constitutional amendment rescinding the eligibility of institutional members’ primary contacts to hold elected office within SAA. See below for "Constitutional Amendments Proposed on Voting Methods, Eligibility to Hold Office."
• Approved a recommendation to amend Section 5.E. of the SAA Bylaws to correct an inconsistency between the Bylaws and the Constitution on the matter of ballot distribution: "Ballots shall be distributed to all individual eligible voting members according to a method and schedule approved by the Council" (strikethrough indicates deletion, underline indicates addition).
• As SAA is the sole "corporate member" of the Society of American Archivists Foundation, adopted the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of the Foundation. (In a separate action, the Foundation Board of Directors also adopted the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.)
• Adopted two recommendations of the Government Affairs Working Group: 1) that SAA support funding of $10 million for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission in FY 2012 and 2) that SAA encourage the NHPRC to seek broad input from the archives community, including SAA and its members, other national and regional archives organizations, and state historical records advisory boards, on the priority functions and directions for agency funding that would best address the agency’s legislative purpose (i.e., "…collecting and preserving and, when it considers it desirable, in editing and publishing papers of outstanding citizens of the United States, and other documents that may be important for an understanding and appreciation of the history of the United States").
• Agreed to create a new SAA "Archival Innovators Award" that will recognize "individual archivists, groups of archivists, repositories, and organizations that demonstrate, through a combination of as many as possible of the criteria below, the greatest overall current impact on the profession or their communities:  creativity or innovation in approaching professional challenges; demonstrated ability to think outside professional or institutional norms; ability to translate creativity, innovation, and new thinking into working solutions; development of an archives program or outreach activity that has an extraordinary impact on a community; and/or commitment to the advancement of professional knowledge through traditional or emerging information-sharing media."  The SAA Awards Committee will be responsible for administering the award, which is scheduled to be given for the first time at the 2012 Annual Meeting.
• Approved revisions in the College and University Archives Section's bylaws that bring the section into compliance with Section IX of the SAA Governance Manual regarding the structure of elected positions.
• Provided feedback to the Preservation Section regarding proposed bylaws revisions that would bring the section into compliance with Section IX of the SAA Governance Manual.  The section intends to put the changes to a referendum of its membership at its August 2011 annual meeting.

The Council members who do not serve as officers elected Scott Cline to be their representative on the Council Executive Committee in 2011-2012. Tom Frusciano and Deborra Richardson will serve on the 2011-2012 Nominating Committee.

To view the May 24–26 Council meeting agenda and materials: http://www.archivists.org/governance/agendas/0511-I-A-AgendaPublic.htm. Minutes of the meeting will be posted on the SAA website no later than 60 days after the meeting (i.e., by Monday, July 25).

The Council will meet again on Monday, August 22, and Saturday, August 27, in conjunction with the 2011 Annual Meeting in Chicago.  A call for agenda items for the August 22 meeting will be issued in mid-July, with a deadline of July 22. Submit your agenda items to SAA President Helen Tibbo (tibbo[at]email.unc.edu) or Executive Director Nancy Beaumont (nbeaumont[at]archivists.org).

Hunter to Lead The American Archivist

Gregory S. Hunter, PhD, CA, CRM, has been appointed Editor of The American Archivist, for a term of January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2014. Hunter will succeed Mary Jo Pugh, whose second three-year term ends in December 2011.  His selection by the SAA Council at its May 24 – 26 meeting in Chicago completes a five-month process that included broad distribution of a call for applicants.

Hunter is director of the Doctor of Philosophy in Information Studies program at Long Island University’s Palmer School of Library and Information Science, where he also serves as Professor and Director of the Certificate in Archives and Records Management program. He is president of Hunter Information Management Services, Inc.

His professional background includes stints with the Chase Manhattan Archives, the United Negro College Fund archival programs, and the ITT Corporation.  From 2004 to 2009, he served as principal archivist and records manager on the team that designed and built the Electronic Records Archives for the National Archives and Records Administration.

Hunter was elected the first president of the Academy of Certified Archivists in 1989.  A 2004 Fellow of the Society of American Archivists, he received the SAA Preservation Publication Award in 2001 for Preserving Digital Information and the 2004 Waldo Gifford Leland Award for writing of superior excellence for Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives, Second Edition.

"Greg Hunter possesses the skills and talents that we were looking for in the next editor of The American Archivist," said SAA President and Search Committee Chair Helen Tibbo.  "His vision for the Journal, together with his demonstrated ability to collaborate and motivate teams, will be critically important as we build on Mary Jo Pugh’s many accomplishments."

SAA Foundation Board Adopts Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, Awards $30,425 for Education and Publications Development

At its May 2011 meeting, the Society of American Archivists Foundation Board of Directors approved a motion to adopt Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws and to take "all measures necessary to cause the existing Society of American Archivists Foundation, an unincorporated association, to be established as an Illinois not-for-profit corporation…."  The Foundation will remain a 501(c)(3) organization; consistent with that designation, it "shall operate to support and benefit the Corporate Member and the achievement of any charitable and educational purposes thereof." SAA is the sole "corporate member."

The Board of Directors will take a new form upon filing of the legal papers. The Board will comprise 11 members, including the four individuals who serve on the SAA Executive Committee, the immediate past president of SAA, and six directors selected by the corporate member (i.e., SAA). The SAA executive director and director of finance and administration serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the Board.

During its meeting, the Foundation Board awarded grants to SAA for the following purposes:

• $30,425 from the Linda Henry Fund to support development of the Digital Archives Specialist curriculum and research and development of the next iteration of SAA’s Archival Fundamentals Series.
• $5,000 from the Mosaic Fund to support one minority student scholarship in FY 2012.
• $3,350 from the Margaret Cross Norton Fund to support SAA representation at the International Council on Archives’ Section on Professional Associations quadrennial meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, in September 2011.

Constitution and Bylaws Amendments Proposed on Voting Methods, Eligibility to Hold Office

Proposed Constitutional Amendments: VOTING METHODS

The SAA Council proposes the following two amendments to the SAA Constitution (with accompanying Bylaws changes) for consideration by SAA members at the Annual Membership/Business Meeting on Saturday, August 27, in Chicago.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 1: VOTING METHODS

THAT the SAA Constitution, Articles IV., IX., and X., be amended as follows (underline indicates addition, strikethrough indicates deletion):

IV. DUES
A member shall be enrolled upon the first payment of dues and shall receive benefits during the period for which dues have been paid. All dues shall be payable in advance. Membership in good standing shall cease when dues are 28 days in arrears. Changes in membership dues shall be determined by a majority vote of those members present and voting at the annual business meeting in a referendum conducted according to the bylaws of the Society.

IX. BYLAWS
The Council is authorized and directed to prepare, adopt, or amend such bylaws as may be desirable to regularize the administrative practices of the Society. Adoption or amendment of bylaws may be made either by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote of the Council or by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote of those members present and voting at the annual business meeting in a referendum conducted according to the bylaws of the Society. Amendments to the bylaws may be recommended by a majority vote of the Council or proposed in writing by at least 5% of the eligible voting members of the Society. All amendments must be filed with the Executive Director at least sixty (60) days prior to the Annual Meeting. Copies of the proposed amendments shall be distributed by the Executive Director according to a method approved by the Council to eligible voting members at least thirty (30) days in advance of the meeting at which they are to be presented. A copy of the current constitution and bylaws shall be published in the Society's membership directory on the Society’s website and shall be available to any member upon request to the Executive Director.

X. AMENDMENTS
Amendments to this constitution may be recommended by a majority vote of the Council or proposed in writing by at least twenty-five (25) 5% of the eligible voting members of the Society. All amendments must be filed with the Executive Director at least one hundred (100) days prior to the Annual Meeting. Copies of the proposed amendments shall be mailed distributed by the Executive Director according to a method approved by the Council to all eligible voting members at least sixty (60) days in advance of the meeting at which they are to be considered presented. If approved by the Council, amendments may be adopted by a majority of the members present and voting at the annual business meeting of the Society. If not approved by the Council, amendments Amendments may be adopted by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote of the those members present and voting at the annual business meeting in a referendum conducted according to the bylaws of the Society.

Support Statement: Forwarding recommendations on dues changes and amendments to the Society’s Constitution and Bylaws to member referenda constitutes a practical and well-balanced approach to increasing member participation in SAA governance. It is within SAA’s means, both financially and organizationally. Details regarding the administration of member referenda are specified in proposed amendments to the Bylaws. Other procedural changes affected by this recommendation include: more consistent notification requirements; explicit provisions regarding proposal of bylaws amendments; and modification to the number of members required to propose amendments (due to the recent growth in members).

In practice, proposals for dues changes and amendments will be generated as they are now and will be presented for discussion at the Annual Membership/Business Meeting. However, the quorum at the business meeting will no longer be empowered to amend, approve, or decline such motions. In addition to debate at the Annual Membership/Business Meeting, the Society would provide members with an electronic forum via which all eligible voters would be able to debate the motion(s). Electronic referenda would be conducted following the Annual Membership/Business Meeting according to a schedule that would be specified in the Bylaws.

Fiscal Impact: SAA staff has negotiated an option with SAA’s e-ballot vendor to add, upon demand, an additional asynchronous voting event at the cost of $1,500 per year.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 2: VOTING METHODS

THAT the SAA Constitution, Article VI.2., be amended as follows (underline indicates addition, strikethrough indicates deletion):

Resolutions passed at the annual business meeting or submitted in writing and signed by 1% of the eligible voting members which request the Council to take a specific action must be formally considered and voted upon by the Council in a timely fashion. The membership shall be notified of the results of that deliberation in the first mailing communication sent to the membership following the Council's vote. If ten (10) percent of the membership disagrees with the Council's decision and files a petition to that effect with the executive office within ninety (90) days of the U.S. Postal Service postmark of the Council's notification, to that effect with the executive office, a mail ballot special referendum shall be conducted through the next mailing to the membership within one hundred and eighty (180) days and the results of a majority vote of the members voting on in this ballot referendum shall be binding provided that at least thirty (30) percent of the eligible members shall have voted.

Support Statement: The proposed revisions seek to bring this language up to date with modern methods of communication and provide staff with the option to utilize electronic balloting in the case that a special referendum is required.

Fiscal Impact: None.

Proposed Bylaws Amendments: VOTING METHODS

The SAA Council proposes the follwoing two amendments to the SAA Bylaws (in support of the two proposed constitutional amendments) for consideration by SAA members at the Annual Membership/Business Meeting on Saturday, August 27, in Chicago.

PROPOSED BYLAWS AMENDMENT 1: VOTING METHODS

THAT the following amendments to SAA’s Bylaws, Section 10, “Rules of Business Meeting,” be presented for consideration at the Society’s August 2011 Membership/ Business Meeting (underline indicates addition, strikethrough indicates deletion):

h) All resolutions to be brought before the business meeting for action shall be submitted in writing to a Council Resolutions Committee the Executive Director no later than noon of the day preceding the business meeting and shall be available to members in writing at the meeting. Resolutions from the floor may be considered by majority vote, except as required by the Constitution.

i) Amendments to the constitution that have been approved by the Council in advance of the business meeting may be adopted by a majority vote. Amendments to the constitution that have not been approved by the Council may be adopted by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote. All amendments to the constitution must be filed with the Executive Director at least one hundred (100) days prior to the annual meeting and mailed by the executive director to all members at least sixty (60) days in advance of the meeting at which they are to be considered.

j) Adoption of, or amendment to, bylaws of the Society may be made by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote of those members present and voting at the annual business meeting.

k) i) At the beginning of the meeting the President will announce the agenda, call for additions or amendments, and call for a vote to approve the agenda. After the agenda has been adopted by the majority of the members present and voting, it can be departed from only by the general consent or by two-thirds vote if any members request a vote.

l) j) Proxy votes are not permitted.

m) k) Aside from the rules above, Sturgis' Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (latest revised edition) will govern the business meeting.

Support Statement: The draft constitutional amendments recommended by the SAA Council stipulate that constitutional and bylaws amendments be approved by member referendum. There is no provision for amendment by the quorum at the Annual Business Meeting. These revisions are necessary to maintain consistency between the Constitution and the Bylaws. In addition, because the sole function of the Council Resolutions Committee is to convey motions to the President, and because this duty can be more effectively fulfilled by the Executive Director, the amendments help streamline governance procedure.

Fiscal Impact: None.

PROPOSED BYLAWS AMENDMENT 2: VOTING METHODS

THAT the following amendment to SAA’s Bylaws be presented for consideration at the Society’s August 2011 Membership/Business Meeting:

11. MEMBER REFERENDA

Member dues changes and resolution of motions filed with the Executive Director in accordance with Article IX or Article X of the Constitution shall be determined by member referendum. The Council Executive Committee shall review and approve a briefing paper prior to the constitutional notification date. Copies of proposed amendments and briefing papers, prepared by the proposer(s) and/or by the Executive Director in accordance with Council guidelines, shall be distributed in accordance with Articles IX and X of the Constitution and shall be presented at the business meeting or at a special meeting called by the Council. Notice of the referendum, copies of proposed member dues changes, constitutional amendments and/or bylaws amendments, and briefing papers shall be distributed by the Executive Director according to a method approved by the Council to eligible voting members no more than thirty (30) days after the meeting at which the motion is presented. All members shall be given the opportunity to participate in discussion and debate on items presented for referenda. Ballots shall be distributed to eligible voting members according to a method approved by the Council no fewer than sixty (60) days and no more than ninety (90) days after the meeting. Approval of motions shall be determined by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote of those members voting in the referendum, provided that at least ten (10) percent of the eligible voting members shall have voted. A member may obtain the vote count from the Executive Director.

Support Statement: The amendment specifies provisions that are necessary for the effective administration of member referenda, including notification, scheduling, quorum requirements, and review, approval, and dissemination of briefing papers. These provisions are consistent with principles of parliamentary procedure and will facilitate informed voting by the members.

Fiscal Impact: SAA staff has negotiated an option with SAA’s e-ballot vendor to add, upon demand, an additional asynchronous voting event at the cost of $1,500 per year.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment: ELIGIBILITY TO HOLD OFFICE

The SAA Council proposes the following amendment to the SAA Constitution for consideration by SAA members at the Annual Membership/Business Meeting on Saturday, August 27, in Chicago.

Institutional membership shall be open to institutions or agencies responsible for or substantially interested in the custody, study, teaching, control, or use of records, archives, and/or private papers. Institutional members are eligible to receive the publications of the Society. Each institutional member may identify a primary contact person, who is eligible to vote, hold office, and serve on appointed groups.

Effect of the Amendment: Primary contacts of institutional members would no longer be eligible to hold elected office (i.e., President, Vice President, Treasurer, Council member, Nominating Committee member) in SAA without first joining as individual full members. Individual membership may be obtained at any time, which immediately confers eligibility to be elected to office in SAA.

Click here for a briefing paper on the proposed constitutional amendment on eligibility to hold office.