SAA Council Adopts EAC-CPF Standard, Calls for Member Comments on Draft Code of Ethics and Proposed Constitutional Amendments

At its January 27-30 meeting, the SAA Council took the following actions:

• Adopted Encoded Archival Context-Corporate Bodies, Persons, and Families (EAC-CPF) as an SAA standard, as recommended by the Standards Committee. To view EAC-CPF: http://eac.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/.
• Approved several Standards Committee recommendations regarding its component groups, including creating a Technical Subcommittee on EAC-CPF to oversee maintenance and ongoing development of the standard; changes in the terms for Development and Review Teams; and charges and descriptions of new technical subcommittees on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (TS-DACS) and Archival Facilities Guidelines (TS-AFG).
• Agreed to seek member comments on the Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct’s revised draft of the Code of Ethics for Archivists.  The current revision is based on comments from a variety of sources, including a member forum at SAA’s 2010 annual meeting. The revision reflects recent scholarship and professional discourse regarding archival ethics and the profession’s goals and identity while maintaining its aspirational, and legally neutral, character.  Member comments are due by April 4, 2011.  To review the draft and background materials and to comment, click here. 
• Approved a “vision statement” and proposed work plan for an expanded Mosaic Program designed to increase minority representation within the profession and SAA.  Prepared by a task force of the Diversity Committee, the plan will serve as the basis for one or more grant proposals in 2011 and beyond.  The Council charged the executive director to determine the most effective means of implementing the grant preparation and submission process.
• Agreed to propose a constitutional amendment at the 2011 Annual Membership Meeting that would require that persons slated for a national elected office (president, vice president/president-elect, treasurer, Council member, Nominating Committee member) hold individual full membership at the time at which they are slated and throughout their tenure in elected office.
• Agreed to issue a call for member comments on a proposed constitutional amendment that would implement all-member referendum voting on dues changes, constitutional amendments, and bylaws amendments.  See the call for comment and background information here.  
• Agreed to propose an amendment to Article VI.2. of SAA’s constitution to bring the language up to date with modern methods of communication and provide staff with the option to use electronic balloting when a special referendum is required.
• Approved a Finance Committee recommendation that the “Asset Standards” section of SAA’s Investment Policy be
  revised to allow for the purchase of fixed-income securities that extend beyond those issued by the U.S. Treasury in order to provide a greater rate of return while taking on minimal risk.
• Approved new bylaws for the Issues and Advocacy Roundtable and bylaws revisions for the Lesbian and Gay Archives Roundtable, the Archivists’ Toolkit^TM Roundtable (now the Archivists’ Toolkit^TM/Archon^TM Roundtable), and the Metadata and Digital Object Roundtable.
• Conducted an annual review of SAA’s Equal Opportunity/Nondiscrimination Policy, and made no changes.

In addition, the Council discussed:

• A labor dispute involving UNITE HERE Local 1 (a hospitality workers union) and several Chicago-area hotels, including the Hyatt Regency Chicago, site of SAA’s 2011 Annual Meeting. The union is calling for a boycott of these hotels. The boycott was not in effect when SAA signed the hotel contract.  The dispute may have implications for the Society’s 75^th Anniversary conference, scheduled for August 22-27. During its meeting, the Council heard from representatives of the hotel and the union.  The Council and staff are investigating options related to the conference venue and will continue to monitor the situation closely. 
  
• Possible revisions in the current strategic plan related to the desired outcome of “mak(ing) increasingly effective use of current and emerging technology in order to enhance communication with internal and external audiences and stimulate collaboration among its constituents.”  Changes are pending Council members’ written suggestions and additional discussion by the full Council.
• The Committee on Education’s proposed revisions to SAA’s Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies.  Consideration of the Committee’s recommendation to adopt was postponed pending amendments by a Council sub-group.
• The ideas expressed in Immediate-Past President Peter Gottlieb’s 2010 presidential address, “Unifying the Archives Profession: A Proposal.”
• And a variety of other topics.  To view the full Council agenda and materials, click http://www.archivists.org/governance/agendas/index.asp ">here.

Minutes of the January 27-30 Council meeting will be posted on the SAA website no later than 60 days after the meeting.  The Council will meet again in Chicago from May 23 to 26.  A call for agenda items for that meeting will be issued in early April, with a deadline of April 22.

SAA Foundation Board Adopts FY 2011 – FY 2014 Funding Priorities

At its January 29 meeting, the SAA Foundation Board:

• Reviewed draft articles of incorporation and bylaws and discussed questions related to board composition, nomination and election of directors, and scheduling of the board’s annual meeting.  Based on Board direction, the staff will work with legal counsel to complete a final draft for Board consideration in May 2011.
• Adopted the following funding priorities for FY 2011 – FY 2014:
  Mosaic Program scholarships, internships, and travel awards directed to increasing the diversity of the profession.
  Scholarships for graduate archival education.
  Development of low-cost education opportunities that will reach the entire profession with state-of-the-art information.
  Opportunities for leadership development for the profession.
  Opportunities for international exchange and professional development.
  Administration of profession-wide surveys of archivists.
  Administration of profession-wide surveys of archival repositories.
  Fellowship program to support research related to professional issues and practices.
• Adopted the FY 2011 – FY 2012 work plan proposed by the Foundation Development Committee.

Minutes of the January 29 Board meeting will be posted on the SAA website no later than 60 days after the meeting.  The Foundation Board will meet again in Chicago in conjunction with the May 23–26 SAA Council meeting.