Channel Your Archival Passion into Action: Volunteer to Serve on an SAA Appointed Group

By Meredith Evans, SAA Vice President/President-Elect

Archival work is more important than ever. In this time of information overload and an abundance of alternative facts, it’s our profession that brings perspective and truth by preserving records and evidence. It’s our collections that provide context and authenticity to the manifestation of human intellect and collective memory that inform and have an impact on the documentation and reciting of history and culture today.

Our association provokes thought and provides training and safe spaces for dialog that enable us to do our jobs better. We lead others in understanding the significance of our work and we help people remember and interpret the past to assist in planning for the future. I am asking for your help. Whatever emotion comes to mind as you read this, I encourage you to channel it into action.

It’s volunteers like you who shape SAA’s strategic direction and who help identify issues that the association should address. Don’t let your energy or curiosity go to waste! There are more than 350 positions for appointed leaders within SAA, about a third of which are filled with new appointees each year. Apply today. Here’s how to assert your voice and expertise to better our profession.

Appointments Committee

As the SAA Vice President, it is my honor to appoint and welcome new leaders into service in August 2018. I’m delighted to be sharing this privilege with of the following individuals who will serve as my Appointments Committee: Micha Broadnax (Converse), Christopher Geissler (John Hay Library and Special Collections, Brown University), Lae'l Hughes-Watkins (Kent State University), Leilani Johnson (Heritage Werks), Angelique Richardson (The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta), and James Roth (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library).  

The Appointments Process

The Committee reviews all vacancies and consults with current group leaders to ensure that we understand their needs. We then solicit and review recommendations. We will follow SAA’s long-standing policy of making appointments that reflect the diversity of our membership, including years in the profession, race and ethnicity, gender, geographic region, and type of archival repository. Individuals will be appointed to one position at a time, and current leaders will not be reappointed to a second term unless there is a critical requirement to continue some aspect of the work beyond their original term. It will be my responsibility and privilege to make all final appointment decisions.

Volunteer Positions

Browse the list of appointments available. If you’re not familiar with the group or position, visit the SAA website to review the group’s description, see what recent work has been done, and talk to people who are currently involved. There’s a wide range of possibilities and you’ll find descriptions, microsites, and rosters of the groups at www.archivists.org/leaders. Identify one or two groups of interest, rather than applying for everything. We want to make sure you are working in an area in which you are most passionate or have the most expertise. Then volunteer to serve by visiting www2.archivists.org/membership/volunteer. Encourage friends and colleagues to volunteer, too. We look forward to working with you!

Appointments Available in 2018–2019

The following groups will have vacancies beginning in August 2018. (The number of vacancies is indicated in parentheses.) Review descriptions of the groups and then volunteer to serve. 

Application Deadline: January 19, 2018

Awards Committee (1 co-chair)

Brenda S. Banks Travel Award (1)
C.F.W. Coker Award (1)
Distinguished Service Award (1)
Diversity Award (1)
Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award (1)
Josephine Forman Scholarship (1)
F. Gerald Ham and Elsie Ham Scholarship (1, must be an SAA Fellow)
Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award (1)
Oliver Wendell Holmes Award (1)
Innovator Award (1)
J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award (1)
Sister M. Claude Lane, OP, Award (1)
Waldo Gifford Leland Award (1)
Mosaic Scholarship (2)
Theodore Calvin Pease Award (1, one-year appointment)
Donald Peterson Student Scholarship (1)
Harold T. Pinkett Minority Student Award (1, one-year appointment)
Fellows’ Ernst Posner Award (1, must be an SAA Fellow)
Preservation Publication Award (1)
Spotlight Award (1)

Committee on Education (3)

Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Subcommittee (3)
Graduate Archival Education (GAE) Subcommittee (1)

Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct (2)

Committee on Public Awareness (3)

Committee on Public Policy (3)

Diversity Committee (3)

Finance Committee (1)

2019 Host Committee (Austin, TX) (10-12)

Membership Committee (3)

2019 Program Committee (Austin, TX) (10)

Standards Committee (3)

Technical Subcommittee on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (TS-DACS) (3)
Technical Subcommittee on Encoded Archival Standards (TS-EAS) (3)

Dictionary Working Group (1)

SAA Representatives

Rep to Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) (1)
Rep to ALA Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access and MARC Advisory Committee (1)
Rep to International Council on Archives Section on Professional Archival Associations (ICA SPA) (1)
Rep to National Information Standards Organization (NISO) (1)
Rep to US State Department Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation (1)

To Volunteer

To volunteer, log in and submit the self-nomination form by January 19, 2018. You may save changes and come back to this form; you may also change or resubmit information. SAA membership is required both to view the self-nomination form and to be appointed to an SAA group.

The application requires quite a bit of information so that the Committee can make sound recommendations. This process can be competitive, so please send your strongest highlights that relate to the position for which you’re applying. 

Questions? Send them to appointments@archivists.org.

Self Nomination Form