SAA Council Approves FY19 Budget

At its May 7-9 meeting in Chicago, the SAA Council approved a budget for FY 2019 (July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019) of $2,845,973 in revenues and $2,855,020 in expenses, with a projected net loss of $9,047. The Council noted that although projection of a net loss is unusual for SAA, it is not of significant concern in this case because several proposed initiatives are flexible based on the outcome of market research.  (Access the Council meeting agenda and materials here.)

In other actions, the Council:

• Approved extension of Publications Editor Chris Prom’s term by one year (until December 31, 2019) to allow him, in conjunction with the Publications Board and staff, to complete or further a number of projects and initiatives that were started during his term.

• Approved the activities laid out in a 2018 Legislative Action Plan proposed by the Committee on Public Policy and will work with COPP to determine appropriate task assignments and timelines;

• Approved a recommendation by the SAA Foundation Board to re-elect Fynnette Eaton and Gina Minks to serve on the Foundation Board through August 2021. Two additional slots on the Board will be filled later in the summer.

• Elected, from among the incoming third-year members of the Council, Erin Lawrimore to serve as the 2018-2019 Executive Committee member and Courtney Chartier and Bertram Lyons to serve on the 2019 Nominating Committee.

• Reviewed the results of the Membership Committee’s recent Professional Development Support Survey and considered ways in which to implement the committee’s recommendations.

• Reviewed the recommendations of the Independent Archivists Section regarding SAA’s Archival Consultants Directory and asked the staff to consider these suggestions when modifying the business model for the directory.

• Discussed revisions to the “Principles and Priorities for Continuously Improving the SAA Annual Meeting” and agreed to seek member comment on the document.

• Agreed that the Best Practices documents for Internships as a Component of Graduate Archival Education and for Volunteers in Archives should be posted for member comment as soon as possible to determine if substantive revisions are needed.

The next meeting of the SAA Council will take place on Monday, August 13, in conjunction with the Joint Annual Meeting of CoSA, NAGARA, and SAA in Washington, DC. Agenda items for consideration at that meeting are due four weeks in advance, or by Monday, July 16. Send your agenda item(s) to president@archivists.org or Executive Director Nancy Beaumont at nbeaumont[at]archivists.org.