December 4, 2025—The SAA Council held a hybrid meeting in Chicago, IL, November 17–19. The Council has a few announcements to share:
- Ratified Council Interim Actions, including:
- Approved an updated charge for the Technical Subcommittee for Archival Facilities Guidelines.
- Approved the extension of SAA's impacted federal workers' programs, which includes a one-year membership for impacted workers and access to educational resources outlined on the SAA’s website (Resources for Federal Workers) until the allocated $5,000 for FY26 is expended.
- Ratified Executive Committee Interim Actions, including:
- The SAA Council and Staff engaged in a strategic planning exercise, facilitated by Educopia. The current Strategic Plan is due to end as of December 31, 2025, and the Council looks to implement a new plan for the next three to five years. More information about the new strategic plan will be forthcoming in 2026.
- The Diversity Committee shared its report (1125-IV-A-Diversity) from the 2025 Annual Meeting’s Diversity Forum. In partial response, the SAA Council Statements Working Group will explore how to address the advocacy needs identified in the report. As part of this process, the Working Group will convene engagements with the Diversity Committee, the Committee on Public Policy, the Committee on Public Awareness, and the Issues and Advocacy Section to ensure alignment and collaborative progress.
- Approved the adoption of revisions to the Best Practices for Internships per the implementation of three recommended edits (1125-V-A-1-Stand1) and (1125-V-A-1-Stand-Doc), and approved recommended updates to the Archival Continuing Education Guidelines (1125-V-A-2-Stand1) and (1125-V-A-2-Stand2) that were brought forth by the Standards Committee.
- Approved an update to the standing rules for the Committee on Education (1125-V-B-CoE-Doc 1) and (1125-V_B-CoE-Doc 2).
- Approved the revision of the standing rules for the Archival Worker Labor Task Force. (1125-V-C-AWLTF)
- SAA CEO provided a staff update; a new Assistant Director of Publications has been hired and will begin working for the Society in December 2025. Currently, the SAA is in the process of interviewing for the Membership Marketing Manager position.
- SAA Foundation President provided a report that the Foundation’s fundraising at the Annual Meeting brought in over $11,000 for the National Disaster Recovery Fund for Archives (NDRFA), Mosaic Fund, and the Catalyst Fund.
- SAA Council is exploring hosting a mid-winter SAA leadership check-in meeting.
- SAA Council discussed, reviewed, and responded to questions submitted by SAA’s Component Groups in the Annual Reports. SAA Council liaisons will be updating their respective groups with responses to their questions.
The next Council Meeting will be held on on February 17 and 19, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT both days. Agenda items and reports are due by January 13 to saagovernance@archivists.org. Register to attend meeting here.
Please note that in an effort to give Council members enough time to review the documents before a Council meeting, documents will be due 5 weeks before a Council meeting. Documents received after posted deadlines will either be moved to the next Council meeting or considered as an interim action after the scheduled Council meeting.
View the agenda and materials from the November meeting: https://www2.archivists.org/groups/saa-council/november-17-19-2025-saa-council-meeting-agenda
Meeting minutes will be available via the SAA website.
