I would encourage
anyone who is interested in supporting archives across Saskatchewan to consider
putting your name forward for the Board. It’s a great opportunity to meet other
archivists, learn more about the issues facing archives, and, of course, volunteer
work always looks great on a resume!
I’m about to start my
fifth year on the Board and I’ve had a wonderful experience. In my time on the
Board, I’ve learned about adjudicating grants, reading financial statements,
understanding bylaws and policy governance, and explored many other facets of
the workings of a province-wide professional organization. If you don’t have
experience, don’t worry! Neither did I when I started on the Board. I’ve also
had the opportunity to meet people who work in archives from around the
province: Prince Albert, Melfort, North Battleford, Regina, Swift Current,
Saskatoon, and others. Participating in the Board makes connecting with other
Saskatchewan archivists easy.
For Members at Large,
sitting on the Board is not a major time commitment. We have six meetings in a
year. Four of the meetings are half-day meetings conducted by teleconference
and the other two are full day in-person meetings, usually held in either
Saskatoon or Regina. The SCAA pays for all travel expenses for the two
in-person meetings and also provides lunch!
In addition to
attending Board meetings, members are also expected to Chair and/or volunteer
for at least one Committee. There are five major Committees of the SCAA:
· Grants (handles the adjudication of the Institutional
Grants Program)
· Education (decides on workshop topics)
· Governance (reviews and writes policies and procedures
for the Board)
· Public
Awareness (plans outreach
activities and strategies)
· Diversity
Working Group (provides advice
and strategies for improving diversity within the SCAA)
There are also two
additional Committees which only work for a short period of the year:
· Nominations (recruits new Board members)
· Audit (reviews financial statements at year end)
Board members can
volunteer to Chair or sit on the Committee(s) that interest them. As you can
see, the Committee work is diverse so we like to get people from a variety of
backgrounds and with a variety of experience.
The day to day
operations of the SCAA are run by our talented staff: our Executive Director,
Gloria Bearss, and our Archives Advisor, Cameron Hart, so Board members don’t
have to worry about devoting any time to the day to day. Our focus as a Board
is on “bigger picture” strategies and planning.
I hope that SCAA
members will consider putting their names forward for the Board. The SCAA
provides a number of valuable services to its members including workshops,
Archives Week support, travel subsidies, an Archives Advisor, as well as institutional
grants to name just a few programs. None of this is possible without the
volunteers who sit on the Board of Directors. If you’ve used an SCAA service in
the past, please consider volunteering for our Board to help keep the SCAA
going strong.
Bonnie Dahl, SCAA Treasurer
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