South Carolina Archival Association Executive Board Minutes

Archives and History Center, Columbia, South Carolina

July 11, 2007

    Present: Debra Bloom, Jim Cross, Dorothy Hazelrigg, Mike Kohl, Kate Moore, Suzanne Singleton, Heather South

    Vice President Debra Bloom called the meeting to order at 10:32 a.m.

  • Approval of minutes

    There were no corrections to the minutes from May 24. Mike moved that the minutes be approved and Suzanne seconded. The minutes were approved.


  • Reports of Officers

    Vice President: Debra reported that the SCAA social, held June 23 in York, was a “really fun” day. Eight people attended, with more than half learning about the event from the table display at the spring conference. Debra said she relied mostly on the email list to publicize the event, sending out a flyer in .pdf format, but found that many, many emails were returned. She stressed that the new membership officer should clean up the email list, especially since none of the current Board members were even on the list. Mike said that the mail and email lists had been ongoing problems, with constant need to be updated. Debra thought that the membership officer needs to be someone very proactive, making it a difficult position to recruit for, and Mike suggested that he or she be proficient in database administration and label-making software. Suzanne said that the webpage with pictures from the social, which is up thanks to Heather, looks very nice. Debra said that Dr. Eddie Lee, mayor of York, presented a nice tour, and she gave him a token of appreciation from SCAA.

    Treasurer: Jim said that the social netted $31. However, the Treasury CD that the Hart Endowment funds are in only allows deposits of $100 or greater. Jim said that this was an inconvenience, but that most investment options considered for the Endowment had a minimum deposit, and that the Treasury CD earns the most. He suggested withdrawing $69 from the general fund and combining it with the $31 to add to the Endowment fund. Suzanne said there was precedent for the move, since the Endowment was originally begun with seed money from the general fund. Mike moved that we withdraw $69 from the general fund as described; Jim seconded the motion. The motion was approved. Debra suggested that raising $100 should be the goal of the annual social, and that she will add that to the social-planning guidelines she is preparing. She thought that donations could be solicited from those who cannot attend the social, but who would like to contribute. Mike said he was looking forward to actually giving a scholarship from the fund. Debra asked what the purpose of the other SCAA CD is, and no one knew of a stated purpose other than as a “rainy day” fund. Jim said that having $5,000 in the general fund should be plenty, representing about a year's operating costs based on past expense models. Debra proposed putting some of the general fund monies into the CD. The consensus was that this could be considered after the fall conference. Mike suggested that at the annual Board retreat in January, we consider ideas of how to spend some of the money. Any ideas that the Board approved could then be presented to the general membership at the fall 2008 business meeting. He did not mean spending for its own sake, but really thinking of ways to enhance SCAA and its operations. In response to Mike's comment, a few ideas were floated, including using the money to help pay for nationally or regionally known speakers for conferences, or co-sponsoring a workshop (SAA or similar). Jim said he could consider rolling over the non-Endowment CD into a shorter-term investment for greater flexibility for withdrawal.

    Membership Officer: Henry Fulmer was absent; no report. Jim gave to Dorothy two new membership forms he had received and asked that she pass them on to Henry.

    Director: Mike said his report would pertain only to the fall conference, which will be addressed under “Old Business”.

    Newsletter Editor: Kate reported that she sent out a call for articles before the Fourth of July and had received only one, an article by Debra about the social. Kate herself is writing one on the spring conference. Suzanne said that she would like a call for awards nominations to appear. The information was supposed to have been put up on the website some time ago, but no one had been able to find it there. Kate thought she had passed the awards listings on to Nancy Piester, but was not sure and will check. The same information, including descriptions of the awards and past winners, can be pasted into the newsletter. Debra said she could write a quick note about tomorrow's (July 12) SHRAB meeting about Archives Week/Month. Heather will put together information on SHRAB disaster workshops. Suzanne wants to include an advertisement for the Endowment and encourage our members to apply for scholarships for upcoming conferences, including SAA, SCPRA, or even the American Association for State and Local History, which will be meeting in Atlanta in September. Information on the fall conference should be included in the newsletter also. Kate said the absolute deadline for this summer issue will be Monday, July 16.


  • Old Business

    Website: Kate asked Geoff LoCicero, again, to put together a prototype. She said he was very apologetic about the long delays in getting this done. He is going to try to get a sample design to us by the end of August.

    Nominating Committee: Suzanne asked if it would be feasible to put a call for officer nominations in the summer newsletter, considering the time constraints of getting responses in. She will decide on a deadline and submit an announcement to Kate, who said the newsletter should be ready within a couple of weeks. Suzanne said the job of nominating officers gets harder each year. Those who are active in the profession are usually active in other associations, such as Palmcop, and may be too busy to serve as officer. There are others who have served repeatedly in SCAA leadership. Lori Schwartz had been approached in the past about serving as director, but deferred until a later time. Suzanne asked if it would be problematic for South Carolina Political Collections to have 3 of their 4 staff on the Board. Dorothy and Kate thought not, but were concerned about the prevalence of USC staff in SCAA leadership. Mike said that it was natural that Clemson and USC be heavily represented, since they have suffered fewer drastic budget cuts and archivists at the universities often need to build up professional service for tenure or reviews. He said a director who wants to do the job is invaluable. It is also a plus that Lori is located in Columbia. Suzanne will ask her if she is willing to be nominated. For Vice President, Harlan Greene and Philip Stone have been suggested. Both are good choices, and if not interested, each might be able to recommend others. Other suggestions for various offices: Debra Hutchins, Susan Thompson, and Susan Boyd. Kate said that she feels she should step down from the newsletter editor position, particularly since she is involved in the production of another newsletter (soon to be two). However, she is interested in being nominated for Membership Officer. Heather asked if the newsletter editor needs to be from USC, since Geoff LoCicero, who has usually done the layout, is at USC. Kate said this was not necessary, since she and Geoff have worked via email, and Geoff does the work free-lance. She said the editor's job consists primarily of constantly trying to round up news and articles, plus giving guidance to Geoff on layout. Dorothy said that getting a reliable email list would probably make the editor's job much easier, as Kate has also had problems with her calls for news bouncing back. Debra volunteered to serve as temporary editor if necessary.

    Awards Committee: It was reaffirmed that a call for awards nominations will be placed in the newsletter and on the website.

    Audit Committee: Suzanne had requested that this item be added to the agenda. Debra asked what was going on with the audit. No one knew of any news. Jim had wanted to wait until after the spring conference to start on it. Suzanne said Elizabeth asked if C.J. Cambre had contacted us, but Suzanne felt sure that he would wait for us to contact him. Debra said she would talk with Elizabeth about getting the audit committee going.

    Fall Conference: Mike reminded the Board of the chosen theme: “Archives 101”. Herb Hartsook has agreed to speak on donor relations/deeds of gift. Agnes Corbett has agreed to speak on volunteers, but only as part of a panel. Debra said she had gone ahead and asked Grace Cordial to join the panel on volunteers. She said that Grace warned her that she had some negative experiences to share, and asked if that was all right with us. Kate and everyone else agreed that her perspective would be valuable. Debra said she would be moderator for this panel. For a third member, Marie Ferrara and Debbielee Landi were suggested. Debra said she would contact one or both of them, and suggested that panel members might be asked to bring copies of student handbooks, evaluation forms, etc. The patrons/reference session includes, so far, Graham Duncan, and the insurance session will feature Athena Westernen. Debra expressed confusion about what exactly we had envisioned for the format of the conference. Dorothy, drawing on notes from the last meeting, said that the idea was to have 4 topics/sessions, all attended by everyone, with the possibility of a less structured schedule to allow maximum question-and-answer periods, etc. There would be two topics covered in the morning session and two in the afternoon. Hopefully, each session will feature one short topic and one “long”, with more time allowed for the topics that will draw more discussion. Jim suggested planting a “ringer” in the audience to ask questions, break the ice, and get discussion moving when it gets slow. Heather thought a list of possible questions for each subject would be good. The patrons/reference session will probably be another panel discussion, with Nancy Sambets or Tonya Browder the proposed additions to the panel. Mike will contact the two of them to see if either is willing. Debra will contact Elizabeth about what Graham has been asked to do for us (i.e., is it okay if the session is a panel discussion?) Dorothy said that the insurance session will probably need to be more like a traditional presentation, since Ms. Westernen is a guest with outside knowledge that we need. Heather suggested that the patrons/reference session go last, so that if some people needed to leave, they would not interrupt our invited guest, and anyone who wanted to stay longer and ask questions could do so, with the indulgence of the panel. Mike outlined a proposed schedule: 9:30-10 for registration and coffee, welcome at 10, Herb Hartsook from 10:10-10:45, a short break, volunteers from 11-12, lunch and business meeting (no keynote speaker) from 12-1, insurance from 1-1:45, break, patrons/reference at 2, open-ended for extended discussion of that and other topics. The brochures probably need to be mailed 6 weeks ahead of time. Heather said she can work on designing them, with the help of the Archives' graphic designer, if he has time. She will email a draft to the Board for approval before it is printed. Everyone agreed that the catering should be the same as in the past, and most everyone liked the idea of having the same roast beef/vegetarian lasagna lunch as last time.


  • New Business

    The 2006 governor's proclamation of Archives Week was distributed. We want to have more events and better promotion for Archives Week/Month (October) this year. We discussed referring to Archives Month during the fall conference and the run-up to it, since our “Archives 101” theme ties in nicely with the concept. Jim said that SAA was trying to regularize the commemoration so that all states mark the same week/month, and that there was helpful material on the SAA website. Kate had printed some out, as well as some from other states. Ideas that were suggested for this or future Archives Months: posters, calendars, a calendar of events, information on various websites, a membership drive. This issue will be discussed at tomorrow's (July 12) SHRAB meeting, which Debra will attend, so there will be more to go on after that meeting.


  • Date for next meeting

    No one was sure if we needed to have another meeting before the fall conference, or if all matters could be handled by email. Debra suggested that Elizabeth may want to decide that.


  • Adjournment

    Debra adjourned the meeting at 12:37 p.m.