Two SJSU School of Information faculty members and one member of the Master of Archives and Records Administration degree program advisory committee are hoping to take the lead in the Society of American Archivists.

Members of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) will soon be voting in their 2016 election, and two San José State University (SJSU) School of Information (iSchool) faculty members and one member of the Master of Archives and Records Administration (MARA) program advisory committee are hoping to take the lead in the organization. Lori Lindberg is running for SAA vice president/president-elect, and Geof Huth and Erin Lawrimore are both running for positions on the SAA Council.

Lindberg, a lecturer at the SJSU iSchool, was nominated by the SAA nominating committee, and said that it was “a tremendous honor” and “a mark of professional achievement and respect” to be chosen to run for the highest leadership position in the association. “It’s like getting an Oscar nomination!” she quipped.

If elected, Lindberg, will serve a one-year term as vice president of SAA starting in August, 2016, and then become president of SAA the following year. Describing what she would do if elected, Lindberg explained that she would provide continuity with past leadership and pursue two initiatives of her own, “Bring it!” and “Get ‘er Done!”

Lindberg’s “Bring it!” initiative would focus on meeting challenges head on and finding ways to resolve them successfully. “If we are eager to face challenges and lean on each other for support, ideas and implementation, I believe we can make SAA a more agile and responsive organization than ever,” explained Lindberg.

The idea behind the “Get ‘er Done!” initiative would be to implement ideas for the organization’s work to get done more efficiently and effectively. In addition to looking for new sources of funding, Lindberg would focus on making wise investments in technology that would make e-courses and e-publications easier to deliver and more cost-effective.

Lawrimore, also a lecturer at the SJSU iSchool, is running for a three-year council position. SAA Council members make up the organization’s governing body. According to the SAA website, the Council is “responsible for ensuring SAA’s financial stability and growth, developing and implementing the Society’s strategic priorities, providing overall leadership and direction for SAA and its component groups, building and coordinating relationships with individuals and groups outside of SAA, and providing oversight of the Society’s executive office.”

Lawrimore first joined SAA in 2001, and she has had the opportunity to work with many of the organization’s different committees and groups over the years. She decided to run for a leadership position in SAA “because I am interested in working to ensure that SAA is a strong organization that will advocate for archivists and the archival profession, now and in the future.”

Drawing on her 14 years of experience with SAA, Lawrimore has identified areas where the work of the group could be improved. “For example, SAA has done admirable work toward diversifying the profession with the creation of the ARL/SAA Mosaic Program, but the Mosaic Scholarship that SAA itself awards has seen its funds nearly depleted,” she stated.

As a member of the advisory committee for the SJSU iSchool’s MARA program, Huth, who is also director of the New York State Archives’ Government Records Services “works with MARA faculty regarding curricular issues to ensure that the program remains up-to-date with current professional developments.” He is running for a one-year term on the SAA Council, and, if elected, plans to focus on “transparency and responsiveness within SAA.”

“I believe that SAA Council has become better at embracing transparency and responding quickly to members’ viewpoints,” he commented. “I also believe that improvements are possible. When I was on Council, I encouraged us to release information to members as soon as we could and to welcome whatever comments we received. When discussing these comments, I noted that, as individuals with a public role, we had to understand that our role was to evaluate the points being made as coolly and rationally as we could.”

The SAA elections will be held online between March 14 and April 3, 2016. Members who are in good standing on February 29, 2016 will be eligible to vote in the election. For more about the candidates and the 2016 SAA election, please visit the SAA website.