Appointments Committee

I. Purpose

The Appointments Committee assists the vice-president/president-elect with the appointment process by identifying a pool of potential candidates for appointed positions to committees, boards, tasks forces, and official SAA representatives. The Committee provides a means to expand the pool of potential candidates by providing a mechanism for self-nomination of members who wish to be considered for appointments and consulting with current chairs for possible candidates. The Committee surveys the overall list of current and potential appointments to achieve quality, balance, and diversity of appointees both overall and within each unit. At the same time, the committee maintains an openness to appointing new people, especially through the intern program.

II. Committee Selection, Size, and Length of Term

The committee consists of three to six members (including the chair) appointed by the newly elected SAA vice president prior to the Annual Meeting at which s/he takes office. The committee chair and members serve for one year to assist in the appointment process. The chair from the previous year serves as an ex officio member. Membership should reflect the diverse groups represented within SAA.

III. Reporting Procedures

The committee chair prepares a list of possible candidates for each committee, task force, board, or representative position to enable the vice president to select nominees for the various posts. The chair consults with the vice president as s/he works through the list, extending offers of appointment to these individuals. After the vice president receives the acceptances, the chair prepares a final list of committee members for presentation at the first Council meeting at the Annual Meeting.

IV. Duties and Responsibilities

The Appointments Committee is responsible for the following:

• Requesting self-nominations by members and attendees at the Annual Meeting to give members a chance to express interest in serving on a committee, task force, or board or as a representative.
• Preparing announcements for Archival Outlook and possibly other newsletters, as well as the archives list serve or other electronic channels, to encourage SAA members to submit their names for consideration for committees on which they are interested in serving.
• Canvassing current chairs, representatives, councillors, officers, sections, and roundtables for suggestions.
• Preparing recommendations for appointments to be forwarded to the vice president.
• Following the Annual Meeting at which the chair completes his/her service, he/she will transfer files as appropriate to the next year's chair and the SAA Archives.
• The Appointments Committee chair will remain available to serve in an advisory role to the President to assist with filling vacancies or appointing new groups that arise during the President's term.

Approved by the SAA Council: June 1998