Archivist:
Archivist Suzanne Durham reported that she deposited 3 boxes of permanent SGA records with the Georgia Archives just before the meeting started. She thanks Board members for following the new retention schedule.

Durham also reported that she assisted Dr. David Gracy in finding records related to his term as SGA president and Georgia Archives editor. She also assisted Susan Potts McDonald in compiling historical information on scholarship recipients.

Durham asked members to weed their records first, before turning them over to the archivist.

Administrative Assistant:

Administrative Assistant Mandi Johnson reported that current membership stands at 122 as of January 25, 2010. She reminded Board members to renew their memberships if they have not done so yet. She is planning to send out a renewal reminder by e-mail to the SGA listserv before doing a print mailing.

President:
[Summary of Outgoing President Christine de Catanzaro’s report on 2009 activities that was submitted by e-mail but not reviewed at the meeting:

•·         Represented SGA at Governor’s Awards in the Humanities Luncheon on May 7 with Past President, VP/President Elect and Newsletter Editor; Georgia Archives Institute on June 11; and GHRAB awards on October 5.

•·         Encouraged lobbying for PAHR. Four Georgia Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor PAHR as of October 30.

•·         Continued efforts to work with archival and related organizations in the state and the Southeast. SGA worked with these organizations in 2009: Friends of the Georgia Archives, Healthy Collections Initiative (Morna Gerrard, representative), and South Carolina Archival Association.

•·         Held four Presidents’ meeting with Past President and Vice President/President Elect.

•·         Held two Provenance Subcommittee meetings.

•·         Held meetings with planning groups (Outreach/40^th Anniversary/Program/Local Arrangements/Website/Newletter) related to planning and publicizing Annual Meeting.

•·         Continued Outreach Committee (co-chair with Past President) and made initial plans to make it a full-fledged committee.

•·         Coordinated with First Year Director on plans for Annual Meeting 2010.

•·         Continued project of updating Board members’ duties.

•·         Helped coordinate the design of a new SGA logo.

•·         Made appointments for 2010 Board positions.

•·         She thanked the Georgia Archives and the Mercer University Library for continuing to make space available to SGA for Board and Committee meetings.

•·         She thanked all incoming and outgoing Board members for their work.]

Incoming President Jody Thompson reported that she met with the Past President and Vice President on January 15. She plans to continue the work of her predecessors with the Healthy Collections Initiative (if group receives grant), collaboration with other cultural resource managers and organizations, and streamlining year-to-year transition for outgoing and incoming officers, and representing SGA at functions. She will support new and continuing efforts of SGA in 2010: Outreach Committee, Mentor Program, Investment Committee and other initiatives of the SGA Board and committees.

PUBLICATIONS REPORTS
Provenance:
Editor Brian Wilson reminded everyone about Dr. Gracy’s pledge to match donations received by March 1 (up to $1,000 total) for endowment of the Gracy Award. Jamal Booker noted that SGA had received about $550. Wilson thanked those who have contributed already and encouraged everyone renewing their membership to make a donation at this time. He also asked for any ideas of ways to increase donations to $1,000 by March 1.

Wilson announced that Cheryl Beredo was awarded the 2008 Gracy Award for her article “Archival Allegory? Cultural Studies and T.R. Schellenberg’s Modern Archives: Principles and Techniques.” Now that the journal publication schedule is back on track, Wilson plans to award the 2009 Gracy Award at the Annual Meeting per the rules of the award.

Wilson also reported:

•·         2009 issue of Provenance going to the printers next week.

•·         2010 issue will be out in 2010. Already have received four articles for consideration, in addition to pieces that did not make it into the current issue.

•·         Plan to send out frequent “Calls for Papers” everywhere. Wilson requested that Board members let him know when they hear of good papers.

•·         Randall Gooden will not renew his term as Book Review Editor. Wilson thanked Gooden for all his contributions to Provenance.

•·         Susan Hoffius would like to apprentice someone as Managing Editor.

Jody Thompson thanked Wilson for his work in bringing Provenance up to date.

Newsletter:
Editor Caroline Hopkinson, accompanied by Assistant Newsletter Editor Meredith Torre, submitted a written summary of the results of SGA Website/Newsletter survey in 2009. See Old Business for discussion.

Hopkinson is also looking for someone to do the Institutional Spotlight feature. She asked Board members to let her know if anyone can help.

Website:
Website Manager Brittany Parris reported that Kevin Fleming has started serving as Assistant Website Manager. She thanked Abby Griner for her service as Website Manager.

Parris reported that she plans to contact Wild Apricot about switching to from monthly to annual payment plan to qualify for 10% discount, resulting in $60 saving per year. She also reported that she discussed ideas for Web hosting plans and domain name registration vendors with Abby Griner (current contract ends in August) and is exploring options.

According to statistics generated by Google Analytics, most traffic to the SGA website is direct (75.75%), rather than traffic generated by search engines (19.04%) and referring sites (5.22%). Parris will try to boost search engine and referring sites traffic.

Suggested a Website Redesign/Redevelopment Ad hoc Committee, to consist of Brittany Parris, Abby Griner, Kevin Fleming and at least two other members, to analyze the 2009 Website/Newsletter survey results and prioritize changes. Idea received approval from the Board.

Listserv:
Incoming Listserv Manager Ryan Speer reported that he received all relevant account information and passwords from Abby Griner. He has assumed day-to-day administration of the lists. Speer will remove all 2009 Board members from SGA Board List after the January meeting.

Speer also noted that some members are getting duplicate e-mails and asked everyone to let him know if it happens. Traci Drummond and Jamal Booker said that they have received duplicate e-mails.

Subscriptions Manager:
Subscriptions Manager Traci Drummond reported that she undercounted institutional subscribers last year. The correct numbers of subscribers in 2009 was 63 (down slightly from high of 69 subscribers in 2005). SGA has 60 subscribers already for 2010.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Archives Month Liaison:

Georgia Archives Month Chair Elaine DeNiro reported that sponsorships for the GAM poster have been verified and are the following: GHRAB, Georgia Archives, The Coca-Cola Company, Walter H. Hopkins Co., The Metal Edge, SGA. Committee members were contacted by e-mail to begin the design process for the poster. Connie Huddleston of Interpreting Time’s Past will donate design time for the poster.

Education Committee:
[Summary of Outgoing Education Committee Chair Elizabeth Russey’s report on 2009 activities that was submitted by e-mail but not reviewed at the meeting:

•·         Committee budget for 2009, expenses: $1,780.94; income $2,457.42.

•·         Forty-two people registered for the Spring and Fall workshops.

•·         Evaluations from the workshops generally ranged from good or excellent.]

Incoming Education Committee Chair Renna Tuten reported that the spring workshop planning is underway. Spring workshop most likely will be in Atlanta, since the fall workshop will be in Augusta. At the last Program Committee meeting, it was decided that SGA will be solely responsible for planning the Annual Meeting workshop.

Tuten said the Committee is also considering co-sponsoring a workshop with the Society of American

Archivists. Christine de Catanzaro said in the past, when SGA co-sponsored a workshop with SAA, we subsidized our membership: we would contribute $100 for each SGA member. Christine Wiseman agreed. Sheila McAlister said we have money in the budget and can accommodate that. She also noted that when we subsidized members in the past, we set a limit (such as first 10 members registered for the workshop).

Membership:
[Highlights of Outgoing Membership Committee Chair Jody Thompson’s report on 2009 activities that was submitted by e-mail but not reviewed at the meeting:

•·         Committee completed proposal for Mentor Program. Renna Tuten is chair of the 2010 Mentor Committee.

•·         Fox Theatre tour took place in July and Delta Heritage Museum tour took place in October.

•·         Committee emailed SGA Annual Meeting postcard to library schools and history programs.

•·         Office hours held at SAA Annual Meeting on August 14 by Traci Drummond and Courtney Chartier.

•·         Committee managed Web 2.0: Flickr, Blog, and Facebook (year-round).

•·         Board approved revisions to the Membership Committee handbook.]

Incoming Membership Committee Chair Christine Wiseman reported on plans for 2010, including: host two institutional tours, perhaps outside of Atlanta since all 2009 tours were in Atlanta; manage Web 2.0 for SGA; work with Outreach Committee to coordinate activities; and update and print new membership brochures with new logo. Proposed expenses: 500 mechanical pencils ($400) and 1,000 copies of the membership brochure ($850).

Scholarship:
[Summary of Outgoing Scholarship Committee Chair Courtney Chartier’s report on 2009 activities that was submitted by e-mail but not reviewed at the meeting:

•·         Awarded five SGA scholarships.

•·         Created Web donation form for all scholarships.

•·         Created Web form for Educational Scholarship applications.]

Incoming Scholarship Committee Chair Kristy Dixon reported on plans to implement Web form by mid-February for Banks and Dees Scholarships, and based on results, will implement for other scholarships. Will continue to coordinate with the Georgia Archives Institute regarding announcement of Hart Scholarship recipient (funds will not be awarded until GAI 2010 class announced). Proposed 2010 budget will stay the same as 2009, except the Weldon Award (for SAA conference registration) was raised to $100 (from $300).

Nominating:
Incoming Nominating Committee Chair Christine de Catanzaro reported that the Committee met on January 14 for a planning session and revised the Fellows Award procedures and nomination form. See New Business for discussion and voting on proposed changes.

2008 Annual Meeting:
[Summary of Outgoing First Year Director Lynette Stoudt’s report on 2009 activities that was submitted by e-mail but not reviewed at the meeting:

•·         Forwarded itemized budget of speaker travel and honorarium reimbursements to Outgoing Treasurer Jamal Booker to assist in reimbursement process.

•·         Followed up with speakers, reminding them to submit reimbursement forms.

•·         Reviewed Teresa Burk’s 2009 Second Year Director files.]

Incoming First Year Director Kat Stein reported that initial greeting e-mail sent to all SGA Program members; expect several SCAA members to join the committee in a few weeks. Soliciting ideas for sessions and speakers. Stein noted, since this will be a joint meeting, we need to decide when to have the Business Meeting. Lynette Stoudt suggested a session after lunch. Other Board members agreed.

Second Year Director Lynette Stoudt reported that the Local Arrangements Committee has one SCAA member, one joint SGA/SCAA member and expect more SCAA members to join soon. Since November 2009:

•·       Signed rental contract with the Augusta Marriott Hotel and Suites for joint annual meeting with SCAA to be held on October 27-29, 2010. Room rate: $125/night.

•·       Completed and submitted credit application to hotel in lieu of paying direct deposit fee.

•·       A small group, representing SGA and SCAA, met in Augusta in December to discussion joint planning arrangements. Took tour of meeting venue.

•·       Drafted and signed an agreement with SCAA detailing how the two organizations will equitably fund the meeting.

•·       Sent welcome e-mail to the Local Arrangements Committee.

•·       Started looking for Thursday night reception venue options near the conference hotel.

•·       Working with SGA and SCAA Board members, submitted draft budget for $11,600 expenses and $10,000 income.

•·       Reviewing the 2009 annual meeting survey and will share results soon.

40^th Anniversary:

There was no final report from Committee Chair Susan Potts McDonald.

Outreach Committee:

Incoming Outreach Committee Chair Courtney Chartier reported that since Outreach is a new committee, it had no budgeted expenses, but she asked for $50 to cover postage/copying as needed.

Accomplishments to date: continued updating the SGA Blog and held a brainstorming session with the Committee. Need to establish the official functions of the committee, including SGA Handbook entry. See further discussion under New Business: Outreach Committee.

Mentoring Committee:

Mentoring Committee Chair Renna Tuten reported on activities:

•·         Created a mentoring website: www.soga.org/mentor

•·         Worked with Ryan Speer to set up an e-mail address: mentoring@soga.org

•·         Placed applications on the website.

•·         Announced program creation via Newsletter, Listserv, and website homepage.

•·         Worked with Outreach Committee to create Blog posting.

•·         Emailed VSU, USC and GCSU professors about program.

The Committee is currently assessing applications to make effective matches (to be completed mid-late February).

OLD BUSINESS

Healthy Collections Initiative/SGA proposal:

Christine Wiseman reported that the program application was submitted; waiting to see if grant is funded. If it is funded, Jody Thompson will be SGA representative for HCI and will share the SGA mail list and her input.

Logo update:

Narrowed down from four to three logos after feedback from members at the Annual Meeting. Christine de Catanzaro emailed the three logo options to the SGA List. Members have until mid-February to vote on their preferred logo.

Raise in membership fees and adjustment to the bylaws:

Jody Thompson announced that we are postponing the raise in membership fees for a few years due to the poor economy.

Investments Committee proposal:

Jamal Booker reported that he submitted a request to the SGA List for members interested in joining an Investment Committee. Had two responses; should be ready to meet in two weeks. Committee will create a mission statement then submit it to the Board for review. Committee will then meet with SGA’s bank to discuss investment opportunities and will then make a proposal.

Advertising Package Sub-committee Proposal:

This business postponed. Caroline Hopkinson is contacting Annual Meeting vendors to offer a reduced advertising opportunity in the Newsletter. 

Website/Newsletter survey:

Hopkinson reported on the Newsletter data collected in the survey. She noted that some survey respondents reported it was inconvenient to have to log in with password to read the Newsletter, and asked for Board input. Traci Dummond noted that past discussions had left the Newsletter password protected to make it a member-only benefit and make the publication more a newsletter, and not just Web content. General discussion followed and there was agreement that the Newsletter should be open to all on the SGA website. Provenance will still be password-protected.

Renna Tuten made a motion that access to the SGA Newsletter on the SGA website be open and not password protected. Courtney Chartier seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Abby Griner noted the Newsletter has to stay in PDF format so we can archive it in Georgia Tech’s Dark Archives. General discussion followed about how the Newsletter in PDF format is not pretty but functional for archiving purposes. Hopkinson noted that the Web allows us to write longer text and add more photos. Sheila McAlister noted using Adobe Professional could make the PDF look nicer, but no one on the Newsletter staff has access to it. Hopkinson will see if she can find someone with Adobe Professional, who can save the newsletter as a cleaner PDF, and if no luck will work with Brittany Parris and the Web Reorganization Committee.

Brittany Parris reported on the website survey findings:

•·         Working on condensing suggested changes to the website collected in the survey.

•·         There were a lot of comments about the appearance of the website and that it is too plain. General agreement from the Board that we are not restricted to gray and blue for the Web templates. Christine de Catanzaro noted that those colors will be in our new logo.

•·         Will organize the Website Redevelopment Ad hoc Committee.

Hopkinson would like to make the Newsletter more visible on the website, so members can appreciate all the new content available in every issue. Jody Thompson suggested to Brittany Parrish is would be good to have Caroline Hopkinson or Meredith Torre on the Web Reorganization Committee for input from the Newsletter.

NEW BUSINESS
Adminstrative Handbook Calendars of Events/timetables

Jody Thompson requested that everyone check their section of the Handbook for needed updates. The Board must vote on changes to Bylaws and Handbook duties, but not timetables.

Flickr account:

Jody Thompson reported that we have reached maximum capacity for free Flickr account. She has asked Sheila McAlister to add $25/year to budget for unlimited image storage in Flickr. Board members agreed. Jody Thompson and Christine Wiseman have the account password and can add photos to Flicker.

The Board agreed to allow unlimited download from Flickr. Christine Wiseman will investigate setting that up.

Issues regarding Newsletter format and password protection:

This business discussed earlier. See Website/Newsletter survey results under Old Business.

Revising Fellows Program nomination procedures and form:

Christine de Catanzaro presented the Nominating Committee’s proposed revisions to the Fellows Award nomination procedures and form to the Board.

The Board approved the proposed revisions with one additional change to the Award Presentation section, item B: remove words “two to” so that section reads: “not more than three awards per year after the first year, …” Motion passed unanimously to accept the changes.

Christine Wiseman suggested that Mentor and Fellows Program contact information be retained in the Wild Apricot directory and kept current. Christine de Catanzaro agreed that was a good idea.

Georgia Archives Month

Jody Thompson noted that GAM is fiscally part of SGA, but otherwise independent, and asked for input on whether it should be made an official SGA Committee and added to the bylaws and handbook.

General discussion followed with general agreement that GAM needs to be independently affiliated, since there are other Georgia organizations represented on the committee. Kat Stein noted that Georgia is the only Archives Month group not originating from the state archives. Jody Thompson noted that she was the first GAM president who represented SGA, not the Georgia State Archives, and since GAM presidents pick their successor, it gradually became an SGA-affiliated role. Some discussion followed about the fact that a GAM liaison who was not an SGA member would not be eligible to be on the SGA Board.

The Board recommended keeping a liaison with GAM for financial recordkeeping only. The liaison would not need to attend future Board meetings and would consult with the President and Treasurer as needed. This decision was amended later in the meeting. See New Business: Approval of Georgia Archives Month liaison and co-chairs.

Outreach Committee:

Courtney Chartier noted that this is a new committee, not yet in the bylaws and handbook and functions need to be clarified now that the 40^th Anniversary is over.

The Board determined that that Outreach Committee should be outwardly focused on promotion of SGA to audiences beyond traditional archival groups to non-members and affiliated groups. Suggestions included:

•·         Reach out to other records management and humanities groups, such as GHRAB, for promotion of our organization and partnerships, such as workshops.  

•·         Reach out to small institutions that might have responsibility for archival collections.

•·         Assist President with legislative efforts like lobbying for PAHR.

•·         Blog work, which Chartier is already doing, fits in with this outward focus.

•·         Sheila McAlister noted that we have not awarded the Presidency Award for non-archival groups in a long time.

The Board decided that the Membership Committee would continue to focus on SGA members and library/archival students. The Membership and Outreach Committee Chairs will discuss division of duties (especially Web 2.0) further.

Jody Thompson asked Chartier to draft an Outreach Committee description for the Handbook and submit to the Board by e-mail for further discussion.

Mentor Committee:

Renna Tuten reported on the need to create a mission statement for the Mentor Committee. She will pull description from the proposal for the Mentor Program created last year.

Jody Thompson asked Tuten to draft a Mentor Committee description for the Handbook and submit to the Board by e-mail for further discussion. She noted that all Handbook changes need to be voted on by the Board and then the membership.

Responsibilities of Web 2.0 features:

Courtney Chartier suggested that she give all Committee Chairs administrative access to the SGA Blog so they have the opportunity to do their own posts. Chartier will continue to post for any Chair not comfortable with blogging. The Board approved.

Committee Chairs should let Chartier know their preferred e-mail address for Blog access.

Approval of Committee/Board members:

Sheila McAlister made a motion to approve all Education, Membership, Scholarship, Program, Local Arrangements Committees and the Provenance Editorial Board as listed in their Chair’s reports. Lynette Stoudt seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Approval of Georgia Archives Month liaison and co-chairs:

Several members expressed concern about the continuity of Georgia Archives Month if it becomes too disconnected from SGA. More discussion followed and agreement was reached to modify decision made in earlier during the meeting. See New Business: Georgia Archives Month.

The Board recommended that GAM be co-sponsored by SGA and the Georgia Archives. Christine Wiseman will make this proposal to the Georgia Archives and report back to the Board. Issue tabled until the next meeting. SGA Liaison Elaine DeNiro will be present at the next meeting.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Jody Thompson announced dates for Board meetings in 2010: April 30, July 30 and October 27.  [Note: The April meeting was later rescheduled to May 7.]

The Board decided to continue to meet at the Georgia Archives for the next two meetings (October meeting is in Augusta). Jody Thompson thanked the Georgia Archives for providing meeting space.

Brian Wilson announced that the 2009 issue of Provenance is an unofficial 40^th anniversary issue for SGA.

ADJOURNMENT
There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 1 p.m.

ADDENDUM TO MINUTES

Treasurer Sheila McAlister presented the final budget on February 17, 2010. The Board voted by e-mail, and the budget was unanimously approved on February 22, 2010.

Respectfully submitted on May 4, 2010,
Marie Force
SGA Secretary