PRESENT:

CALL TO ORDER:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The minutes had been distributed by email prior to the meeting. Morna Gerrard moved to accept the minutes and Taronda Spencer seconded the motion. The Board approved the minutes unanimously.

Education:

A discussion then followed about costs and honorariums. Gerrard asked if the Board thought $300 was a good amount and noted that the workshop fees completely paid for the honorarium. Sheila McAlister said that $300 was all right and seemed to be in line with others. It was decided that the education chair is authorized to offer up to $300; the Board must approve any higher amount. Higher amounts will be determined on a case-by-case basis and the presenter(s) always have the option to refuse an honorarium.

Annual Meeting honorariums and reimbursements will be discussed at the January Board meeting. Sheila McAlister stated SGA should continue to adhere to State of Georgia per diems and travel allotments. Morna Gerrard suggested that for future workshops SGA should try to find alternatives to hotel meeting rooms where there are multiple costs such as room fees, set-up, equipment fees, food, etc.

Jill Swiecichowski moved to set a recommended amount for the workshop speaker honorarium of $300; any higher amounts requested by the education chair to be decided by the Board (in any forum, including by email). Kayla Barrett seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

Pamela Coleman moved that SGA travel reimbursements (air or mileage) and food per diems for workshop speakers follow current State of Georgia guidelines. Jill Swiecichowski seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

Pamela Coleman recommended that the education chair should be part of the Annual Meeting Committee. Sheila McAlister stated that she does not want to overtax the education chair. It was decided to leave it as is. Coleman suggested that the guidelines should state that the education chair be included on the Annual Meeting Committee email list.

OFFICERS' REPORTS:

Treasurer:

Treasurer Jill Swiecichowski was present and provided the current 2005 budget and the proposed 2006 budget. She stated that she has copies of the proposed budget for the new in-coming Board members as well. Swiecichowski reported that currently SGA has more income than expenses because the Annual Meeting expenses have not been paid yet. She stated that the incoming treasurer can have all of her spreadsheets.

Administrative Assistant:

Administrative Assistant Sybil McNeil was present and submitted a written report. She reported that there are 209 SGA members, back up to January's total. McNeil stated that not very many Annual Meeting registrations were sent straight to her; most were forwarded from the post office box.

McNeil reported that several people thought the Annual Meeting business lunch was a separate cost; those people will be refunded although some people asked that the extra money be given to the scholarship funds. She also reported that she would be sending out renewal notices and that the registration packets contained blank renewal forms. She said she hopes these blank forms will encourage people to update email addresses.

Archivist:

Archivist Michael Nagy was present and provided a written report. Nagy reported that there had been no requests for research or records. He said that he would be asking the out-going Board members for their records.

PUBLICATIONS:

Provenance:

Because Provenance is without an editor, Sheila McAlister reported on its status. McAlister stated that Susan Hoffius would be serving as interim editor. She also reported that several people had been approached about serving as editor but all replied negatively. One person had replied that right now was not good, but McAlister hopes that in a few months that person will be available.

Sheila McAlister reported that everything in the upcoming issue has been copy edited except for one article. She also reported that the amount of hours the Board agreed to pay the freelance copy editor was a good amount. She stated that Associate Editor Naomi Nelson will be leaving but Susan Hoffius already has Meg Moughan, a South Carolina archivist, lined up for that position. McAlister reported that four associate editors would be cycling off at the end of 2005 however there are some replacement possibilities.

Newsletter:

Miriam Hudgins was present and submitted a written report. Hudgins reported that the Winter issue was the last to be printed and mailed and the April issue was the start of electronic-only publication. She also reported that some new ad copies came in this past year.

Hudgins reminded the Board that the Winter issue deadline is 15 November. Hudgins stated that the new editor, Mary McKay, will work with Hudgins on the next issue. The Board had approved McKay via email. Greta Browning will serve as assistant editor.

Website:

Pamela Coleman was present and supplied a written report. Coleman reported that since the last Board meeting, she has spent about fifteen hours working on the website. She also reported that the website has received more visitors who are visiting more pages.

Coleman said she had sent statistics for the Archives Week pages to Jody Thompson for inclusion in her Archives Week report. Coleman reported that she had changed the user name and password for the newsletter so that she could keep separate statistics for the newsletter and the directory. She also reported that because spam has become such a problem with soga.org addresses, she will be removing the live email links.

Subscriptions Manager:

Subscriptions Manager Jody Thompson was present and submitted a written report. She reported that claims are down significantly, probably because the newsletter is available online.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Archives Week:

Archives Week Chair Jody Thompson was present and submitted a written report. She reported that there were 50 Archives Week events posted on the web site, up from last year's 35. She noted that Christine de Catanzaro and Mary McKay are next year's co-chairs.

Membership:

Membership Chair Valerie Frey was present and provided a written report. Frey reported that SGA had eight new members, including one member from out of state. Frey asked how often the directory should be updated; it was decided this will be determined at the January meeting.

Scholarship:

Scholarship Chair Gilbert Head was not present. Sheila McAlister noted that he would be at the Annual Meeting tomorrow for the business meeting and will award certificates to this year's scholarship winners at that time.

There was a suggestion that SGA could have another scholarship, similar to the American Library Association, to help fund upper level archives education. This was discussed, but was deemed impractical and cost prohibitive.

Nominating:

Kayla Barrett was present and gave a verbal report. Barrett reported that the ballots were mailed 30 September; 88 ballots were returned for a 45% return rate which is better than past years.

Following are the results of the voting: Vice President/President Elect-Jill Severn; Treasurer-Elizabeth Barr; 1st Year Director-Tamara Livingston; Nominating Committee-Laura Botts and Christine Wiseman.

Sheila McAlister congratulated Barrett for putting together such a great slate of candidates and stated that she believes that is why so many members voted this year.

2005 Annual Meeting:

Both Second Year and First Year directors, Pamela Coleman and Taronda Spencer respectively, were present and submitted written reports. Coleman thanked the committees for their help. She stated she was pretty happy with the final program and tried to provide something for everyone. Coleman said she was particularly pleased with the keynote speaker from NARA. She noted that there is no cost to SGA for the speaker because NARA considers this type of event part of her job and therefore covers all expenses.

Pamela Coleman suggested that the Annual Meeting guidelines should advise the chairs of out-of-Atlanta meetings to budget for higher travel costs. Coleman reported that, although there were a few speakers who were not able to come at the last minute, all have provided replacements. She also reported that the reception will not be at the Morris Museum because they do not allow auctions. However, she has arranged for a new location.

Coleman reported that although they were slightly over budget on travel, food, and meeting space expenses, they were under budget for supplies, printing, and postage. Coleman reported that there are 62 registrants.

Taronda Spencer reported that she had been working with the hotel staff, the reception site, and caterers. Sheila McAlister thanked SGA for always being so accommodating to all the vegetarians, vegans, etc. Spencer thanked the Augusta Convention and Visitor's Bureau for being so helpful during the entire planning process.

OLD BUSINESS:

Link checking software:

Pamela Coleman reported that there is lots of software available, including some that came free with some of the software that is already in place.

Search for new newsletter editor:

This was discussed earlier.

Handbook/minutes harmonization:

Sheila McAlister stated that SGA members should have received the proposed by-laws changes in the mail. Some previous changes made by the Board necessitated the changes in the by-laws. The handbook will be changed and approved next year.

NEW BUSINESS:

Honorarium/Reimbursement policies for Workshop speakers and SGA speakers:

Pamela Coleman motioned that reimbursements for Annual Meeting speakers who are not SGA members will be in accordance with State of Georgia rates; current SGA members will not be reimbursed to speak at the Annual Meeting. Taronda Spencer seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

Student rate for SGA Annual Meeting:

Pamela Coleman reported that most other regional organizations provide student rates for annual meeting registrations. Coleman suggested allowing a certain percentage discount rather than a dollar amount. Valerie Frey stated that this was a good way to encourage new members.

Coleman suggested a 50% discount since students have to prove their current status as a student. Valerie Frey noted that if there was a large student attendance, a 50% discount might cause SGA a loss by the time lunch, etc. is provided. Sheila McAlister suggested cost plus a certain percentage, but it was decided this would be too difficult to determine ahead of time.

Jill Swiecichowski moved that SGA set the student registration rate for the Annual Meeting at 30% off the regular rate; an SGA student member will receive 30% off the regular SGA member rate and a non-SGA student will receive 30% off the regular non-SGA member rate. Pamela Coleman seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

Airfare caps for SGA speakers/presenters:

This was discussed earlier.

Creation of an SGA Disaster Assistance Committee:

Valerie Frey reported that State Archives Director David Carmicheal would like to create a disaster assistance program. The idea is that it would allow the Georgia Archives to help non-government archives and create a kind of buddy system across the state. He would like to gather four or five people from around the state to form a committee.

Jody Thompson asked if the members had to be SGA members, but it was decided this would not be a requirement because some non-archivists should be involved such as IT people. Sheila McAlister suggested that SGA may be able to facilitate a finding aid swap online. McAlister also suggested that four-five people may be too few. Kayla Barrett noted that representation should be equal from the different regions of the state. There was a suggestion that there could be a kind of application or nomination process. Michael Nagy noted that representation by specializations may be better than by location and Kayla Barrett suggested that there might need to be both types.

Sheila McAlister suggested the creation of a focus group open to anyone, this group could determine the direction, ideas, etc. Then the actual committee could be formed based upon the ideas and specialties. McAlister then suggested that the SGA Board form a sub-committee to determine the diversity needed (locations, specialties, etc.) this would allow for a quick turn-around and then individuals could be recommended.

McAlister asked if SGA would play the leading role or partner with Georgia Archives. Kayla Barrett stated that it would be a partnership. Georgia Archives would probably handle the government and county agencies, leaving private agencies to SGA. SGA may then have workshops, etc. for our constituents.

There was then a short break.

It was decided that Valerie Frey will email the Board listserv for nominations and then move forward from there. It was noted that David Carmicheal wants the group to dictate the direction for the program.

Possibility of accepting credit cards and getting an SGA credit/debit card:

Jill Swiecichowski reported that she had spoken with the bank about the possibility of SGA accepting credit cards. A credit card machine would either have to be rented for $60 a month or purchased for $1300. Additionally, SGA would be charged for a percentage of each charge made. Sheila McAlister stated that these conditions made accepting credit cards non-feasible.

Swiecichowski reported that it would be easy to get a debit/credit card for SGA. She suggested getting a card for the treasurer, maybe one for the president, and maybe one for the administrative assistant. Sheila McAlister stated that it would be a good idea for SGA to have a debit card. Jill Swiecichowski then suggested that SGA could have multiple cards, or just one physical card and one other person could have the card number. McAlister suggested that SGA get one card to be held by the treasurer for the first year and then evaluate the usage and needs.

Swiecichowski motioned that SGA get a check card for the checking account to be used by the treasurer and that usage and needs will be evaluated in a year. Taronda Spencer made a friendly amendment that the evaluation occur sooner than a year. Valerie Frey seconded the original motion and Spencer withdrew the friendly amendment. The original motion was approved unanimously.

Possible donation to SSA/SAA fund for Gulf Archives from SGA: Sheila McAlister stated that it would be nice for SGA to make a donation to the SSA/SAA fund for Gulf Coast archives. She suggested $500. Jill Swiecichowski noted that both the savings and checking accounts have enough funds to cover that amount, as does the education fund.

Valerie Frey thought it would nice to involve the membership with a vote at the business meeting tomorrow, however, it was noted that such a vote had to be presented ahead of time. It was decided an announcement about the donation would be made at the business meeting.

Jill Swiecichowski suggested putting out boxes for individual donations and that some part of the auction proceeds (or proceeds from certain items) go to the donation. Sheila McAlister said she would talk to Gilbert Head about it.

Taronda Spencer motioned that SGA give $500 to SAA for the Gulf Archives fund. Valerie Frey seconded the motion. Michael Nagy asked if we need to specify where the money is coming from and it was stated that it will come from the checking account. The motion was approved unanimously.

Location and dates of 2006 SGA meeting:

Taronda Spencer reported that she has received proposals from several Atlanta locations. Hotel rooms (guest rooms not meeting space) average $100 a night. Spencer noted that the Georgia Tech Conference Center was too expensive. She also looked at Rome/Berry College and reported that Valdosta State had volunteered as a location.

Spencer reported that Atlanta History Center was willing to host the meeting. She also reported that she had considered the Atlanta University Center Archives, the problem is that there are no local hotels. However, there is one with a shuttle service. It was decided that if a parking area for Atlanta-based attendees could be arranged, the AUCA could work. This provides two good possibilities: Atlanta University Center Archives or Atlanta History Center. Kennesaw University was also mentioned as a possibility because the new first year director works there.

Valerie Frey moved that the SGA Annual Meeting, including the workshop, be held 01-03 November 2006 in the Atlanta area. Michael Nagy seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

There were no announcements.

ADJOURNMENT:

There being no other business at 8:48 pm, Valerie Frey moved to adjourn the meeting. Jill Swiecichowski seconded the motion and it was approved.