The Dues Referendum

Shortly, SAA will be conducting a referendum on a dues increase. Last May, the Council recognized a need for this increase, citing its support for maintaining a growth strategy for SAA as measured by the quality of its member services and the Society’s leadership role on behalf of archivists and the archives profession. The Society has set itself on a growth-oriented path with an ambitious five-year Strategic Plan, healthy but leveling membership numbers, a high-demand education program, a publications program that is working toward a successful e-publishing business model, and nascent advocacy and public awareness efforts. This growth strategy can be sustained only if SAA maintains an appropriate balance of revenues from both member dues and non-dues sources (i.e., product and service sales).

The Council presented the proposed dues increase to the membership at the Business Meeting in August. Comments were received from members at the annual meeting and afterwards. Following careful consideration of these comments and review of the objectives for the increase, the Council’s original proposal was modified to 1) create an ID8 category to acknowledge that some archivists’ salaries are well above the $75,000 that previously was the maximum salary reflected in the dues schedule (in the ID7 category) and 2) move to a more fully “progressive” dues structure based on an equivalent percentage of salary applied across all categories. The Finance Committee and the Council acknowledge that the proposed schedule moves toward a more progressive structure, but does not (yet) fully achieve that goal based on the critical need to maintain the dues income needed in years 1 to 3 to support SAA’s strategic plans and operational needs and to minimize the risk of attrition among the member categories that comprise approximately 51% of dues revenue.

More details about the proposal may be found at:
http://files.archivists.org/governance/election/1115referendum/briefingpaperproposedduesincrease.pdf. Included in the briefing paper are links to the discussion documents. Please take the time to read these materials and vote in the upcoming referendum.