Constitutional Amendments Change Membership Catagories

by Jim Bowman

Amendments to the Bylaws of the ASA passed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on May 3 will clarify the meaning of membership for organizations and will offer reduced membership rates for students, seniors, and archives volunteers.

General Membership, which was previously open to organizations and individuals interested in archival work, but which in practice was only cost-beneficial for organizations, has been abolished.

Instead, a new category of membership, Associate Institutional Membership, will be available to "those institutions that support the aims and objectives of the Society, have paid the annual membership dues of the Society, but do not qualify for Institutional membership."

Individual Membership will be offered at a reduced rate to "Students (registered full-time in post-secondary institution); Seniors (age 65 or older); Archives Volunteers or Supporters (supports archives and archival work, but not directly employed in archives)." Membership dues are to be decided by the ASA Board of Directors (Executive).

Another amendment passed at the AGM will simplify and democratize the composition of the important Grants Committee. It specifies that the Committee will consist of the Institutional Member at Large, two representatives of the Executive, and two representatives from the membership at large, elected at the AGM.