Dear SUV members:

Recently, I had the privilege of representing the Section on Archives of 
Universities and Research Institutions at the mid-year meeting of the ICA 
Executive Board (EB).  The EB generally meets twice each year (once at the 
fall Annual Meeting/CITRA and once in the Spring).  This April, the 
Federal Archives of Switzerland hosted the mid-year meeting in the Swiss 
capital of Bern.  In addition, on the day preceding the EB, the Chairs of 
all of the Sections met to discuss matters of common concern, both in 
general and in relation to issues on the EB’s agenda.  The Section Chairs 
Meeting has been a way for the Sections to develop a strong and clear 
voice in the direction of ICA business.  The following provides some 
highlights of the 18-20 April meetings..

–The EB approved acceptance of a bid from Brasil to host the 2013 ICA 
Annual Conference in Rio de Janeiro.  The tentative dates are in 
mid-October, and the theme will relate to transparency and citizen rights 
of access to information.  Meanwhile, the tentative plan is for a meeting 
in Europe in 2014 and for a meeting in Africa in 2015.  Based on an action 
at the ICA General Assembly last October in Toledo, the 2016 ICA Congress 
will be in Seoul, South Korea.

-There was a general discussion of the desirability of changing of the 
term of the ICA President and Vice-Presidents from the current 2 years to 
4 years.  Such a change is incorporated in the Constitutional revisions 
discussed below.

-The major item of business for the EB was a review of a proposed new 
constitution for the ICA.  Following a recommendation by the October EB 
meeting, a Constitution and Organization Sub-Committee worked to prepare a 
draft text with the intent of completely replacing the current 
constitution.  Sections were represented on the Sub-Committee by David 
Sutton, chair of the Section on Literary Manuscripts.

The overall goal has been to reduce the amount of complexity in the 
constitution by moving as much detail as possible to a set of Internal 
Regulations which could be adopted and amended by the Executive Board 
rather than being deferred to the Annual General Meeting.  Among the most 
important changes in the proposed text are: extending the right to vote 
and stand for office to Category “C” members (i.e., institutional 
members); eliminating the Management Commission and deferral of its 
decision-making powers to the Executive Board; lowering the quorum 
requirements for the Annual General meeting; authorizating Extraordinary 
General Meetings (with a higher quorum requirement) to handle occasions 
when the constitution must be amended; and creating a new entity, 
tentatively called “Expert Groups” which would function essentially like 
specially charged Committees or Task Forces.

The EB discussion of the proposed text was lively.  The changes would move 
the ICA toward a more democratic organization, but they also could alter 
the balance of power within ICA.  The phrasing of several provisions was 
debated and alternate text suggested.  Most importantly, there was a call 
that if the Internal Regulations could not be provided in writing before 
the new constitution is put to a vote at the meeting in Brisbane, then at 
least “heads of terms” outlining what regulations need to be written 
should be provided to the members.  The next steps include further work by 
the Sub-Committee to revise text based on EB’s discussion and then to 
prepare a final proposal in time for circulation to the ICA membership as 
whole in mid-June so that the notice requirement in the current 
constitution could be met.

-The EB heard a presentation on a marketing plan for ICA by the newly 
elected Vice-President for Marketing and Promotion, Didier Bondue. 
Following survey and research work via business school students to whom 
Bondue had access, it appears that there is a strong need to develop new 
products that will not only generate some revenue but also help develop a 
clearer image of ICA as a global organization.  This fall, Bondue hopes to 
work with further students to develop an action plan that builds on these 
findings.

-On the financial front, the EB received and approved a recommendation for 
a restructuring of the dues for Category “A” members (national archival 
agencies). The new dues rates will vary with the overall population of the 
country and the World Bank data on the country’s economic condition.  The 
initial formula could result in a decrease in dues for some members in the 
larger countries and an increase in dues for some countries in the 
developing world.  To mitigate the extent of change, an adjustment was 
accepted whereby no country’s dues would rise more than 20 percent nor 
fall more than 30 percent.

-In regard to the ICA Atom software project, it was agreed that ICA and 
the developer would part ways following the release of ICA Atom version 
1.2.  Because the original purpose of Atom was to be to support archival 
descriptive work in developing countries, version 1.2 would be an 
appropriate product to continue to carry the ICA name whereas any further 
development of an enterprise version would be of less interest to ICA. 
However, if the developers wished to so continue on their own with such 
developments, they could do so.

-The latest draft of the Access Principles were approved for submission to 
the Brisbane Annual General Membership meeting.  This version reflects 
considerable adjustment to make them more flexible, especially in regard 
to materials in private institution archives.

William J. Maher				University Archivist
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Room 19 Library					1408 W. Gregory
Urbana, IL  61801

Phone:  217  333-0798				Fax:	217  333-2868

E-mail:	[log in to unmask]