Deadline: Extended to August 6, 2023
The SAH Nominating Committee seeks nominations and self-nominations for five new SAH Board members. They will begin their term at the conclusion of the Albuquerque annual conference in 2024. Board members will serve a three-year term April 2024 - April 2027 renewable for a second three-year term, for a maximum of six years.
Position Description
All Board members are expected to fully engage with their oversight and fiduciary responsibilities by attending in-person and virtual board meetings, serving on committees helping SAH implement the SAH IDEAS initiative, ensuring SAH furthers its educational mission, and participating in SAH’s development and fundraising activities. Board member expectations can be found in the Board Participation Policy. While it is difficult to estimate the time commitment for Board positions, it is safe to say that on average five hours per month would generally cover committee work, with an additional five hours when Board meetings are held in the Spring (April), Summer (July or August) and Fall (November).
Creating Greater Equity and Accountability at SAH
SAH is actively working toward creating a more equitable organizational structure that is inclusive and whose leadership represents the wide range of perspectives in the field of architectural history at large. To that end, SAH welcomes the nominations and self-nominations of candidates who will add racial, ethnic, gender, national, and expertise diversity to the SAH Board; those who are working outside the tenure track, including contingent faculty; and those who are working outside the academy. Nominees should represent the diversity of the field of architectural history and contribute to a more inclusive discipline.
Nominations of emerging scholars and independent and non-affiliated historians of architecture, landscapes, planning, and related disciplines are welcome. Nominations of practitioners in architecture, historic preservation and related fields are also encouraged, as are nominations of professionals such as people in business, law and investments who chose architectural history as their avocation. All nominees should reflect a commitment to excellence in the field of architectural history.
Governing Structure of SAH
SAH is governed by two branches of one board: an Executive Committee and a Board of Directors. The Executive Committee is composed of the elected Officers—President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Assistant Treasurer, and Assistant Secretary— and one appointed Officer, the Executive Director of SAH. Serving in tandem with the Executive Committee is a Board of Directors that is constituted by a body of 15 voting members and a shifting number of non-voting Ex-Officio members who represent SAH’s publications, committees, chapters, and Affiliate Groups.
All voting members of the governing body are selected from a pool of nominated and self-nominated candidates that is reviewed by an SAH Nominating Committee appointed by the SAH President. The Nominating Committee deliberates about the current expertise needed on the SAH Board and prepares a list of finalists to be presented to the SAH Board as an information item at their November meeting and formally voted into office by the SAH membership at large at the Annual Business Meeting in April. Nomination and selection to serve on either the Executive Committee or the Board of Directors is a formal acknowledgement of several potential factors, including one’s contributions to scholarship or excellence within their chosen field, one’s long-term service to the organization, or one’s potential to diversify the future impact and oversight of the organization.
How to Apply
To submit a nomination or self-nomination, please complete the SAH Board Nomination form. Nominations will be confidentially compiled in the SAH office and forwarded directly to the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee is made up of five individuals who have been nominated or self-nominated to serve on the Committee through an open call. The five individuals are appointed by the President of SAH. Based on the Board positions that will be open, the makeup of the current Board, and those who will be rotating off, the Nominating Committee reviews the nominations and self-nominations and, through a deliberative process, selects the candidates who will best serve the priorities outlined in the call for SAH Board Nominations. Those priorities might include identifying individuals who will add racial, ethnic, gender and ability diversity to the Board; professionals with financial or legal expertise; architects, attorneys, and historic preservationists; adjuncts and contingent faculty; independent scholars, etc. The Nominating Committee members have conversations with the top candidates to ensure that they would like to serve, that they support the mission of SAH, and that they understand the time commitments and responsibilities of serving on a not-for-profit Board. Once the slate of board members has been finalized, it is shared as an informational item with the current Board at their November meeting. The slate is then presented to the SAH membership at large who vote either by electronic proxy ballot or in person at the Annual Business Meeting in April. The new Board members begin their service at the end of the SAH Annual International Conference in April.
The nomination form requests the following information:
- name and email address of the nominator
- name, affiliation (if applicable), email address and phone number of the nominee
- nominee's qualifications
- explanation of why the nominee should be considered for the SAH Board and what they would contribute if elected to the Board
- confirmation that nominator has reached out to the nominee to ask if they will serve
- nominee's statement of interest (no more than 500 words; please see criteria below)
- nominee’s CV
Submit a Nomination
Nominations will be considered on the following criteria and the candidate’s statement should address them:
- Achievements in scholarship, teaching, leadership, or other professional work relative to the candidate’s career stage and circumstances.
- Potential to diversify the board with expertise, perspectives, and professional connections that would complement those of current members.
- Capacity and desire to support the mission of SAH with regard to participation, recruitment, funding, and being an ambassador for the organization.
We greatly appreciate your recommendations and interest as we continue to build a strong and diverse Board.
Deadline for submitting nominations is August 6, 2023, 11:59 pm CDT.
