2. Abstract (75 words):

Most archivists work out of love for their craft, and it would be rare indeed to go into archives "for the money." Nevertheless, issues such as low salary (compared to length and cost of education), the temporary nature of many jobs, and fewer opportunities for advancement are major hurdles to overcome at a time when the profession is struggling to attract a more diverse workforce and retain experienced practitioners. In this frank discussion, panelists at various stages in their careers will discuss their experiences and open a dialogue in effort to address the white elephant issues of the profession. What do a grad student, a newbie processor, a manager/hiring administrator, and an expat have to say about the state of the archives profession today, and where do you fall on the spectrum? Suggestions for positive change and provocative ideas are in the works...

3. Topics:

Advocacy & Professionalism

4. Participants: I have emailed a call for participants to the A&A listserve 10/02.

Session Chair- Christina Fidler/Dana Miller

Speaker 1 (grad student) Ann is going to look for one in the Austin area.

Speaker 2 (newbie processor) I contacted someone- can everyone else please contact one more person?

Speaker 3 (manager/hiring administrator) Kate is looking for someone?

Speaker 4 (expat who has left the profession) Ann looking for one in the Austin area.

5. Proposer- Dana Miller.

6. Format: Panel discussion

7. Educational Objective and Relationship to Meeting Theme and Priorities (75 words):

Archivists at all levels experience issues of professional sustainability in private and public ways. Job seekers face challenges in finding and landing a good paying, permanent job with benefits, while those who do hiring struggle to get enough resources to offer the competitive salaries and benefits packagesthat attract qualified candidates. Without incentives like good pay and job security, many potential archivists will opt out of or leave the profession, risking long-term professional sustainability, and devastating growth and change. We must first honestly address potential problems in order to begin to create solutions. Through this session, the panelists hope to devise possible solutions and attainable goals to address the fundamental needs of the archival professional.

8. Target Audience-

This session will help tobroaden their perspectives of archivists at all levels who have to deal with job seeking or hiring, and will help manygain insight into the values and desires of other players in the job market. Students and early career archivists especially will benefit from this session, which will help to clarify the professional landscape as they build their careers, as will anyone who has to do hiring also benefit from hearing what potential hires are looking for.

9. Will we accept changes from the program committee? Yes.

10. AV Needs- yes, a powerpoint will be shown to introduce and give data background

11. Group Endorsements- Issues and Advocacy Roundtable?