A New Era
When I was elected to serve as association treasurer, one of my first thoughts was, "What will my first Money Matters column be about?" I view this column as a wonderful vehicle to communicate with and educate the membership regarding key operational issues affecting the association. Well, some time has transpired since the day the election results were announced and I have been busy with the initiation into my new role. I am dedicating my first column to providing you information about my role as treasurer, my background, and my perspectives.
One of the ex-officio roles of the association treasurer is to chair the finance committee. As the association expands its membership and the programs and services offered, the budget of the association grows as a result. The responsibility of the finance committee in guiding this growth is increasingly important.
The committee is comprised of five members. The chair is the association treasurer, serving a three-year term. One of the remaining four members is also a member of the board of directors. Three members are members-at-large, each appointed for overlapping terms of two years each. The overlapping terms provide the much needed continuity considering that at any given time the committee is examining at least five fiscal years while making recommendations to the board for long-term financial growth and stability.
The finance committee provides general oversight of all financial matters and determines the long-term financial implications of leadership decisions and initiatives. It is, therefore, not by chance that the treasurer is a member of the strategic planning and association office operations committees. The treasurer holds the responsibility to ensure that the finance committee is accountable for its fiduciary responsibilities, and that the association budget reflects the long-term goals set by the strategic plan and by the board of directors.
Because the officer election process has been moved to the beginning of the year, I was fortunate to be able to attend the spring meeting of the finance committee. It was good to see how the committee functions and how past treasurer Dick Wallace ran the meeting. In addition to gaining good practical experience, I got to know the committee members and staff better. I was impressed with how important the committee really is, overseeing the management of millions of dollars worth of investments and operating budgets, as well as representing the membership and making key recommendations to the board in funding matters. Much of the material reviewed is more "nuts and bolts" than in many other committees I've been on, or much of what the board deals with. Much of it seems like prudent business decisions rather than more abstract goals, vision, priorities, etc. Having our top professional investment managers meeting with us brought home to me the seriousness of our charge.
I have prepared myself for this role through my job and past leadership positions within SLA. In my employment as director of news research and archiving at The San Francisco Chronicle, which is nearly a 24/7 operation, I supervise thirteen people and manage a budget of more than $1 million. Beside supervising news research and archiving, my duties include evaluation, selection, and negotiation of biggish contracts for access to research databases for our whole news operation. Some additional duties include being the key contact for marketing our digital assets and handling copyright, reprints and permissions. We have nearly one million news stories and 200,000 digital photographs in our archive. I negotiate our "information provider" contracts with online vendors. Legal contracts don't scare me—I've spent a lot of time reading and editing them!
Within SLA I have worked my way up through a familiar ladder of assignments, beginning first in the news division as a committee member and then chair, to treasurer and then chair of the division. At the chapter level, it was a similar progression to position of president. At the same time I became an association committee member and then a chair. Soon I was elected to the board of directors where I served from 1993 to 1996. Now that I'm treasurer, I am once again on the board and as mentioned above serve in various leadership capacities which add additional responsibilities in setting the course for our organization. I feel that I have learned much in my many years of experience in SLA and now is the time to offer back what I've learned.
Over the years, one thing I've learned is that there are limits to what you can expect volunteers in an organization to accomplish. Yes, there are the occasional superstars who reach the unreachable, but by-in-large, we are mostly over-committed information professionals with hardly an iota of "spare time." This is why I appreciate our professional staff at headquarters. They allow us to chart the vision, set the priorities, but they are there to put the meat on the visionary bones. We need to work together closely with them, guide and nurture them, to make sure our goals are met, if not exceeded, in our quest for excellence.
I look forward to my term as treasurer and serving the membership. I realize that not all of the decisions regarding the finances of the association are always popular ones but I assure you that a great deal of time, effort, and planning go into each. I will use this column as a communications tool to keep you informed and solicit your input.
Please feel free to contact me directly. For more information, contact Richard Geiger, SLA Treasurer (geigerr@sfgate.com).
SLA Home Page | Join SLA Now | Feedback | Search
RSS
Feedback form
