In an ongoing series during CAA Steering Committee Election time, we hear from Steering Committee member Gretchen Neidhardt about the time and commitment needed for Steering.

Joining Steering Committee has been a volunteer opportunity that has been fun, rewarding, and valuable. The time commitment for Steering is certainly something to take into account but has never felt burdensome or overwhelming. We meet one evening per month at rotating locations, and everyone’s work schedules, work locations, and homes are taken into account. There are many different roles within the Steering Committee and those require different levels of commitment, but I have found the committee to be incredibly accommodating of all of our needs.

Our monthly meetings last approximately two hours and depending on what else is going on with CAA, the time commitment outside of those meetings is around 1-3 hours a month. During meetings, we discuss membership, financial outlook, subcommittee activities, and other projects as they are occurring, including initiatives like Chicago Open Archives.

Joining the Steering Committee is an incredibly rewarding experience for a relatively small time commitment and I recommend it highly as a way to connect more with your archival community and affect change in our archival area.