Report of the ACH Employment Committee

• Stephen Ramsay (Chair)
• Julia Flanders
• Wendell Piez

14 May 2007

The Employment Committee continues to maintain the ACH Jobs Database, which saw a total of 31 jobs posted since July 4th of 2006. As in previous years, the jobs advertised reflect the diversity of the field, with advertisements for academic positions (including postdoctoral fellowships and professorships), positions within academic research groups, and a wide range of employment opportunities within academic research libraries.

We also continue to develop and maintain the ACH Mentorship Program, which endeavors to match job seekers (typically graduate students) with more senior members of the field. We had an unusually low response to this year's call for new mentors and mentees, though we successfully paired five new mentees with mentors in the U.S. and Europe. We try to encourage mentors to "re-up" with the program every year, so we have current contact information, but this request isn't always heeded. However, we have yet to receive a refusal from any person we've approached about becoming a mentor -- even if they've never formally volunteered for the program.

We had a number of requests this year for clarification on the nature of the Mentorship Program with respect to non-ACH members and mentees located outside of North America. While we are happy to let the Mentorship Program be put forth as a benefit of membership in the Association, the committee feels strongly that the service should be open to all. Our ability to assist mentees in any particular country is partially constrained by the list of mentors available from year to year, but we make every effort to help anyone who approaches us. We hope the Executive Committee can come up with innovative ways to make sure that members of the ALLC, SDH-SEMI, and mentees outside of North America are aware that the program is open to them.

At the 2000 meeting in Glasgow, the ACH Executive Council held a panel on the job market in digital humanities, and at last year's meeting, this committee suggested a similar forum for this year's convention. The Executive Committee approved the use of the special session for this purpose, and the members of this committee would like to thank Ray Siemens and David Hoover for helping to plan and advertise the session for this year.

We are also pleased to report progress on action items from last year regarding the expansion of job-related activities at the annual meeting. This year, we will be offering badge stickers for job seekers and mentors, with the hope that we can encourage more interaction between the committee and its constituents (particularly during the opening reception). We will also be sponsoring a jobs table during the second poster session, and we have approached the ADHO Coordinating Committee about making this a permanent part of the poster program at the annual meeting.

This will be my last year on the ACH Executive Council. The chair of this committee is traditionally drawn from the EC, though members of the committee need not be on the Council. I would therefore like to suggest that the Council choose a new Chair at our meeting in June.

It has been a great pleasure being involved with this program, the success of which is due entirely to the vision and dedication to the community exhibited by its founders, Julia Flanders and Wendell Piez. Future chairs of this committee can be assured that the experience broadens both one's sense of the discipline and of the great stream of talent and enthusiasm that flows into each year.

For the Committee,

Stephen Ramsay