Distinguished Service Award

NEA grants the New England Archivists Distinguished Service Award (DSA) to individuals or institutions who are dedicated to the promotion of NEA objectives and who have made significant contributions to the profession, their institution, NEA and/or the archival community in New England. The award shall reflect the total experience of the awardee(s) and is based upon knowledge, leadership, participation and achievements in the profession.

2011 Ed Desrochers and Susan Von Salis

2010 Paul R. Bergeron

2009 Not awarded

2008 Ellen Cherpak

2007 Not awarded

2006 Award Recipient

2005 Award Recipient

2003 Award Recipient

2001 Award Recipient

2000 Award Recipient

Criteria

In selecting those who will receive the award, special weight will be given to archival activities that have had a broad long-term effect and may include, but are not restricted to the following criteria:

  1. involvement and work in NEA;
  2. education, leadership, advocacy and/or scholarly activities;
  3. impact of the nominee's work on the regional archival community.

The candidate's contributions will be measured by their broad distribution across all categories and/or an exceptional contribution in one particular area.

Eligibility

  1. A recipient need not currently be an NEA member but must be or have been active in the New England region for a significant portion of his/her career.
  2. Current voting members of the Executive Board [President, Past-President, President-elect, Secretary, Representatives-at-Large, and Treasurer] and individuals who have previously received the award are not eligible.
  3. An employee or member of an institution that received an institutional award may be awarded an individual Distinguished Service Award.

Procedure

Call for nominations:

  1. It is the responsibility of the President to place a call for nominations in the NEA Newsletter and on the NEA website.
  2. The DSA Committee will work with the Public Relations Coordinator, Newsletter Editors, Web Coordinators, Local Arrangements and Outreach Committees and others as appropriate to publicize the award.
  3. The DSA Committee may nominate or solicit nominations on behalf of candidates it feels deserving of the DSA. Any nomination solicited or submitted by a member of the DSA Committee will be judged on its merits as any other nomination would be.

Distinguished Service Award (DSA) Committee will:

  1. be chaired by the Immediate Past President;
  2. consist of the voting members of the NEA Executive Board;
  3. report to the Executive Board those candidates to whom the DSA will be awarded according to the guidelines below.

Submitting Nominations

  1. Nominations must be submitted to the Immediate Past President at least one month prior to the winter or summer board meetings to be considered/awarded within the next two NEA meetings.
  2. Nominations and supporting materials may be submitted electronically or on paper.
  3. Candidates may be nominated by more than one person.
  4. A nomination must include a letter detailing why the nominator feels the candidate deserves the NEA DSA. Additional materials including, but not limited to a curriculum vitae (resume), publications, work products, course outlines and evaluations, may be submitted but are not required.
  5. Nominations may be resubmitted if not voted upon favorably by the DSA Committee.

Reviewing Nominations

  1. All nominees receive consideration independent of other nominations also under consideration.
  2. A simple majority vote of the DSA Committee will decide whether a nomination is approved.
  3. The DSA Committee may postpone voting on a nomination if additional information is required; the Immediate Past President will notify the nominator(s) that additional materials are needed so that the nomination may be reviewed and reported on at the following summer or winter board meeting.
  4. The DSA Committee may only postpone discussion and/or a vote once. If the nomination is not approved, the candidate may be re-nominated at a later date.

Award Presentations

  1. Awards may be presented at the spring and/or fall meetings.
  2. Since this is the association's most prestigious award, the preference will be to present not more than one award per meeting; however the committee may present additional awards as the circumstances require.
  3. In the absence of an approved candidate(s), the award(s) will not be made.

Notification

  1. It is the duty of the President to inform in writing the recipient(s) and the recipient(s)' employer(s) of the NEA's intention to present the Distinguished Service Award at the next NEA meeting.
  2. In addition, press releases may be sent to appropriate professional journals.
  3. The Immediate Past President or his/her designee will notify in writing nominators of the DSA Committee's decision.
  4. An official announcement of the DSA recipient(s) will appear in the issue of the NEA Newsletter in which the award is mentioned in the Executive Board minutes.

The Award

  1. The Immediate Past President is responsible for producing a certificate with the appropriate inscription.
  2. The nominator may, at the request of the President and Immediate Past President, participate in presentation of the award.

DSA Files

  1. DSA files will be sent to the NEA Archives when deemed appropriate by the DSA Committee chair.
  2. DSA files will be turned over to the next Immediate Past President at the Annual Meeting.

Previous award recipients: