TreasurerDeirdre A. Scaggs
What experience do you bring to the table that would help you manage MAC’s financial priorities? How would your approach enhance financial planning for MAC? I have a range of experience that will help me manage MAC’s financial priorities. As associate dean of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at University of Kentucky Libraries I manage many different budgets. These vary from set allocated financial resources to endowment investments and expenditures. As a member of UK Libraries Executive Council I have input on the overall libraries’ collections, operating, and personnel budgets. We make decisions about carry forward requests, one-time purchases, and recurring costs. Additionally, I am the primary advocate for SCRC and have to explain our expenditures and rationale for new financial requests. I am accustomed to making difficult decisions to advance the mission and vision of an organization with limited resources. I work with donors on a regular basis. Often that conversation involves tax deductions, monetary donations, or even establishing endowments. These conversations vary in complexity. This past year I served as co-chair of the Local Arrangements Committee for the Lexington MAC Annual Meeting. In this capacity I gained valuable experience on the financial side of the conference both in terms of meeting expected revenue and in working with the MAC treasurer to ensure that vendors were paid, that donations were properly received/acknowledged, and that the budget balanced at the end. For MAC’s financial planning, I will provide responsible oversight and open communication regarding resources. Having also served as a member of MAC’s Council I know how important it is to match the goals of MAC membership and leadership to the practical aspect of MAC’s bank account and investments. How we grow and convey those investments is critical to the success of our organization. I will listen effectively to the membership and also to the leadership, so that I can critically examine our financial opportunities to grow with intention and promise. I love being a member of MAC, and it would be my privilege to serve the organization in this way. Top
What experience do you bring to the table that would help you manage MAC’s financial priorities? How would your approach enhance financial planning for MAC? I have enjoyed serving as MAC’s treasurer for the past two years. I brought some financial expertise in managing the budget of my institution, as well as serving on boards of other organizations, but have learned a lot during this past term about MAC’s financial systems, tools, and contractors. The job requires a close attention to detail, as well as an ability to look at the bigger financial picture of the organization and forecast needed steps to take to serve the membership. I feel that I am able to bring these skills to the position. In putting together the 2016 MAC budget, I created a number of trend reports for the last several years, allowing us to more accurately predict our income and expenses. I also have become adept at MAC’s membership and financial website, our spreadsheets, and accounting programs. I have worked with MAC’s vendor coordinator, Local Arrangements Committees, Council, and others in providing advice and guidance in financial and other matters. I have also worked to reduce our expenses related to Memberclicks by examining various contract options to lower our fees. I have also worked with our insurance company to provide coverage for MAC events. I would be pleased to serve another term as the MAC treasurer. Top |
Deirdre A. Scaggs is the Associate Dean of the Special Collections Research Center and Director of the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center at the University of Kentucky Libraries. Previously she served as Director of Archives and as the University Archivist. Within the field of archives her specialty is in photographic resources and history. Prior to her work at UK, Scaggs worked on the Historic Pittsburgh Project at the Archives of Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh. She holds an M.L.I.S. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.F.A. from Ohio State University. Deirdre is the author of Women in Lexington, a pictorial history of everyday and notable women, and the article “The Appraisal of Amateur Photography.” She published The Historic Kentucky Kitchen through the University Press of Kentucky in the fall of 2013. Scaggs has been a member of MAC since 2005 and has served as Co-chair, Local Arrangements Committee, 2013-2015; on MAC Council, 2009-2012; Local Arrangements Committee, 2006-2008; and on the Program Committee, 2006-2007. 
Joel Thoreson serves as Archivist for Management and Reference Services at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. He received his M.A. in History and Museum Studies from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and his B.A. from Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Previously he worked at the Nebraska State Historical Society, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Hennepin County Historical Society. He has presented at the Midwest Archives Conference and the Lutheran Historical Conference and has served on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference and on the Steering Committee for the Archivists of Religious Collections Section of the Society of American Archivists.