SAA MEMBERSHIP

How much are dues?
Dues levels are based on annual income:

For income below $15,000, dues are $25.00
For income between $15,000 and $24,999, dues are $45.00
For income between $25,000 and $39,999, dues are $60.00
For income between $40,000 and $54,999, dues are $75.00
For income between $55,000 and $69,999, dues are $85.00
For income between $70,000 and $89,999, dues are $95.00
For income between $90,000 and $114,999, dues are $110.00
For income $115,000 and above, dues are $125.00

How do I know if I am a member in good standing?
Your membership status may be confirmed online by logging in on the SAA website.

If I paid my membership dues in February, why do they expire in June?
SAA membership runs on an academic calendar. All membership dues are payable in September and expire in June. Memberships renewed just prior to an Annual Meeting will be due again in a few months' time. (Those who pay dues in February in order to attend an Annual meeting in March or April will need to renew their membership in order to register for the seminars or workshops announced in any June Bulletin.)

How do I use the SAA website if I've forgotten my password?
The SAA website can automatically send a password link to your e-mail address. Click on the "Forgot Password" button and the link will be sent with instructions to establish a new password.

Please recognize that the "Forgot Password" button does not send a message to our offices. To contact us, please e-mail us or telephone 202.687.6315. We always prefer that you contact us with any problems. If you simply start a new account, for example, this causes a false duplicate in our database.


THE SAA ANNUAL MEETING

How do I learn about the annual meeting?
The SAA publishes two online bulletins each year. The June bulletin announces the program of the next year’s conference, including the seminars and workshops open for our 15 September registration deadline. Each January bulletin gives conference registration information, hotel registration information, and a detailed conference schedule.

Can graduate students join the SAA?
Participation in SAA seminars and workshops is reserved for students at the dissertation stage of their graduate work. This status must be confirmed by students’ dissertation directors. Graduate students at the dissertation stage are not eligible to lead seminars, but they are eligible to present papers in public sessions and to submit papers in the SAA’s annual open competition.

Do I have to be in a seminar and write a paper to come to the conference?
No, not at all. Many of our attendees choose to audit sessions. Newcomers to the SAA and students in the earlier stages of graduate work may wish to familiarize themselves with the Association's proceedings by attending a meeting's paper sessions and auditing seminars and such workshops as are open to membership (some workshops are closed at the request of their leaders).

May I attend a seminar for which I have not registered?
With few (announced) exceptions, seminars and workshops are open to auditors. Auditors are permitted to join in the discussion only when invited to do so by the seminar or workshop leaders(s), and then only during the last twenty or so minutes of the session, at the discretion of the leader(s).

When is the Annual Meeting registration fee due?
The conference registration fee is payable after 1 January of the conference year. The conference registration fee and annual dues are separate payments. Only members in good standing may register for the SAA Annual Meeting.

Is there a one-day fee for the Annual Meeting?
No, not at this time.

May I bring a guest to the Annual Meeting?
Guests of registered members are welcome at all paper sessions, film screenings, and coffee breaks at no cost. Guest tickets to the Annual Luncheon, special evening events, and the SAA/Malone Society Dance may be purchased for guests.

How much will the hotel room cost?
Each year, room-rate information is given in the June and January bulletins.

How do I reserve a room at the hotel?
Hotel reservation information is included in each January Bulletin and also available online after 1 January.

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

How do I register for a seminar or workshop?
Registration for seminars and workshops begins in June and ends on 15 September. Members are assigned to seminars and workshops on a first-come, first-registered basis. You must make four selections when you register. Only members in good standing may register for seminars or workshops for SAA Annual Meetings.

When will I learn which seminar I have been assigned?
Formal letters of invitation are mailed to all participants in early October. This letter will state the name of the session for which you are registered and will identify the session leader(s).

You have a first-received, first-registered seminar policy. If I am going to be placed in my first-choice seminar, why must I wait until early October to be notified of it?
For two reasons. First, all seminar and workshop leaders are entitled to invite up to four people to take part. They have until 1 September to notify us of their invitational list. Some invitees do not know before then whether they can accept the invitation or whether they will receive travel funding. That means that until 1 September we do not know whether a seminar or workshop has 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 spaces to be filled by open enrollment. Second, some seminars and workshops are so heavily oversubscribed that we ask their leader(s) whether we might schedule two sessions. Until the registration deadline, we do not know which seminars and workshops will be the most popular. That means that until 15 September we do not know whether a seminar or workshop has 16 spaces total or 32.

If the seminar registration deadline is 15 September, why don’t I hear before early October?
In late September, the registration process is briefly on hold as we contact selected seminar and workshop leaders about running double sessions (see above). It then takes at least a week to generate enrollment lists for the seminar and workshop leaders and also personalized letters of notification to each seminar participant. There are between 700 and 800 individualized letters. Most colleges and universities still request hard-copy letters of invitation on letterhead.

When I receive my letter of invitation should I contact my leader?
No. Your leader(s) will contact you and your fellow participants by the end of October.

When is my seminar paper due and how long should it be?
By the end of October you should hear from your seminar or workshop leader(s) concerning the requirements for your seminar.

Why are there double sessions for some seminars?
Let’s say that 31 people make Seminar A their first choice. Just 5 people choose Seminar B, and 11 choose Seminar C. You might think that all we need do is bump 11 people from A to B, and 4 more from A to C. The problem is that the 15 extra people in Seminar A have not expressed any interest in Seminars B or C. Their second, third, and fourth choices may be for Seminars D, E, and F, each of which which already has 16 people or more. If we have just one session of Seminar A, that means that besides the 15 people who don’t get their first choice for Seminar A, there are 15 more who get bumped out of their first choices for Seminars D, E, and F, if the dates of registration so dictate. And those 15 may bump 15 others. When we don’t take demand into account, the ripple effects are long. Our working assumption is that it is better for each SAA member, and for each SAA seminar, if as many people as possible are placed in their first seminar choices. Double sessions ensure this not only for those in the double sessions, but also for those in many other seminars.

We encourage those leading two sessions to treat each one as independently as possible. This is in keeping with our firm enrollment caps of sixteen per seminar. No one (outside the seminar leader) should be required to read more than fifteen other papers. If the reading load is manageable, there’s no excuse for people not to complete it, and advanced reading is what fuels each seminar discussion.