The Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) announces a new, simplified approach to becoming a Certified Archivist (CA) with the removal of all education and work requirements to qualify for the examination.

Approved by the Board of Regents in February 2025, this change, effective with the 2026 exam, enables us to better serve and support the entire archival community. ACA recognizes that current and future archival professionals with diverse experiences and perspectives enter the profession through a variety of pathways. We embrace this diversity in education, experience, and identity through our new, unobstructed path to membership.

All pathways lead to ACA!

This decision brings ACA in closer alignment with our mission and allows us to reimagine the Certified Archivist designation as a resource available to the entire archival community: The move away from complex, expensive prerequisites eliminates requirements that imposed disproportionate economic pressure. The updated qualifications, ACA improves inclusiveness and increases accessibility.

Our vision for the future relies on the strength and resilience of our community. We invite all archive-focused professionals to join us as we move forward together.

For background on ACA’s decision-making process, we invite you to consult available additional information about the New Pathways to Membership Task Force.

2024-2025 ACA Board

Dara A. Baker, President
Stephanie Bayless, Vice President
Liz Scott, Regent for Nominations (past-President)
Mary McRobinson, Treasurer
Lauren Goodley, Secretary
Gina Nichols, Regent for Exam Administration
Amanda Focke, Regent for Certification Maintenance
Dina Mazina, Regent for Outreach
Cheryl Oestreicher, Regent for Exam Development
Julia Stringfellow, Regent for Member Services
 

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In February 2024, the ACA Board voted to establish the New Pathways to Membership Task Force (NPTF) to examine, develop, and provide recommendations for applicants seeking to qualify for the ACA exam and become certified archivists. The NPTF reviewed historical and current ACA practice, reviewed practices for similar organizations, and considered statistical and anecdotal data related to the profession. NPTF met monthly to explore alternative pathways for qualifying to take the exam and to create new opportunities for cultural heritage professionals and practicing archivists to join the Academy of Certified Archivists.

The Task Force Chair invited community members, approved by the ACA Board. Members served as subject matter experts, primarily advising, consulting, and making recommendations.

Special thanks to our task force members: Dr. April Anderson-Zorn, CA; Terry Baxter, CA; Dr. Lara Godbille, CA; Dr. Ashley Todd-Diaz, CA; Dara Baker, CA (ACA President 2024-2025);

Stephanie Bayless, CA (ACA Vice President, 2024-2025); Gina Nichols, CA (Regent for Exam Administration (2023-2027).

Ex-officio Members: Mary McRobinson, CA (ACA Treasurer 2022-2026); Lauren Goodley, CA (ACA Secretary 2023-2025); Amanda Focke, CA (ACA Regent for Certification Maintenance 2023-2027); Cheryl Oestreicher, CA (ACA Regent for Exam Development 2022-2026); Julia Stringfellow, CA (ACA Regent for Member Services 2023-2025); Liz Scott, CA (ACA Past-President 2024-2025); Dina Mazina, CA (ACA Regent for Outreach 2024-2026)

A special thanks to Terry Baxter, who brought his concerns about the high bar for becoming a CA to the ACA Board.

The ACA Nominations Committee is pleased to report the outcomes of the 2025-2026 Board of Regents Election. We're grateful to the 466 members who cast their votes, and to all the candidates who stepped forward in service to the profession. ACA extends its warmest congratulations to this year's election winners:

• VICE PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT: Rosemary Pleva Flynn, CA
• SECRETARY: Helen Macqueen, CA
• REGENT FOR MEMBER SERVICES: Samantha Dodd, CA
• REGENT FOR CERTIFICATION MAINTENANCE: Amanda Focke, CA
• REGENT FOR EXAM ADMINISTRATION: Gina Nichols, CA
• NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERS (top two elected): April Anderson-Zorn, CA, and Claire Jenkins, CA

Please join us in congratulating all those elected and in thanking every candidate for their willingness to lead and contribute to ACA's mission. We look forward to a dynamic and successful year ahead with your continued involvement and support.

ACA Nominations Committee
Liz Scott, CA
Ann Abney, CA
Emily Dominick, CA

To our CA community:

These are the times that try [our] souls…
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge…is the only guardian of true liberty.

- James Madison to George Thomson, 30 June 1825, Letters and other Writings of James Madison (1865) vol. 3 (with some help from Thomas Paine 1776)

In the last four weeks most of us have seen and felt the impacts of disruption culture at the heart of modern technological power. As archivists, historians, records managers, cultural heritage professionals, and digital pioneers charged with collecting, assessing, preserving, and making our history available to the now and for the future, grappling with the rate of change may seem nearly impossible. Those of us working now are the generations that went from radio to TV to video to video games to social media and sound bytes. We had a central core identity that we felt proud to be able to add to with new archival collections, new voices, new collecting areas, and efforts to add into the historical record those who had been ignored, erased, denied or shouted down. We are history, we are our record, and we are the lessons we’ve learned from the past and from our present. The core philosophy of ACA stands strong; we adapt and we are resilient. Being a voice for those who can no longer tell their stories is a sacred mission for all archivists and those voices and stories must be protected. The Academy of Certified Archivists members are experts in our fields, trained to support the American and international community through standards, through our ethics, and through our support of one another. I am proud to be an archivist in this time of change – and believe in the strength of our profession to pull us through.

The Academy will continue to support all our CAs, archivists and those in allied professions. We are planning the next exam cycle, updating recertification points, and continuing to organize salons to support CAs and the profession in 2025 and beyond. We are working on a list of resources that will be coming soon to our website. Thank you to the great work from our partner archival and cultural heritage organizations who have begun this work already for individuals and for the data being lost every day. 

For those who need an ear, a voice, or an eye on a resume, a collection, or a data preservation effort we encourage you to reach out to us. We will also be putting out a call for volunteers to help with resume review clinics and ways to connect with one another during this time of crisis and change. 

Sincerely,

The 2025 ACA Board of Regents