The NYS Department of Education is about to hire a new State Archivist to replace Christine Ward who left the position in August.
News about the change has only come via a single announcement at www.statejobsny.com, which provided just one week for applications (that week ended Monday).
New York State does not have an independent State Archivist. The New York State Archivist’s job title is technically “Assistant Commissioner for Archives and Records of the New York State Archives” under the direction of the Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education in the Education Department Jeffrey W. Cannell.
The State Archivist is also an Executive Officer of the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, and the coordinator of the State Historical Records Advisory Board. “The Assistant Commissioner manages approximately 70 employees, along with a yearly budget of approximately $6.5 million in addition to grant programs totaling approximately $6 million each year,” the job announcement says. The job listing does not identify the amount of compensation, but according to the Empire Center’s SeeThroughNY database Christine Ward, who became State Archivist in 2003, was paid $151,000 in 2013.
In reply to questions seeking to clarify why the State Archivist position was advertised only on a single state website, Antonia Valentine of the NYSED Office of Communications said “Although the Department was not required to post the opening for the Assistant Commissioner for Archives due to the jurisdictional class of this position, the job was posted on the NYStateJobs website. The NYStateJobs website is freely accessible to those interested in seeking employment in state government and markets job openings to a broad audience.”
Cultural Education Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey W. Cannell was appointed in 2007, after serving as the Director of the Albany Public Library. The Office of Cultural Education is responsible for the New York State Library, the State Archives, the Office of Educational Television, and the New York State Museum, including the NYS Museum History Research Centers, what remains of the Museum’s history office, and the NYS Historian.
Photo: New York State Cultural Education Center courtesy Wikimedia user UpstateNYer.
[…] “We are pleased and honored to recognize Regent Emerita Chodos for her work over almost 30 years to help the State Archives build a program promoting the value of primary sources in education,” Interim State Archivist Thomas J. Ruller said in the press statement. Ruller has replaced former State Archivist Christine Ward while the Board of Regents has discreetly set out to hire a new State Archivist. […]