At the AGM on 25 September, members will elect a new committee to lead PHANZA over the next year. The committee – comprised of the president, secretary, and treasurer and up to six other members – supports our membership by developing resources and opportunities, coordinating PHANZA publications, and championing the importance of history, historians, and historical institutions.
To be effective and efficient, the committee needs members with a wide range of skills in administration, advocacy, and engagement. The committee’s work might include a broad range of work like updating the website, revising internal policies and procedures, coordinating submissions on legislation, or organising member events. The committee usually meets online once a month.
If you are interested in being nominated for a committee role, please register your interest by writing to Rebecca and Matthew at phanzapresident@gmail.com by 11 September. We are happy to answer any questions and early expressions of interest will help us to plan for the future of the association.
Here are some of the role descriptions from the current committee. The work is also supported by the association’s executive assistant.
(Co-)President
The president’s responsibilities have often included:
- Chairing the AGM and monthly committee meetings
- Responding to inquiries from outside organisations
- Representing PHANZA externally to the media, government, institutions, and other professional bodies.
- Meeting with a network of associated associations and organisations every two months
- Meeting with the National Librarian Pouhuaki and Chief Archivist Poumanaaki
- Leading, or playing a significant role, in the advocacy work of the association
Since September 2024 PHANZA has had co-presidents, and the proposed constitution will formalise the possibility for officer roles to be shared. If you and a second individual are interested in sharing a role, please let us know. In a shared role, the exact division of responsibilities can be determined by those elected.
Secretary
The secretary manages incoming inquiries, assists the Co-Presidents with advocacy work, and keeps abreast of issues that may need the committee’s attention. They also help the Treasurer with making sure that PHANZA meets its legal obligations with the Incorporated Societies register. Alongside these core functions, this is a role you can make your own by creating content for social media, keeping in contact with members and making sure PHANZA is doing everything it can to support its members. You will work closely with the EA.
Treasurer
The treasurer manages membership subscriptions and maintains PHANZA’s financial records throughout. This includes preparing annual financial statements for the AGM and ensuring we meet our legal obligations with the Incorporated Societies register. The role includes managing PHANZA’s accounting on Xero (accounting software), issuing invoices, and processing reimbursements. The role involves working with the bank, processing payments with required dual authorisation, and, in conjunction with the Secretary, keeping the membership database current.
From our current Treasurer: “I love contributing to the smooth operation of PHANZA. It’s rewarding to see our membership grow and to support the association’s activities. The role provides valuable experience with not-for-profit governance.”
Roles within the committee
Based on individual interests, there are specific aspects of the committee’s work that you may be interested in. The work of the committee in any one year is set by that committee, but the following are are some possible areas. f you have particular interest in one of these areas , please specify that in your email.
Social Media
Regularly updates and maintains PHANZA’s social media accounts – Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook. Check these accounts to see the frequency and kinds of posts.
Member Events
This year, PHANZA hosted a successful professional development day in Wellington. Coordinating events – at any scale, format, and location – provides opportunities for members to come together around topics of shared interest.
Phanzine
Editing Phanzine is a satisfying task that provides an opportunity to get to know the work of a diverse membership. An understanding of all the different facets of the historical profession emerges with time and can lead to important chance benefits. There are three issues per year: April, August and December. Each issue features 4–5 articles of 700–1200 words. The purpose of these is mainly to give members an opportunity to showcase new work and to ensure new developments of interest and concern to historians are widely known. An editorial, introductions to new members and a list of member publications are routinely included. There are also occasional reports on conferences and regional events. Achieving effective regional coverage is an important ingredient for a widely dispersed membership base. Phanzine does not include reviews. Two members are needed to edit Phanzine. A recent graduate and a more experienced historian is an ideal pairing.
Advocacy
In the past this has been mostly driven by the President(s), either writing submissions, letters to ministers, statements etc or coordinating others with more expertise to do this. The ‘War on History’ over the past years has meant that this part of the association’s work has grown significantly in recent years. Ideally someone with a passion/interest in this kind of work will take on the role of spearheading this work for the committee: regularly checking the Governments ‘Make a submission’ page to see what is happening there that PHANZA should be advocating for on behalf of our members; drafting submissions or finding suitable members and asking them to help with drafting them; staying on top of access and etc issues in libraries and archives; etc.
NZHA Representative
Over the past few years the relationship between the NZHA and PHANZA has been particularly strong due to Rebecca being both co-president of PHANZA and on the NZHA Exec as Web Convenor. However the official PHANZA Rep has also been a member of the PHANZA committee. This is not a requirement for the NZHA council PHANZA Rep, but having this direct tie between the NZHA council and the PHANZA committee is very useful and it is the present committee’s recommendation that in the future the NZHA council’s PHANZA Rep should be a member of the PHANZA committee. The requirements of this role vary depending on the NZHA council. Over the past 2 years, the council has met 4 times per year, for about an hour each time. During the previous NZHA council the council met every 2 months for about half an hour.