Subject: Re: University Museums

IUd like to add some observations on acdemic museums, from my perspective as
a student of higher education (Ed.D.) & practitioner in the field (dept. head in
a
university library).

We have to face the essential fact that museums are perceived _by academic
administrators_ as being as extnct/outdated as the fossils they often display.
This is a function of economics and the academic status game.  While a museum
full of exotic materials was the 19th-century mark of arrival in the academic
status game, it is worthless in the status game of late 20th century academics.
In
the 1870Us or 1880Us, a smart academic administrator would of course include
the campus museum in a tour for a prospective donor.  He [they would both be
TheU] would proudly show Mr. I. Gotbucks the latest Egyptian mummy,
mastodon tusk, or some other artifact as evidence of the schoolUs prestige.  And
Mr. Gotbucks would give the school some money.

Where does a contemporary administrator take the rich prospective donor on
campus?  To the museum?  Probably not - too dusty, full of boring TstuffU.  To
the library?  Maybe - especially if theyUre being prospected for a capital
campaign for the library.  To the computer center or lab?  You bet your bippie.
A little synthesized welcome speech mentioning the donor, some flashy graphics
across the screen, and perhaps a smooth (not slick) video presentation showing
how the university will have an even more wonderful computer center with a
generous check from the Gotbucks Family Foundation - thatUs the ticket to the
bank in the 1990Us.

Academic museums have no champions in the budgetary turf wars consuming
higher education.  While I didnUt specifically address museums in my 1991
dissertation on the politics of academic budgeting, my general principles
explain
what happens.  I viewed the dean of a school within a university as an
entrepreneur with a product mix.  S/he must design the product mix that
maximizes his/her possible funding.  Consequently, s/he must review every
department & program in the school as either a cost or profit center.  WhereUs
the profit in a museum?  ItUs probably the smallest unit in the college, it
doesnUt
generate lots of grant money or graduate assistants, its faculty lack the
prestige
on campus of other specialities [sorry, but attending AAM is not even AHA,
much less AAAS, on the prestige meter], and it cannot be used to juggle the
budget to increase appropriations [as, e.g., changing a classroom to a
RlaboratoryS designation will increase the formula appropriation per square foot
or contact hour or whatever other benchmark is used by a public funding
agency].

The academic museum was an integral part of the curriculum when its collection
and the libraryUs card catalog were the most interactive learning experiences on
campus.  Those days are gone - actually, that century is gone - and a critical
need exists to redefine the academic museumUs mission.  I donUt have any
suggestions or alternatives, but I think itUs critical to understand the
changing
fiscal/political atmosphere in higher education to realize why support for
academic museums is eroding.  I personally think that museums with properly
interpreted collections are an integral part of a liberal education, but IUm a
history
major.  Actually, I think that exposure to collections is part of the multiple-
intelligence approach to teaching/learning - but I donUt have any quick fix
solutions.  Any suggestions or alternatives?


Fred R. Reenstjerna
(expressing my personal opinion under Amendment I, USCCA)
Research Librarian
Douglas County Museum of History & Natural History
Roseburg, Oregon 97470 - USA
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