Thanks James. I agree with you that my experience in an MA museum studies
program (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) was not lightweight
intellectually, either. What I did find was that the structure of the
program was loose enough to allow for significant work and study in a field
that covers such a wide range of interests and areas of expertise. Also any
program can be as good or bad as you wish to make it. In school, as in
life, you are the one who has to make it worth your time, no one will do it
for you. Finding a good advisory committee EARLY who will work with you
doesn't hurt either. That's why they're there. I've found that many
students wait until they're halfway through the program to get their
committees together. They're there to help you so take advantage of it.
So much for my lofty ideals. I do agree 100% that in general museum
salaries are substandard, but who of us didn't know this when we started
pursuing our careers in this field?? Non-profits don't make money like Wall
Street, so our society places little value in what we do.

Anyway, to the person who began this discussion, I would recommend looking
at the program at Nebraska... different programs have different strengths
and weakneses, and I was very satisfied with that program.

James H Tichgelaar wrote:
>I didn't find the MA program at Texas Tech to be lightweight
>intellectually, and I learned a lot that you can't get from just reading
>a book.  And it also got me an underpaid job which (1) is exactly what I
>wanted to be doing and (2) is providing a huge tuition discount for yet
>another Masters (Public Administration) and my wife's Bachelors.  I did
>end up washing dishes for six months while I waited for a reply from any
>of the 90 resumes that I sent out, but it was worth it.  Perhaps what I
>got out of my degree program is a reflection of what I put into it and
>what I expected to find.  I did lots of low paid work-study jobs in
>museums, I volunteered when I could, and I asked lots of questions.  I
>knew the salary levels for museum jobs before I started at TTU, and no
>one there ever said anything to lead me to believe that working for a
>museum would make you rich.  I believe that my MA was exactly the right
>preparation for my career, and I'm glad I did it.
>
>James H Tichgelaar
>Registrar
>Arkansas State University Museum
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Sue Shore
Museum Educator
Lubbock Lake Landmark-Museum of Texas Tech University
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