Speaking as a person who is just out of one of those programs 2 years, I feel that I should stand up and say something about the quality out there.  There are many good quality programs out there like Baylor, Texas Tech, George Washington to name a few.  I graduated from the undergraduate program at Baylor, which is a great program.  It is exactly what you are all agreeing on, vocational and theoretical.  For example, in exhibition design, we actually planned and constructed an exhibit (with some professional help of course), in education class we taught programs at the children’s museum, and collections management required us to work in the collection for like 15 hours...all the while learning theory.  And above all...internships were required.  All of these things have helped me immensely in the professional world.

This is just my opinion so take it as you will, but we as a profession need to make a push for some type of qualitative standard out there.  I mean, archivists have a test, why doesn't the museum field?  You don't have to take the test to work in the field, but if you do then you know you have met a certain level/qualification.  This would help show future employers and the rest of the non-museum world, that we really do know what we are doing.  But like I said, that is just my opinion.

Rosie DiVernieri

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).