museums and university launch Leadership program 
Collaborative Initiative Develops Professional Museum Skills

VICTORIA, BC, March 2003- The Royal British Columbia Museum, the Provincial Museum of Alberta and the University of Victoria today announce the launch of a Museum Leadership Development Program. This innovative program is designed to develop institutional management capacity within the museums located in Victoria, BC and Edmonton, Alberta through a combination of formal courses and mentored workplace learning. The university will develop curriculum and instructional resources to support leadership and management training specific to museums as part of their graduate level certificate in Public Administration. The inaugural program begins this month and the first selected participants will begin their 10-month internship in June. A $200,000 grant from the Canadian Heritage department of the Government of Canada will offset the $500,000 projected cost.

Pauline Rafferty, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal British Columbia Museum states, " The museums included in this partnership - and many others across Canada - are challenged by the need for increasingly specialized leadership and management skills that enable them to keep pace with significant changes in their community relationships, organizational capabilities, and funding models."  

At the Provincial Museum of Alberta, many of the first generation of staff are still in place. "The average age of management is near 50 and staff are in their mid-forties. A wave of retirements is beginning," says Bruce McGillvray, Executive Director. "We need more staff who understand the multiple challenges of running a museum-the political, financial and ethical considerations that have to guide every major decision."  

Rather than trusting development to fate, the museums joined forces with the University of Victoria to create a comprehensive program for training and development of future museum managers. "U Vic will provide graduate level coursework in public administration with a museum leadership/management specialization," reports Joy Davis, Program Director of the University of Victoria's Cultural Resource Management Program. "Recruitment for the initial students is taking place now, and in June the first phase of the program will begin." Curriculum development is supported through a grant from the Cultural Services Branch of the BC Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services.

The program will benefit other Canadian museums in the ability to grow a pool of younger staff trained in research, analysis, organizational dynamics, strategic planning, program evaluation, and human resources.  

Details about the program and information for applicants is available at the program website <http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/crmp/mldp/>      


Contact:
Joy Davis, Program Director
Museum Leadership Development Program 
Division of Continuing Studies University of Victoria 
PO Box 3030 STN CSC Victoria, BC V8W 3N6 
E-mail: [log in to unmask] 
Telephone: (250) 721-8462
Fax: (250) 721-8774

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