I am somewhat concerned about some of the views about Boards which have been expressed recently. 

Surely the Board (either Board of Directors or Board of Trustees) is by definition responsible for everything that happens in the museum.  In larger museums they will hire staff to provide professional input and advice and carry out functions on their behalf.  In small and medium sized museums they may not employ professional staff but instead get advice from various professional advisors as and when necessary.  

In a small community museum the Board may be entirely made up from amongst the volunteers who run the museum. There is of course no reason why some of the Board members should not be museum professionals themselves.

In a small museum the Board may take all the day to day decisions.  In a very large museum they may have delegated all of these to paid staff and may concern themselves solely with the strategic view.  But if something goes wrong (the accountant runs off with the money or the curator sells the exhibits) the Board is still ultimately responsible.

Staff (and indeed volunteers) with professional qualifications and/or experience should carry out any delegated functions in accordance  with the appropriate professional code of ethics.  Staff should also give the Board unbiased advice on issues where the Board has not delegated its authority.  

So give the Board your best advice, including the likely consequences of not following it.  If they ignore it then (depending on the issue) you may need to make a report to an appropriate regulatory body.

The detail of how it works will of course depend to a large extent on the size of museum and its legal status (museums which are part of a larger corporate entity often don't have a Board of their own).

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The views expressed are not necessarily those of English Heritage

Trevor Reynolds
Registrar, English Heritage
Address: 4 CS, 23 Savile Row, London, W1X 1AB, UK
Telephone:  +44 (0)171 973 3482  [GTN 3503 3482]
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