Museums at the Crossroads
September 14 - 19, 1998 with Stephen E. Weil

Cultural Resource Management Program at the University of Victoria
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A course outline is now available for "Museums at the Crossroads".
Please let us know if you would like to receive further information
and registration materials. Since class sizes are limited to sixteen,
we encourage you to register early!

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Many old ideas are bankrupt as  museums redefine their relationships
with communities, funders, donors, academia and one another. This
intensive workshop probes the roots of this situation and challenges
you to reexamine the fundamental purposes of museums as a basis for
refining institutional goals, structures and future directions.
Stephen E. Weil draws on his extensive distinguished background as a
museum executive, writer, teacher, thinker and consultant to
facilitate your exploration of:
>>      improving peoples' lives as thecore purpose of museums
>>      the fundamental role of community in defining the museum's 'bottom
                   line'
>>      the impacts of shifting support
>>      lessons from business and other not-for- profit organizations
>>      issues of governance
>>      leadership and management
>>      measuring impacts
>>      defining success
>>      ethics and professionalism

You should bring a minimum of five years experience in museums to
this workshop, along with a willingness to rethink some basic beliefs
about their roles and relationships. A preparatory assignment
encourages you to relate the course to issues and new directions in
your own workplace.

Instructor: STEPHEN E. WEIL, Senior Scholar Emeritus, Center for
Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution
Dates: September 14 - 19
Please register by:  August 14
Fee: $589 (Canadian Funds, credit or non-credit options available)

LOCATION - Victoria is located on the southern end of Vancouver
Island and is easily accessible by either air or ferry from Vancouver
and Seattle
ACCOMMODATION - a range of inexpensive bed & breakfast accommodations
are available - please visit our website to explore your options.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
______________________________________________

To the extent that museums are located primarily within the
not-for-profit sector, the evolution of that sector over the past four
decades has had important implications for the ways in which they are
understood, funded and managed. The first and theoretical objective of
Museums at the Crossroads will be to provide participants with an
understanding of those implications as they apply both (a) within the
individual museum to virtually every aspect of its governance and
operations, and (b) across the museum community as a whole as
manifested through an expanded degree of professionalism.

The second practical objective of the course will be to have
participants analyze their own institutions in terms of how those
institutions might be brought more into consonance with this emerging
view of museums. Through such an analysis participants will have the
opportunity to consider how they might best exercise (a) the personal
courage demanded to make a genuinely honest and thorough assessment of
the current condition of their institutions, (b) the creativity
essential to imagining into what different kinds of institutions those
current institutions might potentially be transformed, (c) the
managerial skills required to conceive, plan and implement the various
steps that such a transformation would require, and (d) the leadership
skills that would be necessary to attract the resources and other
support that would enable those steps to be taken.

Participants should complete the course with an enhanced sense of how,
in both theoretical and practical terms, their own institutions
specifically and the museum community generally have the potential
power to affect the lives of their varied publics in important and
positive ways.

______________________________________________

COURSE OUTLINE SUMMARY
______________________________________________

Monday, September 14
Getting to the Crossroads: The Museum as a Not-for-Profit Organization

* Introductions and expectations
* Selection of consulting problems; assignment to consulting and
study groups
* Map of organizational landscape; role of not-for-profits
* Penningon County Heritage Society, Part I: Exercise and debriefing
* Evolution of not-for-profit from establishment to enterprise
* Museums at the crossroads: current challenges and opportunities
* Evening study group activity (one hour); Begin Fantasy Islands

Tuesday, September 15
Choosing our Direction: Defining and Assessing Institutional Outcomes;
Professionalism
* Establishing institutional purpose: patrons,participants, publics
* Inventory of museum outcomes; means to measure or ascertain
* Professionalism: Accreditation and Certification
* First participant consulting session
* Optional evening activity: informal group dinner

Wednesday, September 16
How Do We Get There? Potentials and Pitfalls of Earned Income

* Tensions between mission and market
* Perplexing Admissions: Exercise and discussion
* Strategic Collaborations: Exercise and debriefing
* Guest Panel Discussion: "Exhibitions for Fun and Profit"

Thursday, September 17
Charting the Course: Ethical Expectations

* Dangerous Hypo/theticol: Exercise and debriefing
* Second participant consulting session
* Field trips to two local sites: What are they and what do they
serve?

Friday, September 18
Sharing the Driver's Seat: The Evolving Governance of Not-for-Profit
Organizations

* Penningon County Heritage Society, Part II: Exercise
and debriefing
* Trusteeship: history, traditional duties, emerging duties
* Rob Roy: Exercise and debriefing
* The Director's role in achieving Board success
* Evening study group activity (one hour): conclude Fantasy Islands

Saturday, September 19
Are We There Yet? Concluding Reports

* Reports on Fantasy Islands
* Reports of consulting teams; critique
* Reports on amendments to the "home museum" documents
* Closing comments and suggestions

For more information and registration materials, please contact:
======================================================
Brenda Weatherston, Program Coordinator
Cultural Resource Management Program
Division of Continuing Studies, University of Victoria
PO Box 3030 STN CSC
Victoria B.C. Canada V8W 3N6
Phone (250) 721-6119 Fax (250) 721-8774
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Visit our Web Site! http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/crmp/
Distribution List: To receive monthly updates, send a request to
[log in to unmask]

===================================================================
UPCOMING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MUSEUM & HERITAGE PROFESSIONALS
===================================================================
On Campus Courses:
1998:
Museums at the Crossroads Sept 14-19
Planning for Community Cultural Stewardship Oct 19-24
Financial Management in Cultural Heritage Organizations Oct 28 - Nov 6
1999:
Public Programming in the Heritage Community Jan 25-30
Cultural Diversity: The Inclusive Museum Feb 15-20
Curatorship Mar 1-6
Museums in Historic Buildings Mar 22-27
Approaches to Repatriation April 12-17
Managing Archaeological Information Apr 19-24

Distance Education courses:
Introduction to Museum Studies May-August, Sept-April
From Principles to Practice: Introduction to Heritage Conservation Sept-April
Human Resource Management Oct 5 1998-Jan 22, 1999
Museum Information Management Jan 18-April 23, 1999
Collections Management Jan 12 - Apr 23, 1999