Dear Members:

I talked with the AAM this morning about accreditation evaluations and
outcomes.  The staff has received almost universally positive input
regarding improving internal processes and communications but does not know
if funding, visibility and credibility increase or to what degree.  They
have hired someone to do evaluations and I suggested they add this topic
high on the list of priorities, referring them to the archives of this site
and to us, their clients.

As a long-time museum professional, I think self studies are crucial if we
are to be competitive and maintain our credibility and fundability.  We need
standards under which we operate and we need to be accountable to the
public.  This is one option for forcing best practices, and it is, as AAM
says, optional.  It may not be perfect but it is designed to and normally
does improve matters pertaining to operations, communications, fiscal
responsibility, education and curation.  

Perhaps it would be less painful if a foundation decided to fund
accreditation projects, or at least the pieces that feed into accreditation
like strategic planning, collections planning, and so on.  Then programs for
education, conservation, acquisitions, publications, exhibition, overhead,
etc. etc. would not be the targets that get cut to pay for the work of
accreditation.  Can we work to sway the opinions of donors toward self
examination before too many of our museums and historic houses disband from
lack of funding, interest, or pizzazz?

I'm on it...



Alexandra W. Rollins
Nonprofit and Arts Management
24 Goodrich Road
Jamaica Plain, MA  02130-2005
617-524-6007; fax 6037
www.rollinsupton.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Jennifer Pena
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 8:38 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] AAM accreditation

I think Cindy's post, and particularly her last sentence were correct.  It
probably wouldn't hurt to have accreditation, unless you count the resources
it took to achieve that status.  It's right to ask whether it does help,
particularly smaller institutions.  But as I've noticed with other posts in
which we question the super powers of the profession, such as the
Smithsonian and AAM, listers often seem to become uncomfortable enough not
to engage in discussion.  I think such issues are among the most important
for us to talk about.  I work for a new museum and we have previously set
our sights on becoming accredited with AAM.  I'm not sure we won't pursue
this in the future, but this short string of discussion has made me question
our need for it.

Are we afraid of critiquing those we deem to be above criticism?  It seems
this list is about sharing our experiences so we can help each other,
whether these are big issues or small ones.  I really appreciate these sorts
of posts that take on potentially touchy questions and hope listers will
contribute to them.

Jennifer Pena

>From: Peter Morelli <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: AAM accreditation
>Date: Wed, 9 May 2007 17:51:06 -0400
>
>Should we take another couple of days of silence as confirmation of the 
>last sentence in Cindy's reasonable post?
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Cindy Boyer
>   To: [log in to unmask]
>   Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 9:42 AM
>   Subject: Re: AAM accreditation
>
>
>   I believe I'm the member who posted the original question.
>
>   What was interesting to me is that Alexandra was just about the only 
>respondent to my question.
>
>   My organization is an unusual one, not just a museum but a historic 
>preservation organization that also operates 2 house museums - so, for 
>us, the question about re-accrediting is more complex.
>
>   While I agree that the self-study process can be useful to the 
>organization,and includes questions that every institution should be 
>able to answer, I still wonder about the programs' effectiveness in 
>ratio to the expense - both out of pocket and for the staff time 
>involved - for mid or smaller size museums.
>
>   Alexandra mentioned credibility, visibility, fundability. 
>Credibility - in whose eyes? the general public, our colleagues, or 
>AAM?  Visibility - same question. Fundability - we have been accredited 
>for 30 years, and I can not think of one instance where it helped us 
>get funding, with the possible exception of IMLS, when they offered general
operating support.
>
>   I agree it would be an interesting topic at a conference. It would 
>be interesting to see if our colleagues would actually address this 
>issue in a more public forum. I wonder, if to "diss" accreditation 
>would be seen as disrespecting the AAM.
>
>
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>   From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
>On Behalf Of Alexandra
>   Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 6:30 PM
>   To: [log in to unmask]
>   Subject: [MUSEUM-L] AAM accreditation
>
>
>   Dear Members of this list:
>
>
>
>   A few weeks ago, another member of this listserv asked what the 
>point of getting an AAM accreditation or re-accreditation might be in 
>that the process is so complex and time-consuming.  I responded that it 
>increased credibility, visibility, and fundability, while demonstrating 
>that the institution believes that its public funding means that it 
>should be accountable and transparent, using best practices and so on.  
>Then I talked to a few colleagues who thought my position might not be 
>as strong as I assumed, and wonder what your reaction might be to my 
>statements.  Why do museums work to get accredited in the first place?  
>Is it worth it strategically?  It seems to me that this might be a 
>discussion topic at a conference because people are conflicted about it.
>
>
>
>   I am completing an AAM re-accreditation project as an independent 
>museum professional for the Harvard University Art Museums.  The 
>process, while long and complicated, went well.  Some new channels of 
>communications were opened or solidified, while whatever policies, 
>procedures, plans, and strategies that were missing or lacking are now 
>in place and HUAM believes that its claim of being one of the top 
>educational and collecting museums is more demonstrable.  I agree.  I 
>think it's great, even expected, that museums large or small be accredited.
Do you?
>
>
>
>   Many thanks for your input!
>
>   Alexandra Rollins
>
>
>
>   Alexandra W. Rollins
>
>   Nonprofit and Arts Management
>
>   24 Goodrich Road
>
>   Jamaica Plain, MA  02130-2005
>
>   617-524-6007; fax 6037
>
>   www.rollinsupton.com
>
>
>
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