Deb, and all,
 
If all of us are allowed to gripe for a moment, I would postulate that currently the bottom of the ladder are conservators.  How many small to medium institutions have staff conservators?  Virtually none?  How many such institutions would have anything to educate about if they did not have collections or historic buildings?  Why is preservation of such historic assets near the bottom of their agendas?  Everything lasts forever without planning and preservation actions?  In this era of digital collections, it just might be possible to have a "museum" without a collection.  But is this what most institutions want?  I was trained in the 1970s as a conservator.  In the nearly 40 years since then, there has been very, very little movement in museums/institutions hiring conservators on staff.  ALL museum professionals are having a hard time gaining employment, partially due to too many training opportunities being offered at all the universities/colleges across the country without consideration for the number of potential jobs.  However, the number of conservation training venues has remained fairly constant, excepting paper/library/archival programs, which have been a bit exuberant.  But, not that many more conservators are on staff at institutions.  Why?  Every survey that has ever been done indicates that preservation in our institutions is severely neglected at best.  And in smaller institutions, it is nearly non-existent. 
 
I suggest that every institution advocate for preservation of their collections, whether objects or architecture.  And I mean REAL advocacy, not an occasional mention.  With real physical objects being preserved, institutions can educate and tie their collections to their local history.  Without them, can they still do this?  Will a "collection" with virtual objects be the same?  Advocacy for preservation generates interest and excitement and a growth of the perceived need for educators, curators, and museum administrators.  And this leads to jobs and perceived worth.  What is the base of the pyramid, and what is the top?
 
Marc

American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
     4 Rockville Road
     Broad Brook, CT 06016
     www.conservator.com
     860-386-6058
 
Marc A. Williams, President
     MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
     Former Chief Wooden Objects Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
     Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
 
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Deb Fuller
To: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 4:29 PM
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Contract Staff/Educators

Can I gripe for a moment, why is it educators who are always at the
bottom of the ladder in terms of benefits and pay? No, we don't have
PhDs, but we're the ones usually working with the public, day in and
day out. If it wasn't for educators, museums wouldn't offer the
variety of programs that bring people into museums. Not everyone wants
to listen to a curator lecture. We are the ones dealing with school
groups, which typically make up a huge chunk of a museum's admissions.
If anyone needs health care, it's the educators who are in constant
contact with an army of germs from dealing with the public.

If you have to dole out health care or decide who gets and who
doesn't, it should be based on time at the museum or some other equal
factor not singling out one career field.

And really get the facts on single health care plans. Most don't offer
prescription drug benefits and have high deductibles. Thus even if
someone is making a lot more money and paying for their own plan, they
still might not be going to the doctor or getting their meds because
they are paying a crapton of out of pocket expenses.  Someone who has
student loans and paying out of pocket for health care, just might not
have the money to shell out $200 for a prescription, esp. if it is a
monthly one. So in terms of total value, it might be worth it to offer
people health care as corporate plans usually come with prescription
drug benefits. The more healthy people are, the more they'll be at
work. That's a more valuable employee than a "cheaper one" who is
working for less money/benefits, has crappy health care, and doesn't
get their meds or go to the docs as much as they should because they
can't afford it.

Deb Fuller


> On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 2:59 PM, Thomas Close <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> The museum I work at is growing rapidly. As the new healthcare legislation starts to set in, we're interested in hiring contracted full-time,
>> non-benefited educators and other staff. However, our HR department (coming from a for-profit, corporate background) is hesitant to do so without more
>> information on the topic. Although I'd love for everyone to receive benefits, I know we have many more people who'd simply prefer to have
>> full-time hours instead of part-time.

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