You need to provide more information to get some accurate estimates: What is the cost of living index at your location relative to say, the midwest, southwest, etc. What is the size of your museum's budget? Is the Director/Curator responsible for planning and budget? Or is that done by the Board? What is the extent of your Director/Curator's responsibility. For instance, if he/she screws up and leaves the door unlocked and somebody trashes or robs the place, what is the extent of the monetary damage. The same could be asked about neglect of collections. If you are a collecting institution, what's the value of your collections. That is a pretty good gauge to determine responsibility and salary should be based on the position's level of responsibility. ------ Robert Handy Brazoria County Historical Museum 100 East Cedar Angleton, Texas 77515 (409) 864-1208 museum_bob [log in to unmask] http://www.bchm.org ---------- From: Carucci, James CIV[SMTP:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 1998 7:33 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Salary Range for Director/Curator?? Listfolk: I am a member of the Board of Directors for our local museum here in the Central Coast area of California. Our museum is fairly small, and is located in a town of about 45,000. Current membership (drawn mainly from the local community) is about 400 to 450. Currently, there is really only one, full-time professional on the museum "staff". Except for a little bookkeeping help, and a small number of dedicated docents and volunteers, the Museum Director/Curator does it all. The Board of Directors recognizes that we have a number of problems to fix, not the least of which is adding a great many new members, hiring a second staff person [not many years ago, the museum had a staff of three], and paying the current Director/Curator a reasonable wage. My plea to all you experienced museum people: What is an acceptable salary for an active, vibrant, community-oriented small town museum that is currently staffed by only one professional? The current wage for this person is about $32,500; when insurance and other [minor] benefits are considered, the current wage would work out to about $35,000. Admittedly, there are many facts and things to consider. But, in general, would you think that a paid salary of $37,500 [considering benefits, total would be $40,000] would be equitable for this job? If not, what salary range should this job be? If this is a topic for general list discussion, then please post to the list. If you would rather post to me privately, please do so. What I hope to get from you all is a number of informed responses, speaking from personal experience, that I can print out, summarize, and carry to my next board meeting. Your input will help us determine what a fair raise would be for our Director/Curator. In your posts, please make certain that your name, title, location [museum, department, etc.], phone numbers, etc., are listed. I would especially be interested in getting comparative salary information from others at "one-person museums", museums here on the west coast [especially California], and museums in rural communities under 100,000 persons. thank you jim James Carucci, Ph.D. Historic Structures Specialist/Environmental Planner 30 CES/CEVPP - Program Planning 806 13th Street, Suite 116 Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA 93437-5242 Voice (805) 734-8232 ext. 6-2860 FAX (805) 734-1339 DSN 276-2860 Email [log in to unmask]