This has been an interesting thread, IMHO. I'd certainly subscribe to a professional standard related to pay and benefits, but ours are set by the legislature and I (we) have little control over the amounts, benefits, etc. The Governor just announced this morning that he recommends 3% raises per year for state employees (which we are) for the next two years. 1.5% will be given to all and the other 1.5% (of the agency's total salary line item) will be "merit" based or discretionary. This is generous compared to what we've been provided in the past several biennial budget periods. All-in-all, we have fairly good pay and really good benefits despite the relative lack of control or input. On the value of Accreditation by AAM, we are the only accredited museum in this state. I haven't observed that it does us any good in grant applications - they're still dependent on how well we prepare the application. And I doubt either the legislature or the local populace gives a hoot whether or not we're accredited. Accreditation (and the IMS-GOS application process) give us a standard toward which we strive, and that's useful. I'm able to use both as levers occasionally to get the Board or the politicians to take a position, but I really think we strive to meet these standards to impress ourselves and our colleagues more than the visiting public. Like another post today mentioned, they care more for the edutainment we provide than for the how's and why's of our work. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C. L. Dill, Museum Director State Historical Society of North Dakota 612 East Boulevard Bismarck ND 58505-0830 P: (701)328-2666 F: (701)328-3710 E: [log in to unmask] Visit our Web site at: http://www.state.nd.us/hist/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -