Syllabus

Syllabus

Museum Administration/Historical Administration

A 421/H547

Tuesday, 5:45pm-8:25pm

Room CA 203

Professor: Melissa Bingmann

Office: CA 504N

Office Hours: Tuesday, 3:00pm-5:00pm

Office Telephone: 278-9024

E-mail: mbingman@iupui.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course will present a broad overview of issues that administrators who work in museums, historical societies, archives, special collection libraries, and other cultural resource agencies experience in their careers. In this course the term “administrator” applies to both the head of an organization as well as mid-level managers. In addition to discussions that are unique to agencies that collect, preserve, and share cultural resources, the class will also look broadly at trends in management techniques and leadership that can apply to any non-profit organization.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

After the successful completion of this course, students will be able to. . .

demonstrate an understanding of several management techniques used by non-profit cultural resource administrators
discuss what makes an effective non-profit leader
assess the financial health of an organization
communicate the credentials a museum needs for accreditation and evaluate an accreditation proposal
identify potential controversial situations and legal issues that can occur in museums and develop a strategy for dealing with them
understand the significance of institutional planning in sustaining a cultural institution
demonstrate knowledge of the essential components in developing a strategic plan, budget, personnel guidelines, and development program

POLICIES:

Attendance

Attendance is required and will be taken at class meetings.

Cheating and plagiarism

Students who cheat or plagiarize will receive a zero for the work in question and will be reported to the Dean. According to the Academic Handbook, Indiana University, August 2001, pp. 172-173, “Any student who fails to give credit for ideas or materials taken from another source is guilty of plagiarism.”

For comprehensive information on IUPUI’s policy on cheating and plagiarism consult Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct available on-line at http://hoosiers.iupui.edu/studcode/studcode.htm.

Deadlines

Undergraduates need to hand in completed essay questions on the day of discussion:

Senge, The Fifth Discipline Jan. 27

Handler & Gable, New History in an Old Museum Feb. 10

Guthrie, The New-York Historical Society Feb. 24

Graduate student book reviews are due one week after class discussion:

Senge, The Fifth Discipline Feb. 3

Handler & Gable, New History in an Old Museum Feb. 17

Guthrie, The New-York Historical Society Mar. 2

The following projects are due as indicated:

Strategic Planning Mar. 9

Evaluating Financial Health Mar. 30

Accreditation Review April 13

Institution Study April 27

Incompletes

I will be very reluctant to give a grade of Incomplete (I). I assign Incompletes only to students who have successfully completed most of the course work and who have been prevented by significant and unanticipated circumstances from finishing all of their assignments.

Classroom Courtesy

Please arrive on time and turn off cell phones and pagers prior to the beginning of class.

READINGS:

The following are available for sale in the IUPUI bookstore:

Hugh H. Genoways and Lynne M. Ireland, Museum Administration: An Introduction,

2003.

Richard Handler and Eric Gable, New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at

Colonial Williamsburg, 1997

Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 1990

Bryant Tolles, Leadership for the Future: Changing Directional Roles in American

History Museums and Historical Societies, 1991

Thomas Wolf, Managing A Nonprofit Organization in the Twenty-First Century.

The following is available on reserve at the IUPUI Library:

Kevin Guthrie, The New-York Historical Society: Lessons from One Nonprofit’s Long

Struggle for Survival

Various articles available on-line

ASSIGNMENTS:

Class Participation:

Students will be expected to complete the assigned readings prior to class in order to participate in class discussion.

Students are required to join MUSEUM-L and introduce relevant issues during class discussion. For questions regarding appropriate use of the internet, consult the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct available on-line at http://hoosiers.iupui.edu/studcode/studcode.htm. Please be aware that students are responsible for activity on their computer accounts.

Book Reviews:

Graduate students will write a 3 to 5 page review of the following three books. Each review needs to identify the thesis and main supporting arguments as well as draw conclusions about the relevancy of the reading to historical and museum administration:

Undergraduate students will be given a list of essay questions to answer from the following readings prior to class discussion:

Senge, The Fifth Discipline

Handler & Gable, New History in an Old Museum

Guthrie, The New-York Historical Society

Projects:

1. Strategic Planning

Review one organization’s strategic plan and assess its current status. Your 3-5

page assessment should include data from annual reports and may include

interviews with staff to determine the plan’s effectiveness.

2. Evaluating Financial Health

Evaluate (3) I-990s from three institutions to determine financial health. Use

www.guidestar.org for access to I-990s.

3. Accreditation Review

Prepare a 3-5 page report to the AAM based on your assessment of an

accreditation proposal.

Institution Study (Graduate Students)

Develop a comprehensive study of a cultural institution or museum of your choice. Approach this assignment if you are preparing to interview for an administrative position at this institution or, you are a consultant who is creating a proposal to develop a strategic plan. Use the Strategic Planning and I-990 assignments as a portion of your Institution Study. For ideas about other information to include the Genoways and Ireland book as a reference for the type of documents and information you might gather to develop your study (see page ix and 3 for examples). At the end of each chapter of Wolf, there is a “Checklist” that will also help your thinking about how to frame your study. Wolf’s chapter 11 can also provide guidance (this chapter is not assigned in the reading lists below). Class discussions will also help you determine what you need to research to develop this assignment. Your completed study should be 10-15 pages of your summary and analysis in addition to an appendix that includes the documents you used for your narrative.

Oral presentation of Institution Study or Accreditation Review

Graduate Students will make a 10 to 15 minute presentation of their Institution Study.

Undergraduate Students will make a 10 to 15 minute presentation of their Museum Accreditation report.

GRADING:

Undergraduate grades will be weighted in the following manner:

Class participation and attendance 20

Essay Questions from the assigned books(3) 30

Projects (3 @ 15 points each) 45

Oral Presentation of Accreditation Review 5

100

Graduate Students’ grades will be weighted in the following manner:

Class participation and attendance 10

Book Reviews (3) 30

Projects (3 @ 10 points each) 30

Institution Study 20

Oral Presentation 10

100

Grades will be based on a 100 point scale as follows:

SCHEDULE:

Jan. 13 Introduction

Jan. 20 The Museum Administrator and Leadership

Readings: Tolles, Leadership for the Future; Genoways and Ireland chapters 1, 3 (up to page 46) and 15; Bryan, “Am I A Historian?” History News, Summer 2002, 5-8; Kelley, “Innovation From the Outside In,” Museum News, March/April 2003, 39-41, 58-61.

Guest Speaker: Steve Cox, Indiana Historical Society

Jan. 27 Learning Organizations

Readings: Senge, The Fifth Discipline; Wolf, chapter 10.

Feb. 3 Managing Growth & Expansion

Readings: Genoways and Ireland, chapters 3 (pages 46-55), 9, and 12; Greene, “The Role of the Museum Director, Staff, and Trustees in a Capital Program,” from Lord and Lord, The Manual of Museum Planning, 1991; sample feasibility studies (distributed in class)

Guest Speakers: Tony Hirschel, Indiana Museum of Art and

John Vanausdall, Eiteljorg Museum

Feb. 10 Strategic Planning & Shared Vision

Readings: Guthrie, The New-York Historical Society; Genoways & Ireland,

chapter 4; Wolf, chapter 9; Archibald, “Reaching In: The Community and the

Museum,” History News, Summer 2001; Graffagnino, “Using the Past to Change

the Future: A Strategy for Historical Organizations,” History News, Summer

2001; sample strategic planning initiatives.

Guest Speaker: Sal Cilella, Indiana Historical Society

Feb. 17 Trustee responsibility and Board Development/Small Museums

Readings: Genoways and Ireland chapter 2; Wolf, chapters 1 & 2; Hall, “Conflicting Managerial Cultures in Museums,” Nonprofit Boards and Leadership, 1999; Ingram, Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, National Center for Nonprofit Boards; Hawley, “Dances with Trustees,” Museum News, March/April 1998; Taylor, Chait and Holland, “New Work of the Nonprofit Board,” Harvard Business Review, Sept/Oct 1996; Skramstad, “Working Model: A Mechanism for the Effective Board,” Museum News, January/February 2003, p. 32-36; Indiana Historical Society technical leaflets, "Basic Issues Involved in Organizing a Historical Society" http://www.indianahistory.org/edu/localhistory/legal3.html

Guest Speakers: John Harris, Indiana Historical Society & Jeannie Regan-Dinius, Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology

Feb. 24 Creating Institutional Culture & Managing Change

Readings: Handler and Gable, New History in an Old Museum; Carson, “Colonial Williamsburg and the Practice of Interpretive Planning in American History Museums,” The Public Historian, Summer 1998.

March 2 Ethics and Professional Conduct

Readings: Genoways & Ireland, chapters 8 & 10 up to page 240; AAM, Code of Ethics for Museums, 2000; AAM, Guidelines for Museums on Developing and

Managing Business Support, 2001; Writing a Museum Code of Ethics, pp. 2-111 Unger, “Parting with Art,” How MOMA Got Its Van Gogh,” 1992; Weil, “The Deaccession Cookie Jar,” Museum News, Nov/Dec. 1992; Ainslie, “The Deaccessioning Strategy at Glenbow, 1992-1997,” Museum Management and Curatorship, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996; Carr, “Balancing Act: Ethics, Mission & The Public Trust,” Museum News, Sept/Oct. 2001; articles on Museum of Northern Arizona (distributed in class); American Association of Museums, sample collecting policies from Organizing your Museum.

March 9 Legal Issues

Readings: Genoways & Ireland, chapter 8 & 13; DeAngelis & Hersh, “Object Appraisal: Legal & Ethical Issues,” Museum News, Sept/Oct. 2001.

Guest Speaker:

March 16 Spring Break

March 23 Assessing an Institution’s Financial Health and Financial Administration

Readings: Genoways & Ireland, chapter 5; Wolf, chapter 6-7; Bunch, “In the Shadow of Uncertainty, Museums in the Aftermath,” Museum News, Jan/Feb 2002; Bergman, “Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst,” Graffagnino, “Philanthropy for History Organizations: The Inner Circle,” History News, Spring 2002; Shafroth, “Deep Cuts, The Crisis in State Funding,” Museum News, July/August 2003.

Guest Speaker:

March 30 Museum Accreditation

Readings: Genoways and Ireland, chapter 10 pages 240-244; AAM Accreditation guidelines www.aam-us.org/programs/accreditation/accred.cfm? MAP guidelines www.aam-us.org/programs/map/MAP_overview.cfm; “MAP at 20,” Museum News, Sept/Oct. 2001; Gardner and Merritt, “Collections Planning,” Museum News, July/August, 2002; “Benchmarking” Technical Leaflet, History News, Winter 2003; Buck, “Insurance for the Times: Terrorism Coverage,” Museum News, July 2003.

Guest Speaker:

April 6 Public Relations & Marketing/Managing Controversy

Readings: Genoways & Ireland, chapter 11, 14; Wolf, chapter 5; Browser, “Total Quality Management in Museums: An Investigation into the Adaptive Relevance of TQM in the Museums Sector,” in Management in Museums ed. Kevin Moore, pp. 233-276; Chen-Courtin, “The Big Picture in Focus: The Marketing Overview, “ Arts Reach, April 1998; Pine and Gilmore, “The Experience Economy,” Museum News, March/April 1999; Kotler, “Delivering Experience: Marketing the Museum’s Full Range of Assets,” Museum News, May/June, 1999; Roberts, “Outcomes and Experience: New Priorities for Museums,” Curator, Jan. 2001; Keller, “Faith and the First Amendment Santa Fe Style,” Museum News, July/August 2001; articles on Brooklyn Museum of Art handed out in class.

Guest Speaker:

April 13 Development & Fundraising

Readings: Genoways & Ireland, chapter 6; Wolf, chapter 8; National Trust for Historic Preservation, Quest for Funds Revisited: A Fund-Raising Starter Kit; “Writing Winning Proposals: Advice from Funders, parts 1 and 2,” Arts and Culture Funding Report, Education Funding Research Council, March and April 1994; Wolfe and Ferguson, “New Money, New Demands; The Arrival of Venture Philanthropy,” Museum News, January/February 2001; Mayberry, “Pop Culture Goes the Fundraiser,” History News, Spring 2002; “Giving In America, Six Trends in Fund Raising,” Museum News, March/April 2003; Maehara, “Seeing the Forest, New Donor Demographics,” Museum News, Sept/Oct. 2003; articles on sponsorship from the Smithsonian (distributed in class).

April 20 Interviewing (from both sides)& Personnel Issues

Readings: Genoways & Ireland, chapter 7; Wolf, chapters 3-4; “Breaking In: A Four Step Approach to Finding Your First Public History Job,” Technical Leaflet, History News, Summer 2002;

April 27 Oral presentations

SYLLABUS IS TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE