3 Institutional Plan

Date of Approval: XXXX

This document is created to serve as a guide for University Museum Administration, Staff, and Volunteers (collectively referred to herein as “Exponents”) in reference to their individual and collective roles in conducting University Museum affairs.

North Star Statements

Mission: To serve the public as an inclusive center for object based learning and research regarding the human condition across space and time.

Vision: To foster a humanistic appreciation of cultural diversity by creating opportunities for object based experiential learning and investigation.

Values: To foster inclusivity and respectful dialogue about the worlds cultures by training the next generation of museum professionals.

Brief History of the University Museum

The University Museum was established in 1961 with a mission to serve as: “1) a depository of knowledge and objects to be found in a general museum, 2) an aid to instruction, 3) an aid of research, and 4) an aid to the state University in its service to the State of New Mexico” (Camien, n.d.). In 1981, the University Museum moved to Kent Hall where it remains today (Baker 1997). The Cultural Resources Management Division operated out of the second floor of Kent Hall for many years.

The University Museum’s permanent collection ($n>$ 180,000) consists of archaeological ($n≈$ 170,000), ethnographic($n≈$ 5,000), and historic ($n≈$ 10,000) objects that reflect the diversity of the South, US-Mexico border region, global connections to diverse cultures, and the educational and research pursuits of NMSU.

Overview of the University Museum’s Current Operations and Programs

The University Museum maintains two full time staff members, a Curator and Director. In addition, museum operations are supported by a staff of undergraduate students enrolled at the New Mexico State University. Museum staff facilitates research by faculty, students, and the public through efforts to conserve the collections and make them available to investigators.

In addition to researching and conserving the collection, museum staff prepare and host two rotating public exhibitions a year. Exhibitions are supported by programming in the form of public lectures and community workshops. As part of fulfilling its educational and outreach missions, the University Museum regularly hosts K-12 school tours and tables at community events.

The University Museum is a teaching institution and much of the institutions operations are carried out by students and interns in the museum studies program. Collections research, conservation projects, and educational programming are all made possible by the student staff. The museum is a hands on experiential learning environment for emerging museum professionals.

University Museum Orgnizational Structure

The University Museum’s daily operations are carried out by a staff of undergraduate students from the New Mexico State University. This student staff is directly managed by the University Museum’s two full time staff members: Curator and Director. The Curator is charged with the dual responsibilities of collections and exhibitions. The Curator reports to the Museum Director. The Museum Director is responsible for museum administration as well as the supervision of museum staff. Both the Curator and Director report to the Anthropology Department Head. These individuals in turn report to the Associate Dean of Research in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Vice President for Research, the university’s Provost, and ultimately the NMSU Board of Regents (Figure 3.1).

flowchart TD
Regents[NMSU Board of Regents] --- Provost
Regents --- VPR[Vice President \nResearch]
Regents ---Dean[Dean \nArts and \nSciences]
Provost -.- AD
VPR -.- AD
Dean --- AD[Associate Dean \nResearch \nArts and \nSciences]
AD --- DeptHead[Anthroplogy \nDepartment Head]
DeptHead --- Director[University Museum \nDirector]
Director --- Curator[University Museum \nCurator]
Curator --- Staff[Student Staff]
Curator --- Volunteers

Figure 3.1: University Museum Organizational Chart

Summary of University Museum Planning Process

Anthropology Department Head, Museum Director, and Curator will think and act strategically to acquire, develop, and allocate resources to advance the mission of the University Museum.
Exponents of the museum engage in regular reflexive institutional planning that involves both audience and community.
The Director and Curator establish metrics for success and use them to evaluate and adjust activities to better align with the mission of the University Museum.
When developing its Institutional Plan, the University Museum Director and Curator seek to articulate UM goals and objectives with the NMSU (2023) LEADS’s strategic plan.

University Museum Planning Assumptions

The following assumptions are made during the planning process:

the University Museum receives an operating budget of ~$21,000 from NMSU;
the University Museum largely relies on Federal Work Study to cover student staffing needs; and
the University Museum must balance external (exhibitions, workshops, and talks) and internal (inventory, cataloging, and conservation) efforts.

Summary of External and Internal Opportunities and Challenges

Internal and external challenges and opportunities are summarized below Tables 3.1 and 3.2.

Table 3.1: Summary of internal challenges and opportunities.

Internal Opportunities	Internal Challenges
The museum’s diverse collections offer many opportunities for research and exhibition. The museum’s staff is largely composed of students who are inquisitive and energetic. The Southwest and Border Cultures Institute (SBCI) was established in 1998 to enable acquisitions by the University Library and University Museum as well as to fund faculty and graduate research on Southwestern and US-Mexico Border issues in the humanities as well as to fund public programs related humanities issues in the Southwest and US-Mexico Border region.	The museum’s collections are wide ranging, diverse, and varied. Some collections were accessioned in 1960’s and are now disassociated with documentation which complicates effectively using those collections. Most of the museum’s staff are students working 20% time. Shifts are short and work can progress slowly. Most student staff lack prior museum experience. Kent Hall is an old building that suffers from roof leaks and flooding pipes. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in Kent Hall are unable to maintain collections areas within recommended target ranges. Some storage areas lack ventilation or HVAC of any kind.

The museum’s diverse collections offer many opportunities for research and exhibition.
The museum’s staff is largely composed of students who are inquisitive and energetic.
The Southwest and Border Cultures Institute (SBCI) was established in 1998 to enable acquisitions by the University Library and University Museum as well as to fund faculty and graduate research on Southwestern and US-Mexico Border issues in the humanities as well as to fund public programs related humanities issues in the Southwest and US-Mexico Border region.

The museum’s collections are wide ranging, diverse, and varied. Some collections were accessioned in 1960’s and are now disassociated with documentation which complicates effectively using those collections.
Most of the museum’s staff are students working 20% time. Shifts are short and work can progress slowly. Most student staff lack prior museum experience.
Kent Hall is an old building that suffers from roof leaks and flooding pipes. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in Kent Hall are unable to maintain collections areas within recommended target ranges. Some storage areas lack ventilation or HVAC of any kind.

Table 3.2: Summary of external challenges and opportunities.

External Opportunities	External Challenges
There is a vibrant community of museums in the city and surrounding region.	Responding to outgoing loans can be taxing on staff. Preparation and return require time and effort to carry out properly.

Goals, Strategies, & Priorities

During the planning process, the University Museum identified five priorities:

Professionalize the University Museum
Elevate University Museum research profile and increase research capacity
Fulfill museum’s public education mission and build on past successes
Elevate experiential learning at the University Museum
Build core organizational and financial capacity

Professionalize the University Museum

Strategies	Activities
Attain AAM Accreditation	Obtain AAM core documents toolkit Review AAM toolkit Work at least two hours each week drafting core documents Conduct AAM Museum Assessment Program (MAP) Once complete submit core documents for AAM approval

Elevate the University Museum research profile and increase research capacity

Strategies	Activities
Complete object level inventory of ethnographic, historic, and exhibit quality archaeological materials in permanent collection	Train student staff on inventory methods and use of PastPerfect Seek out areas of museum that have not been inventoried and work through systematic inventory of those units Audit existing inventories to ensure that information is complete and correct
Complete box level inventory of archaeological research collections	Train student staff on methods of box level inventory Identify research collections that have not been inventoried, inventory those collections, and enter data into PastPerfect
Make all collections searchable	Update existing web search interface at each semester’s end to incorporate new data Research contemporary enterprise collection management systems to replace PastPerfect price out systems in relation to operating budget system should have API or ability to make one

Fulfill museum’s public education mission and build on past successes.

Strategies	Activities
Host two temporary exhibitions each academic year	One exhibition should be organized by museum staff, developed over summer, and opened Fall semester to coincide with the start of the academic year. Where possible, Summer staff should be hired to work on exhibition. One exhibition should be organized by museum studies students, developed in the context of a class, and open Spring semester to coincide with end of the academic year activities.
Host workshops, talks, and presentations that support exhibitions and public outreach	Each exhibition organized by staff should be accompanied by a plan for at least one supporting public event like a workshop, talk, or film. Additional events to support public outreach should be pursued as the opportunity arises. Build connections with researchers on campus and pursue the possibility of hosting events and lectures at the museum. Improve the museum auditorium by purchasing a better projector, larger screen, and new computer.
Host multiple K-12 educational events per academic year	Each academic year, identify a member of the student staff who will serve as the lead person for K-12 events. Inventory all educational materials and determine pedagogical purpose of each. Eliminate activities with either a weak or no pedagogical purpose. All museum staff participate when hosting K-12 educational events.

Elevate experiential learning at the University Museum through staff capacity building

Strategies	Activities
Build staff collections capacity	Inventory collections (permanent, research, teaching) Audit existing inventories in all collections types
Build staff exhibits capacity	Develop Spring student exhibition in a classroom setting Hire students over the summer to develop exhibition
Build staff conservation capacity	Develop student conservation projects to be carried out by staff and interns Seek to have at least one conservation project per semester

Build core organizational and financial capacity

Strategies	Activities
Seek internal support to pursue museum goals.	Each funding cycle submit one or more proposal to the Southwest and Border Cultures Institute (SBCI). Pursue RAS Seed Grant funding if available.
Seek external support to pursue museum goals.	Submit at least one external grant each academic year. Institute of Museum and Library Services National Endowment for Humanities Consistently pursue external support to fund graduate student assistants and researchers.
Seek to expand the permanent staff of the museum to four individuals.	Consistently submit external grants to demonstrate relevance to the university.