Hanna Regev: Museum governance: is it a career option?

Vol. I/1: Spring/Summer 1998

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Hanna Regev, MA, MA
Trustee, The Northern California Center for History and Life African American Museum and Library

Museum governance: is it a career option? Visions for excellence

Through the late 1980's, we have witnessed and read a great deal about the complexities and the financial troubles museums, historical societies and other non-profit organizations have encountered. Such crises have made national headlines in the media and garnered the attention of several Attorneys General Offices. These episodes clearly highlight the mounting pressures facing trustees of non-profit organizations, while board members stand accused of shirking their fiduciary responsibilities. In recent years, we have witnessed the growing practice of museums selling their collections as a source of unrestricted income. Examples which come to mind are the recent sale of Leonardo's Codex by UCLA's Armand Hammer Museum and the Guggenheim Museum and the New York Historical Society's selling part of their collections to cover operating deficits, meet capital needs, and create endowments (Guthrie 1996). Selling collections as a general fund-raising technique is contrary to the ethical codes and professional practices of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the American Association of Museums (AAM), and the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) and in the museum community is considered a serious violation. Governing boards bear the responsibility for deaccessioning activities and other matters shaping collection policies (Malaro 1994).

In such critical times, museums need boards that are more action oriented, connected, focused, and more professional. We now perceive museum leadership to be shared by the board of trustees and the director, each having distinct responsibilities. Together they can embark on strategic thinking, policy making, resource development, and fund raising (Cavanaugh, Hagan and Pierson 1995). These are all essential ingredients in building effective museums.
This paper is intended to serve as a basic introduction to trusteeship and to suggest that it could be a career development option. Training opportunities for leadership are limited, therefore, serving on boards might address this problem. My insights and opinions are shaped by the experience of working with two boards. Service on boards was an educational and enriching opportunity. Indeed, my involvement can be a road map for launching a promising museum career for mid-career managers and advanced level administrators. Skills acquired in these positions could be marketable in different settings of the workplace.

A failure of a museum reflects on the museum profession, so success is important not only to each individual museum but to the profession as a whole. For a museum to be viable and successful, it must succeed in a community and it must have behind it an organized, dedicated, enthusiastic and energetic group of talented people. Trustees are important and beneficial volunteers in every museum. Trustees play an important role in setting policies, selecting the executive director, and fund raising. Because of the complexity of museum governance, informed leadership is key to an effective board and the success of the organization.

Boards as governing bodies for incorporated charitable institutions have been mandated by state statute since first established by Harvard College in 1636 (Hall 1984). However, throughout the twentieth century, critics have accused boards of lack of expertise, and the unhelpful roles they play in organizations. Governing bodies need to be reminded of their purpose which is to govern the organization, monitor quality and guide the institution toward fulfilling its stated mission (Chait and Taylor 1989). To this end, they should exercise an informed voice when establishing parameters of collections, be instrumental in building acquisition funds, make decisions concerning deaccessioning, vote on acceptance of gifts based on staff recommendations, approve potential purchases, set exhibition policies, and ensure the conservation needs of valuable collections. By focusing their energies on such priorities, they will advance the museum's mission and help the museum's professional staff with their job responsibilities

The non-profit sector commands annual funds of $300 billion which accounts for about 6% of the gross national product, 18 percent of the national services economy, and 10% of the national workforce. The budget of non-profit organizations accounts for 6% of the national gross domestic product; their assets equal one half of the federal government's and are growing twice as fast as the federal government's and private sector's assets combined. Non-profits account for a significant and growing part of the country's economy and therefore it is important that we understand how they operate (O'Neill 1989).

Trustees are the legal owners and the final authority for the institutions whose assets and operations they hold in trust. They must ensure that the institution is heading in the right direction and is well managed (Nason 1989). Trustees provide guidance and appraise the performance of the executive director and that of the organization. The board also has the prime responsibility for fund raising, identifying new resources, and giving from their own reserves. They are a bridge to the business and collecting communities. Their role is very powerful and encompasses the full gamut of museum practices. Today's museum trustees are no longer free from public scrutiny and pressure, and they are expected to set collecting policies and are obliged to act in the highest good faith toward their public (Malaro 1994).

During the past decade, I have served on two boards and participated in the restructuring of two small museums in the San Francisco Bay Area. Trustees carry the major organizational and administrative brunt and provide the leadership to manage any crisis. I consider the insights invaluable as unique learning experiences that are worth sharing especially since the museum literature is essentially devoid of discussion related to board governance, definition of trustee responsibility, accountability and liability. Material written by practitioners is typically prescriptive, focusing on the internal functions of boards (Middleton 1987). The time has come that we pay greater attention to the work of boards and the role they play in the ever challenging, complex, changing, and demanding world.

A trained museum professional who sits on a board has an opportunity to apply museum theory into practice. In a small museum, one has the greater exposure to a variety of activities and is part of a planning facility committee, setting goals and priorities, building a new board, developing a collections policy, and creating a new sense of direction and purpose. Serving on boards has convinced me that museums need informed and passionate individuals who care about collections and about doing the right thing.

Most trustees come to the board with no specific knowledge about museums. Trustees are frequently selected for their recognized leadership in professional, corporate or educational fields, or for their civic commitment in the community and beyond. Some are elected because of their history of service or financial support to the museum or other non-profit organizations, and many times their fiduciary responsibilities override what staff members recommend. It is desirable that a trustee elected to a museum board has an expressed interest in collection materials held by the museum (Stitt 1981). The governance of museums is vested in independent boards of trustees who are unpaid volunteers, and shoulder the museums' legal, fiscal, and ethical responsibilities.

Past practices consisted of selecting trustees from the elite families who were well groomed for their roles, serving on cultural boards meant belonging to a "prestigious club," and generally people were selected on the basis of their reputation. They lacked sufficient understanding of the work of the institution and avoided dealing with issues requiring specialized knowledge (Taylor, Chait and Holland 1996). Times have changed. Museum boards are beginning to show a mix of trustees with the "ability to give" and those of much more limited financial means. Today, trustees are more likely to be corporate executives with MBAs and a bottom line orientation.

The wide range of board functions -- from mission, vision, and strategic planning, to selection of an executive director to budgeting, collection management responsibilities, facilities management, external liaison, board membership and development--need specific knowledge and expertise and thus, the attraction and reason for a museum graduate to seek an appointment on a museum board. I would like now to discuss seven areas that show the power and role trustees play in a museum: fiduciary responsibility, governance, education, advocacy, selection of executive director, entrepreneurship, and designing a new museum. Each of the seven areas represents important themes that require specialized knowledge that could fit into your long-term career plans. I will address the qualifications needed or expertise gained from the following areas: collections management, committee work, governance process, law, entrepreneurial work, and museum design (Matelic 1989). Each of these areas is critical, with serious implications for museums and their future.

The Fiduciary Responsibility
The basic rule for trustees of museums or directors of non-profit organizations is "that they must discharge their duties in good faith, with reasonable care, and in what they believe to be the best interests of the organization. Reasonable care is what a judge or jury believes an ordinarily prudent person would have done in similar circumstance" (Marks 1987: 19).

Based on my observations, museum boards are in dire need of expert knowledge in museum practice and collections management policies. It is almost imperative today to be guided by collections management policies and properly administer the public trust. A well-written document will assure the museum and protect the board from a fiduciary breach. What is most needed are individuals who can discuss issues pertaining to collections management such as donors' gifts and acquisitions, deaccessioning, and conservation. At least one member is needed who is versed and has the ability to speak to these issues (for example, when to deaccession and under what circumstances). This is definitely an area where a Museum Studies graduate can find his or her niche, help articulate policies that enhance museum practice, and ensure that high standards are met.

The Governance Process
By joining a museum board you will be asked to serve on a committee. Committee work is one of the best ways to strengthen trustees' knowledge of the museum. (Grogg and Hirzy 1997) and help get the board's job done and aid in the process of governance. This type of work is of a political nature and the skills acquired will be useful and applicable to any management job. Committees essentially oversee, become involved in, or advise on management functions (Carver 1990). Some boards develop a hierarchy of committees with high status members on the influential executive, fund-raising, and nominations committees. In a small museum that is understaffed, committee work becomes very crucial and, therefore, museum expertise is essential. Unfortunately, committee members then tend to do work that is commonly prescribed to staff.

To establish a viable museum career in museum administration, one will need to have organizational and networking skills, the ability to set an agenda, identify priorities, understand the political process, and make tough decisions that normally are driven by economic realities. The operational process of the boards is grounded in policy making and requires several vital skills. Among them are the power of persuasion, negotiations, and consensus building. Much of the work is done at committee levels. Committee work can be varied and each of the committees plays a vital role in the administrative process. However, museum boards need expert guidance in finance, law and investment, management of collections, fund raising, and marketing.

Not only does one learn how boards operate, but also where the power is. The additional skills learned include: handling meetings, providing leadership, the politics, networking, as well as learning about the community and how museums operate. This type of experience is excellent preparation for the director's job if you wanted to pursue this course, and what better way is there than to study and learn the intricacies of the process in which boards function .

Because of your understanding of how a museum works and what staff need, you might be in the pivotal position to select and recommend new trustees who have the connections to a collector or philanthropist. Trustees of museums play a crucial role in advancing the mission. You may be able to influence board selection, that is, ensuring that there is a person with a commitment to the collections and a museum advocate.

Museums generally derive their prominence, success and standing in the community from the boards that govern them. Board members are selected carefully for their business successes, community involvement, and personal wealth and philanthropic potential. In the case of art museums, board members are selected carefully because of their art collections and personal interests.

The Public Role: The Education Initiative
Museums are becoming more client focused through their education and interpretation functions. With improved public accessibility and heightened interactivity, trustees should seize the moment and become more visible. This is an opportunity not only to represent the museum but also to educate the public about the nature and role of museums, collections needs, preservation and education. With museum expertise, you have a chance to promote and educate the public in an informative way about the importance of museums and the educational role they play in schools and adult education. By representing the museum to the wider community, you become versed in what museums do and what museums need. The museum profession needs individuals who can represent it well and reach out to the non-museum going community and speak eloquently about the importance of museums and collections.

Advocacy Role
The Commission on Museums for a New Century addressed the need for museums to be sensitive to ethnic diversity. Not only is there an expectation for boards to be representative of the community, but also to give high priority to hiring minorities and advancing women to positions of leadership and authority (Bloom 1984).

For museums to flourish they must develop a meaningful relationship with the community they serve by finding a way for the board and community to work as partners. At present, there is a considerable competition for funds among museums, which will require that each museum have an effective leadership with fund raising capabilities, control over the finances, collections, and educational programs and exhibitions that appeal to a culturally diverse audience. This will mean that boards will also need to have members with diverse backgrounds.
In today's climate, museums can no longer ignore the importance of diversity and funding agencies are cognizant of this fact. Advocating a culturally diverse board and recruiting members that represent such a constituency will strengthen the museum's image and also help the institution in playing the vital role of defusing racial tensions. As a board member, you might find this aspect of board development attractive and an important aspect to pursue. In states like California, where there are so many minorities, cultural diversity will have a major impact (Garfield 1989; Regev 1993).

The critical issue of diversity for museums today is the requirement that women be part of the mix. Board members are asked to represent the museum in the community, therefore, it is important that women be widely represented for several reasons. First, women bring a different perspective to museum governance. Men are more result/goal and achievement oriented and women tend to be process oriented. In management, men tend to emphasize centralization, resulting in the hoarding of knowledge and skills. Women allow for the flow of ideas, develop a nurturing mutual help networks, and view sharing of knowledge as a healthy and desirable objective. It has also been observed that women prefer sharing the responsibility for decision making, encourage creativity, flexibility and dissenting views. The aforementioned feminist attributes should be seen as an enriching alternative to a long established male oriented process. (Wheeler and Chinn 1991).

Secondly, 65% of non-profit organization employees are women and the rise of women's foundations has made it possible for women to become trustees and compete with corporate founders. But there is more power and respect still to be won. Currently, women control 60% of the nation's wealth. There are also 6.5 million female-owned businesses. According to Fortune magazine, baby boomers will inherit $2.3 trillion from their parents over the next 10 years. This means that women will be asked to contribute and will become prime targets for fund raising. Women should be better represented on boards of museums and other cultural organizations. A study conducted by Francie Ostrower (1995) reveals that women have a higher presence on social service boards. An effort to increase their participation on boards needs further discussion.

Since the early 1900s, women have played an important role in founding museums; however, they did not assume the role of museum director. Most boards are composed predominantly of men who are white, Protestant, in their fifties or sixties, wealthy, and in business or law. Women represent approximately 19 percent of the members of foundation boards, and minorities a mere 0.3 percent (Kohn and Mortimer 1983). Almost all the major museums had been founded by women in this century, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Folk Art Museum at Colonial Williamsburg, the Whitney, the Strong. It is common knowledge that women have made a tremendous contribution to and impact on the non-profit sector. The time has come that this disparaging fact be corrected and women be recognized for the contributions they have made from the very beginning (Glaser and Zenetou 1993).

A Leadership Challenge: Selection of an Executive Director
The challenges and demands of the executive director have become increasingly complex, taxing and oftentimes burdensome. The movement toward greater professionalism continues to progress and the expectations of the non-profit world are beginning to resemble for the profit sector. Much of the pressure is put on the executive director and the many roles that he/she is expected to play is the subject of Bryan Tolles' book, Leadership for the Future. The new leader's profile emerges as a very complex figure who is expected to be a professional, an educator, a legal guardian, fund raiser and a master communicator among many other tasks.

Because the executive directorship is a pivotal position and the expectations are so great, the selection process is also wrought with complexities. Serving on the executive search committee, I have learned about the search process and skills that I was then able to use on the job in a non-museum setting. I have learned about the importance of developing criteria for screening candidates, and reviewing resumes, as well as enhancing interview skills. By mastering these skills, the museum will ensure hiring the best performer and making the process successful. In recent times, there have been some unfortunate choices made by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Walters Art Gallery. Conducting successful searches and finding the "right fit" are complex processes that require analysis, assessment, and evaluation to avoid institutional trauma (Abruzzo 1995).

The board is a working laboratory where such skills could be fine tuned and such experiences can be acquired. Every museum professional needs to have them. By being an insider, you will have a voice on the board that can be crucial to your museum. As a Museum Studies graduate, you can make worthwhile contributions relating to many areas of your interest and expertise.

The Entrepreneurial Role
Trustees of museums can play an important role in the business side of museum operations. Trustees are valuable sources of expertise in accounting, law, marketing, and finance, and most are eager to counsel museum administration and staff (Fine, 1990). Museums are quickly adopting non-profit marketing strategy and the board is a place where policy debates and consideration take place. Museum membership and individual donation programs have been long-accepted methods of fund raising; however, little attention has been given to developing the maximum potential of individual giving.
The challenge for any museum will be how best to capture the leisure market, stay competitive and be successful. Developing strategies for luring visitors to the museum has become a priority. This is an area which needs board awareness in and enactment of policies that will promote increased attendance. Trustees can play a role in explaining the importance of visitation, future demographics, and their implications for museums in the future (Falk 1998).

Designing a New Museum
Not often does one find oneself in a position of planning a new museum. This can be a very exciting, costly and demanding undertaking for the board. As a museum trainee, you will know to raise the right issues and ensure that the appropriate climate control, fire protection systems, and security measures are incorporated into a restored or new building and, most importantly, that collections will be housed under appropriate conditions. Also important is making sure that federally mandated ADA requirements are incorporated into the design. Both renovation and new construction include the selection of contractors, architects, designers, library consultants, lighting and ventilation specialists, and appropriate needs. Designing a new museum involves learning to read blue prints and envisioning space needs for the collections, future storage needs, and staffing.

In planning a new museum, other factors also need to be considered, among them members of the community and local government, members of the museum, the elderly, patrons, and special interest groups. Most importantly, you will have to reflect and think how best to integrate architectural plans with the institution's mission and any future uses of the building. In this process, you will find that museums are complex structures, have special requirements, and are architecturally unique edifices (Darragh and Snyder 1993).

Projects of such magnitude most likely all require capital campaigns and fund raising. Capital campaigns are the most important and intensive fund raising activities of the non-profit organization, and affect the staff as well as the board. The board is expected to take a proactive role in the capital campaign which becomes the true test of the board's leadership (Rosso 1991).

Conclusions
The seven areas that I have identified show that boards are engaged in many areas and that trustees must have a grasp of basic principles of museum practice. Having a museum specialist on the board is invariably an asset, and in participating in the governance of a museum one acquires new and valuable skills. Skills in the areas of administration, finance, fund raising, business, law, marketing, planning, public relations are the most obvious. I have also pointed out the importance of serving actively on committees and that this experience could be incorporated into one's career development in museum administration. By choosing to serve on a board, a museum specialist can become a contributing member and professionally recognized for the work.

It is expected that alumni of the Museum Studies Program will carry a broad range of responsibilities and professional commitment. It is expected that they will have an impact on museum practice (Anderson and Matelic 1988). Being a representative on the board could only reinforce such commitment and meet the highest expectation of the discipline. If promoting and monitoring professionalism and ethics are priorities of the national museum community, museum boards could become a venue and a platform where this could be accomplished.
Museum work is a shared responsibility by the board of trustees and the director who represents the administration to the staff. Both are entrusted with the task of developing strategic long-term plans, policy making, resource development, and fund raising. Ideally, museums will strive and the right balance will be struck when the governing board works in partnership with and is supportive of the director's role. Meeting the challenges of the our times, trustees and the director must work together, in a non-threatening environment, and have mutual respect for each other. The professional literature does not devote much attention to the relationship between the board and top management of non-profits (Middleton 1993). The time has come that we pay close attention to the role of the board, their professionalism, and the manner in which they are organized to carry out their responsibilities, for it has a profound impact on the museum.

Because trusteeship is a volunteer position and your career choices are important, I would recommend that you pick a museum carefully and examine the institution thoroughly. Inquire about their level of professionalism, their collections management policies, conservation needs, acquisitions budget, deaccessioning record, and fund raising program. To have a meaningful experience as a trustee, you should examine the museum's expectation of you and be sure of your own commitment. Study the organization's mission and bylaws regarding roles and function. Also, get to know the other trustees, their commitment and roles, functions of trustees, and the role of the executive committee, if any. Ask about an orientation for new trustees, a contract, and insurance. Also, inquire about personal financial expectations, staff relationships and support.
In conclusion, trusteeship is more than planning events and activities. It is a rewarding experience and a civic duty that can be demanding and meaningful. It is a serious commitment that requires an integration of one's education into the ongoing work of governance. The continuing financial woes of so many museums point to the direction and need to build strong and effective boards.

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Minerva Online Vol. I/1: Spring/Summer 1998

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