HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 03/03/2011 RECEIVED
MINUTES APR 01 2011
Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History
Advisory Committee Meeting
March 3, 2011 CITY SECRETARY'S OFRCE
The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum's DeDietrich Conference Room at Noon
on Thursday, March 3, 2011. Members Present: Pablo Garza,Jonda Holcomb, Robert
Hatherill, Kathy Juneau, Jim Moloney, and Scott Sutherland.
- Upon motion by Scott Sutherland and seconded by Kathy Juneau the minutes of the
January 6, 2011 regular meeting were approved as presented.
- Upon motion by Kathy Juneau and seconded by Jonda Holcomb, the absences of Scott
Sutherland, Pablo Garza, and Rob Hatherill were excused.
Business:
a. Upon motion by Pablo Garza and seconded by Jim Moloney the Committee unanimously
approved the deaccession and disposal of 76 fragments of glass, 1 piece of rock, 1 piece of shell,
1 reconstructed cup, 1 small glass bottle, 1 piece of lead shot. All were of unknown provenance.
They were proposed for deaccession due to their poor condition and lack provenance. There are
similar well documented artifacts in the collection.
b.There is now a hard freeze on all position vacancies because of shortfalls in revenue this fiscal
year and it is anticipated that there will be layoffs in association with the adoption of next fiscal
year's budget. Members were briefed by Rick Stryker on his reorganization of the Museum staff
and revision of their job responsibilities in association with the pending(April 2) retirement of
Bonnie Laya. He also reviewed the adjustments made to reassign the responsibilities due to the
continuing Maintenance Mechanic Foreman vacancy and the elimination of the Museum
Educator Position with the retirement of Sandra Linderman in January.
c.AAM accreditation visiting committee members will be in Corpus Christi May 26 and 27.
They will be meeting with representatives of the Advisory Committee, Friends Board, and
Auxiliary Board with Museum staff not present. Rick reviewed the issues identified by the
AAM staff in response to the Self Study submitted to them for review. Copies were provided to
each Committee member. Generally there are two core questions that are answered through
accreditation: How well does the museum achieve its stated mission and goals? and How well
does the museum performance meet museum standards and best practices?
The issues include the museum profile for which the AAM staff insists that the city ought to be
considered the Museum's parent organization. Rick's response was that the Museum did not
have a parent organization because it did not operate independently from the City. Some policies
of the Museum, for which the Advisory Committee recently adopted revisions in response to
AAM issues, were also questioned by AAM staff, including the ethics policy, the institutional
plan, and the collection policy.
d. Staff Reports
• The Land and Sea Odyssey providing reciprocal membership privileges among local
SCANNED
attractions took place in February. Last year the Lexington and the Aquarium were half-
price to members while the other attractions were free. This year the Museum was also
half price. As a result the participation was reduced considerably.
• The project to renovate the three sets of Museum restrooms should be underway soon and
completed by mid May. The contractor will start with the South Building restrooms.
• State budget reductions should have no direct impact on the Museum. The La Belle
Project will be completed this fiscal year. The continuation of the Heritage Trails
program sponsored by the Texas Historical Commission does not appear likely. That
would impact the Museum's collaborative marketing effort.
• From Earth to the Solar System exhibit—May 8 through 29— is a traveling panel exhibit
of high definition images of the solar system. It is scheduled to coincide with Journey
week which will happen May 9— 13.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.