Administration
Administration of Museums and Historic Sites
During the fall of 2023, I studied Museum Administration with the University of West Georgia at the Atlanta History Center. In this course, I was tasked with developing a hypothetical museum concept, which I built upon throughout the semester, adding content, detail, and body.
Below is some information about each assignment related to this concept and links to the full writings.
Hypothetical Museum Concept
For my hypothetical museum, I focused on the concept of goods meant to be disposed of and what information they can tell us. This led to the Trash Museum, where most of the displays are more akin to a landfill. To start with, I created a narrative, for this museum which details what it is and why it is that way.
Strategic and HR Plans
The next step in fleshing out this concept was creating a strategic plan. This plan required a long-term goal, so I chose an expansion of the museum. The formatting was based on another museum's strategic plan, which also detailed the expansion of their museum. In the same vein, I also needed an HR plan, to understand the hierarchy of museum professionals and how that can be applied to museum policies.
Marketing and Budgeting
I also needed to create a need for funds and a means of achieving them for this hypothetical museum. I chose to create some outreach programs to fulfill the requirements for an IMLS grant, for which I completed the necessary documents as if actually applying. Additionally, I formed an example marketing plan for one of these programs, which included flyers and a press release.
The Final Product
To round out the hypothetical museum, I compiled all of the aforementioned information and assignments into a faux website. The website is largely fluid, with the assignment links woven into strategic buttons to make it seem as realistic as possible.
Final Essay
As a final assessment of what I learned throughout this course, I completed a final essay entitled "Administration Lessons for Times of Change." This paper not only utilized course readings, discussions, guest speakers, and class discussion as primary sources but also tackled how the topics of this course could be applied to museums affected by tremendous changes, similar to those that affected many museums the year before.