FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 30, 2012
Contact: Cherie Cook, [email protected]

Associations Will Work Together to Raise Awareness of National Standards

(Nashville, TN) – At the American Association for State and Local History’s (AASLH) 2012 Annual Meeting, AASLH and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) announced they have agreed to work together to raise awareness of national museum standards and align their assessment programs in order to streamline application and self-study processes. The AASLH Council enthusiastically approved the agreement at its meeting in Salt Lake City on October 3rd, 2012.

The agreement outlines ways in which participants of AASLH’s StEPs program will benefit when taking part in AAM’s Museum Assessment Program (MAP).

“AASLH is very excited about the alignment being developed between its StEPs program and AAM’s MAP and, eventually, Accreditation programs. Both organizations are committed to increasing the awareness of national museum standards and helping museums of all sizes to begin meeting those standards. Our two organizations work in concert on advocacy issues, and I’m delighted to add standards as yet another area of collaboration,” said Terry Davis, AASLH President & CEO.

“A widely recognized, credible universal commitment to high standards and best practices is essential to forging a truly unified, impactful museum field. It will also help us better connect with governments, foundations, corporations and the public,” stated AAM President Ford Bell.

As part of the agreement, institutions that have achieved all of the “Basic” performance indicators and at least 50% of the “Good” in each of  StEPs’ six program sections will be eligible for a streamlined MAP process, paring it down by as much as fifty percent. The two organizations are currently working out the details for the joint effort. Both AASLH and AAM agree to communicate regularly and cross promote assessment programs. Early next year, AASLH and AAM will also begin exploring how the Accreditation process might also be streamlined for StEPs participants.

The agreement also states that AAM will explore ways in which AASLH can have a voice in future decisions on how Accreditation commissioners are selected and that AASLH will be offered opportunities to inform and customize the Accreditation self-study to make it more relevant to history organizations.

Read the full agreement between AASLH and AAM.

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