Report of Regents Cultural Education Committee to The Board of Regents

Regent Roger Tilles, Chair of the Cultural Education Committee, submitted the following written report. Your Committee on Cultural Education Committee had its scheduled meeting on November 17, 2014.

In attendance were committee members: Regents Tilles, Dawson, Bendit, Rosa, Cea, and Brown. Absent: Regent Cottrell. In addition to CE Committee Members, in attendance were Regent Finn, Commissioner King, and Executive Deputy Commissioner Berlin

ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION

Regent Tilles welcomed everyone and opened the meeting. 

New Shaker Exhibition
Museum Senior Planner Aaron Noble showed a brief video that introduced The State Museum’s new exhibition, The Shakers: America’s Quiet Revolutionaries.  He provided a brief overview of the exhibit, which opened on November 15.  The exhibit was organized in collaboration with four other museums that collect shaker artifacts.

State Museum Collection Policy (Action)
Museum Director, Mark Schaming presented the State Museums Comprehensive Collections Policy, required for accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, to the Committee for their approval.  There were several questions including:

• Was the policy shared with the Museum Advisory Council?  The Museum Director responded that it was not shared with the Advisory Council.
• Will the Board of Regents periodically review the policy?  The Museum Director and the Deputy Commissioner responded that the policy will be reviewed when changes are needed.
• Where does this policy fit into the context of other Board actions?  The Museum Director responded that the policy is one of five actions that the Board will take regarding the Museum and that the actions will be presented piecemeal.
• Is this the first time the board has reviewed this policy? The Museum Director responded that this is the first time the board has ever reviewed a collections policy for the Museum.

Motion to approve: Made by Regent Dawson
Second of the motion: Made by Regent Brown
Unanimously approved.

New York State History Month Activities and Programs 
State Historian Curator Robert Weible presented the 2014 November History Month activities from around the State.  He remarked that History Month is established in law.  Historian Weible showed the committee a web site that lists activities in institutions across the state and indicated that History Month activities are carried out by local government historians as well as organizations and institutions statewide.

New York State Paleo Indian Database

Jonathan Lothrop, Museum Curator of Archeology, gave a detailed presentation on research about the earliest Native Americans in New York State.   He showed the committee a number of conclusions regarding settlement patterns of paleo Indians as well as the linkage between climate change and geologic changes that correlate with settlement patterns.  Dr. Lothrop highlighted the value and role of projectile points that are collected from locations across the state to support the