Skip to main content

Meeting of the Board of Regents | October 2010

Friday, October 1, 2010 - 5:40am

SED Letterhead                                                                                   

 

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

TO:

Cultural Education Committee

FROM:

Jeffrey W. Cannell

SUBJECT:

Proposal to Establish a Regents Committee on Museums

DATE:

October 5, 2010

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 2 and 4

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

Summary

Issue f
or Discussion

            The Regents have decided to establish a Regents Committee on Museums and charged staff with proposing a charge for the Committee and suggesting possible Committee members.

Reason for Consideration

            The process of amending Regents Regulations for museums involved a great deal of consultation and collaboration with the museum community. The museum community has expressed an interest in establishing a mechanism that provides a regular conduit for input and advice re: the regulation, support and status of New York’s museums.
 
Proposed Handling

The proposal will be presented to the Cultural Education Committee for discussion at the October 2010 Regents meeting. 

Procedural History

This is the first formal discussion of the proposed Committee.
Background Information

New York State has more museums than any other state in the nation. These museums serve as vital educational institutions, institutions that serve the needs of life long learners while providing stewardship for the cultural treasures of New York. The Regents have attempted to address recent issues in the museum community by amending their regulations and by introducing the Cultural and Museum Education Act.

The Report of the Commissioner’s Committee on Museum Resources was issued in 1962. This report was commissioned to “ascertain the needs and resources of the museums of (New York State) and the contributions they are making to the educational and cultural welfare of the people of (New York State).” Although a great deal has changed in the nearly 50 years that have passed since this report was issued, one thing has not changed – the continued importance of museums to life long learning and their role as stewards of New York’s treasures.

The Commissioner’s Task Force on Museums met in 1994 to update the findings of the Committee on Museum Resources. Each of these Regents “Committee” reports emphasized the importance of the museum community and advocated for funding via USNY.

Recommendation

            It is recommended that the Cultural Education Committee of the Board of Regents take the following action: Approve the charge for a Regents Committee on Museums and direct staff to survey possible Committee members and make recommendations for appointments to the Committee at the November meeting of the Board.

Timetable for Implementation

            Staff will provide recommendations at the November 2010 meeting of the Board of Regents.

Proposed Charge: The Committee, whose members serve by appointment of the Commissioner of Education, offers advice and consultation on issues of policy and service delivery pursuant to the Commissioner’s statutory mandate to charter and regulate museums in New York State. The Committee works with the Office of Cultural Education, the unit of the State Education Department that provides chartering and regulatory services.

 


Possible MEMBERS:

Anne W. Ackerson

MANY Director

265 River Street

Troy, NY 12180-4496

(518) 273-3400

FAX (518) 273-3416

info@manyonline.org
www.manyonline.org

(MANY Director)

 

G. Rollie Adams, Ph.D.                               

President and CEO

Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum

Rochester

Michael Aikey

Director, New York State Military Museum & Veterans Research Center

61 Lake Avenue

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

(518) 581-5100

Fax (518) 581-5111

 

J. Winthrop Aldrich                     

Deputy Commissioner                        

Office of State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

 

Lynne Belluscio, President                                    

LeRoy Historical Society                    

23 East Main Street

LeRoy, NY 14482

585- 768-7433
www.jellomuseum.com/

 

Michael Botwinick, Director

Hudson River Museum

mbotwinick@hrm.org

(MANY Vice President)

 

Christine Campeau

Museum Educator & School Programs Manager

Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake

(Museumwise Trustee)

Robert K. Cassetti

Senior Director, Creative Services & Marketing

Corning Museum of Glass, Corning

(Museumwise Trustee)

D. Stephen Elliott, President

The Farmers’ Museum/New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown
s.elliott@nysha.org

(MANY Vice President)

John Fitzpatrick

Director, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

Ithaca, New York 14850

 

Catherine Gilbert

Executive Director, Museumwise

director@museumwise.org

11 Ford Ave, Oneonta, NY 13820

Phone: (800) 895-1648

(Museumwise Executive Director)

 

John Haworth, Director

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

George Gustav Heye Center, New York

haworthj@si.edu

(MANY President)

 

Kristin Herron

Director, Museum Program

New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)

175 Varick Street, 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10014

212-741-7848

kherron@Nysca.org
www.nysca.org

 

Steven Kern, Director

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse

skern@everson.org

(MANY Trustee)

 

Beth E. Levinthal, Executive Director

Hofstra University Museum

beth.e.levinthal@hofstra.edu

(MANY Trustee)

 

Ann-Eliza Lewis, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Columbia County Historical Society

Kinderhook NY 12106

 

David Lovell

Acting Head

Bureau of Historic Sites

Office of State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

 

Elizabeth (Betsy ) M. Lowe

Region 5 Director

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Trustee, Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks)

(Formerly Managing Director and Vice-President, The Wild Center)

Ray Brook Headquarters

P.O. Box 296

1115 State Route 86

Ray Brook, NY 12977-0296

(518) 897-1200

Desk Phone (518) 897-1211

Fax (518) 897-1394

 

Glen Lowry

Director

Museum of Modern Art

Mark Mortenson, President & CEO

Buffalo Museum of Science

mmortenson@sciencebuff.org

(MANY Trustee)

Michael Novacek

Sr. V.P. and Provost for Science

American Museum of Natural History

New York, New York

 

Peter Paine, Esq.

Board President

Fort Ticonderoga Association

 

Gretchen Sullivan Sorin, Director and Professor

Cooperstown Graduate Program

sorings@oneonta.edu

(MANY Trustee)

 

Bart A. Roselli

Director of Education & Interpretation

Seneca Park Zoo, Rochester

BRoselli@senecazoo.org

(MANY Secretary)

 

Kenneth Shefsiek

Executive Director

Geneva Historical Society, Geneva

(Museumwise Trustee)

 

Trent Trulock

St. Lawrence County Historian and

Executive Director, St. Lawrence County Historical Society

Canton NY

315-386-8133

 

Carolyn Vacca, Pd.D.

Monroe County Historian

St. John Fisher College

120 Pioch Hall

3690 East Ave.

Rochester, NY 14618

585-385-8244

 

 

Institutional affiliation:

MANY staff or board

9

Museumwise staff or board

4

State Parks or formerly State Parks

2

Other

12

 

Type of institution represented:

Museum

12

Historical society

4

State or municipal government

4

Academic, university

4

Professional association

2

Other

1

 

Geographic distribution:

Judicial District:

 

1,2,10,11,12,13 NYC

4

3 Albany, Troy, Capital district

5

4 Schenectady, North Country

4

5 Syracuse, Utica

3

6 Binghamton, Southern Tier

3

7 Rochester

5

8 Buffalo

1

9 Westchester-Lower Hudson Valley

1

10 Long Island

1