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Re: Help needed - promotion(?) opportunity



Good Day, Tom:

Having come from an institution that is primarily run by the state, but
heavily supported by volunteers (since the state doesn't see fit to budget
assess/adequately staff the institution from a curatorial standpoint) I can
say I hear you loud and clear. I also spent my last year there working for
the non-profit support entity of the museum in question, and know intimately
the quirks and stresses that hit that particular staff on a routine basis.

OK, all that is to say, 1) I think you have to consider what good or
improvement you personally might be able to do for your particular
institution; can you take a few crash courses in grantsmanships -- say
through AASLH -- to improve your abilities as a fundraiser? 2) You currently
know the ins and outs of your current position; could it become a half-time
position augmented by well-trained volunteers? 3) Will your steering
committee/executive board be persuaded by your argument to boost funding for
a part-time evolving to full-time archives staff on a graduated scale over a
fixed period of, say 1.5 years based on experience after you cease being
"Lone Arranger?" Will they support a part-time, paid professional
book-keeper?

You can expect, certainly, a considerable workload, measures of grief and
headaches. But you may well experience great joys, too! Any
museum's/archive's/library's "top dog" -- if a very good people person and
communicator -- can do a world of good wherever s/he goes.

We all know humanities type institutions tend to be understaffed and
underbudgeted. Be prepared for nothing less unless you have a way of working
miracles on a grand scale <grin>.

Kevin V. Bunker
Student Assistant
California State Archives

> ----------
> From:         Thomas Berry[SMTP:tberry@HCEA.NET]
> Reply To:     Thomas Berry
> Sent:         Friday, August 03, 2001 7:50 AM
> To:   ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject:      Help needed - promotion(?) opportunity
>
> Good morning!
>
> For those of you who are unfamiliar with my situation, I am the "lone
> arranger" for a non-profit organization.
>
> Our Managing Director has submitted his resignation, and I've been
> approached about taking his place. Our Board meets next Thursday to
> discuss
> the situation, and I'd like to be able to make some sort of statement or
> presentation of my position then. My instinct is to go for it, but I'm not
> entirely at peace with myself about it or, should I pursue it, how to do
> so.
> I'm primarily concerned about just how much I'm willing to take on, the
> impact that having my time and efforts channeled into this new position
> will
> have on our collections, and what the appropriate method of expressing my
> interest in the position would be.
>
> I've been asked to draw up a job description for a combined position of
> both
> Managing Director and Archivist. I have no experience in managing a
> non-profit and we've never had a full-time Managing Director or any formal
> job description for either that position or mine, so the whole thing is
> unexplored country for both me and the HCEA. Are any of you out there in
> that kind of combined position, and if so, would you be kind enough to
> advise me on how you blend the jobs? I'm also open to advice from anyone
> on
> any aspects of this situation.
>
> Thanks in advance for all assistance given.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Thomas Berry, Archivist
> Historical Construction Equipment Association
> 16623 Liberty Hi Road
> Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
> Phone 419-352-5616
> Fax 419-352-6086
> tberry@hcea.net
> http://www.hcea.net
>
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>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
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To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>