Rethinking AAAE Membership Criteria

Clarifying AAAE Membership and Focus
A discussion primer for our annual conference in Philadelphia
prepared on March 25, 2009

On Friday, April 3, 2009, the AAAE board scheduled a facilitated conversation with the members convened for our annual conference. The goal of the discussion was to gather feedback, questions, and context about recommended changes to the AAAE membership criteria. This short briefing paper provided some background for that conversation.

Over its 33-year history, the Association of Arts Administration Educators has adapted its membership and its programs in response to changes in the field of arts administration education. Originally formed exclusively for graduate degree programs in North America, AAAE extended an invitation to international programs in the 1990s, and opened a full membership path to undergraduate programs a decade later.

Over the course of these changes, the association made only minor adjustments to its membership criteria and review process, leading to some confusion about what was required for voting membership, and some continuing frustration over the long road to get there. For example, established criteria required three years of graduates before a program could apply for voting membership, which led to a five-year wait for new graduate programs, but a wait of seven or more years for undergraduate programs. The distinction between associate (non-voting) and full (voting) members has also been a source of disconnect at many annual meetings, and in the participation of many of our most loyal and engaged members.

At the same time, the landscape of professional training and leadership development in arts and culture has changed dramatically. In 1976, there were few established educational programs for cultural managers, and the founding members of AAAE were the pioneers of that work. Today, professional and leadership development is available from a full spectrum of organizations – from national service organizations to foundations to support organizations to stand-alone development enterprises. Academically based, degree-granting programs in arts administration and related disciplines are still essential means toward the development of effective leaders in the arts. But they now represent a part of a larger spectrum.

It was with these shifts, challenges, and opportunities in mind that the AAAE board committed a full day of their November 2008 meeting to strategic review. With extraordinary accomplishments such as the graduate program standards in place, and undergraduate standards in the works, and with the association’s first-ever professional staff under contract, the time seemed right to explore again some core questions for the association:

• What are the essential benefits of AAAE as a membership association? And how can we clarify and emphasize those benefits among our membership?
• What is the unique role of our membership in the larger environment of professional training and leadership development in arts and culture? And how might we work together to align toward that role?
• How do our core association policies – specifically around membership criteria – focus or diffuse our attention on the outcomes above?

In preparation for the meeting, members of the AAAE board interviewed association members by phone and through an on-line survey to discover perceived benefits, shared connections, and related concerns. The board then dedicated a full day of its fall meeting to discuss these findings, facilitated by John McCann, a former AAAE member as well as a professional consultant and facilitator to the arts.

These discussions reinforced that, first and foremost, AAAE is a collegial network of peers who share challenges and goals. Connections through AAAE help members assess and develop their own programs. And those same connections – primarily through interaction at the conference – keep members connected to field-related information, and personal development as teachers, researchers, and program directors.

AAAE has a strong founding mission and membership – established degree-granting programs in higher education, with integrated curriculum and institutional support. Still, the criteria for that membership have evolved over the life of the association – to include undergraduate programs, and to acknowledge the changing nature of programs in higher education. Recent cycles through our new membership application and review process have shown confusion about what is required for full membership, and how the board and membership should evaluate such applications.

Evolution of professional development and training has provided a richer and broader palette of those with a commitment to advance the field (national service organizations, dedicated professional development and leadership programs, emerging leader institutes, and the like). This seemed an opportunity for AAAE members, their students, and their alumni seeking professional connections. The growing availability and range of professional development also seemed an opportunity for AAAE members to teach and learn from others.

There was a strong sense that AAAE was a tight community, providing rich and resonant relationships at the professional and personal level. But there was also a recognized potential for that tight-knit network to appear closed to newcomers, to make entry and connection difficult. The distinctions between full (voting) and associate (non-voting) members have served to reinforce this disconnect.

A core question for the board became: “How can AAAE provide a bigger tent, while still maintaining the focus and direct relevance for its membership?”

And, as we open that tent, how can we foster more meaningful and continual participation in the network, and the association? How can we build capacity not only to make plans, but also to follow through between convenings – especially given our already overburdened members and leadership?

At the conclusion of our discussions in November, the board decided unanimously to advance the following:

• That we need to redefine the criteria for full, voting membership, to provide a clear and consistent road to voting membership, and to reinforce the core constituency of our association.
• That voting membership should be clearly defined to include academic programs that grant a degree, or comparable credential for international programs, in arts administration or a range of related disciplines (cultural policy, museums studies, entertainment management, and the like…most of which are already represented among AAAE’s voting membership).
• That adoption or alignment with any standards – written or implicit – was not a requirement to attain voting membership, but a strong core value for the association. Professional and academic standards provide a compass for the individuals and programs that comprise our membership. But each individual and program has the right and option to approach those standards from their particular context.
• Understanding that governance will remain the domain of full members, the board decided that the association would benefit by creating pathways to membership for other individuals and organizations with an interest in our mission. These include:
  • Organizations outside the full membership criteria, with no plans to meet those criteria (national service organizations and their professional development leadership, non-academic professional development programs, research and advocacy institutions). There is currently no organizational membership for those not planning to attain voting membership status.
  • Individuals with an interest or affinity in the AAAE mission (currently captured as ‘’affiliate” or “student” members).
  • That any such changes would require direct communication between board members and association members, and ample opportunity for feedback and buy-in. The 2009 conference provides an immediate and important to do that.

To advance these conclusions, and engage the membership in discussion about them, the board has developed recommendations for changes to our membership criteria, described below.
 
Current Membership Criteria
According to the AAAE bylaws, there are four classes of members in the association: full, associate, affiliate, and student. Voting and service on the governing board is exclusive to full members, with each member program casting one vote. Full membership is reserved for Arts Administration programs that:

1. have a designated director with curricular oversight responsibility;
2. confer a bachelor or graduate degree;
3. have a curriculum which is published (brochure, pamphlet, etc.)
4. have a record of conferred bachelor or graduate degrees during the three-year period before consideration for membership.

Through their discussions, the AAAE board explored the tensions around several of these definitions for full, voting membership. First, the designation of specific classes of membership in the bylaws make it difficult to include a greater variety of non-voting members – including non-academic professional development programs, national service organizations, or the like, which might add insight and depth to the AAAE membership.

Second, the requirement for conferring a bachelor or graduate degree has proven problematic with the increasing participation of international programs, where the term “degree” has many variants.

Third, the requirement for a published curriculum means little in the Internet age, when publishing a curriculum on-line does not necessarily mean that the curriculum has been approved and adopted by the host college or department.

Fourth, the requirement for three years of graduates prior to full membership leads to an extended delay for many members, and a particularly long wait for undergraduate programs which could be operating for seven or more years before meeting that requirement.

The board felt that a more clear and immediate path to voting membership would bring greater participation and engagement among programs that had already followed a long path to establishment at their host institutions. Further, the tensions and confusions that the associate and full membership brought to the association didn’t seem consistent with our larger goals.

Proposed Membership Criteria
Through its full day retreat and subsequent discussions, the board recommends unanimously that the following changes be made to our membership criteria:

• That the classes of membership be reduced from four to two: voting and non-voting. And that the designation of member levels and benefits within these classes be determined outside the bylaws. This would allow more responsive member types as the environment changes, without confusing or diluting the role and nature of our voting members. Member categories would still accommodate organizations and individuals, but voting membership would be exclusive to programs that meet the core requirements detailed below.
• That programs would be eligible for voting membership if they:
  • confer a graduate or undergraduate degree in arts administration or a related discipline, or confer a comparable academic credential determined acceptable by the board;
  • have a designated director, with curricular oversight authority;
  • have a published curriculum, approved by the program's host department or college;
  • have currently enrolled students in the year of their application for membership.
• That non-voting members would include organizations, programs, or individuals who do not meet the criteria for voting membership. This would include programs that are moving toward voting membership, but also other institutions or individuals with an affinity for our mission.
• That adherence to any program standards at the graduate or undergraduate level would not be a criteria for voting membership, but a strong element of AAAE’s goals for all of its members. Membership information and other materials would include language such as: “AAAE has developed guidelines for member programs and strongly suggests that all academic programs use these guidelines in developing their programs.”
• That eligibility to serve on the governing board would require a year or more of voting membership in the association.

These changes were discussed during an open membership meeting during the 2009 annual conference in Philadelphia.