Handouts - Assessors Presentation July 2013 Agenda Museum Mentors - - PDF document

Handouts - Assessors Presentation July 2013 1

Museum Mentors workshop An Assessors View

Monday 9 July 2013 Sarah Menary Accreditation Assessor

Agenda

• 1. Welcome & introduction
• 2. The Accreditation Scheme – process summary
• 3. The role of the Assessor
• 4. Verification visits
• 5. Recommendations
• 6. Moderation
• 7. The Accreditation panel – decisions
• 8. Post-panel activity
• 9. Accreditation pitfalls- sections 1, 2 and 3

10.General tips 11.Any questions? 1 Welcome & introduction

• team of four assessors in England
• background and experience

2 Summary of the assessment process

Accreditation Panel (Awards) Accreditation Committee (Policy & QA) Secretariat Moderation Intention to Apply Eligibility Process Eligibility Assessment Support available Eligible Ineligible Return request Support available Return Submitted Assessment Application submitted Current Participant Mentor (if applicable) Award Decline Accreditation Secretariat PP1 PP2 PP3 PP4 Significant Change Support available Information submitted PP5 PP6

Key section

3 The role of the assessor

• part of the museum development team from Arts Council
• we work collaboratively
• assess applications and returns against the National

Standard using scalability

• complete an assessment workbook
• normal tranche caseload of 35
• undertake a initial completeness check, then contact the

museum

• gather supporting evidence together and undertake a

complete assessment 4 Verification visits

• all new and significant change applications are visited
• 10-20% of museums providing returns are visited
• museums receive a minimum of two weeks notice for a

visit on a mutually convenient date

• mentors are welcome to attend
• the checklist is shared so museums know what they will

be asked

• four elements – management review, collections audit,

site tour, discussion with colleagues

• feedback and next steps made clear

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5 Recommendation

• complete the assessment workbook
• come to an assessment recommendation with any

appropriate actions

• possible recommendations are
• full
• provisional (up to 12 months)
• removal
• actions may include
• areas for improvement
• required actions
• recommendation will be shared with the museums and

their support infrastructure so the potential outcome is known 6 Moderation

• assessment workbook, recommendation and any actions

are sent to the moderator

• this is a quality assurance and consistency review
• the moderator may request additional information from

the assessor, which might mean the assessor contacts the museum 7 The Accreditation panel - decisions

• awards of Accreditation are made by Accreditation

panels

• assessors do not make awards
• details of panel members are published on the Arts

Council website

• assessors become advocates at panel presenting

recommendations and respond to any queries from panel members

• the Accreditation panel considers the recommendation

and comes to a decision 8 Post-panel activity

• museums are contacted informally and confidentially
• panel minutes are approved by chair
• no formal award notifications are made until the official

statistics are published on Arts Council’s website

• this takes up to three weeks
• after this a formal award letter is sent, and museums

achieving full Accreditation receive their certificate

• the decision letter will provide context to the award, this

will be copied to relevant support officers 9 Assessment pitfalls 9 Two key assessment pitfalls

• reviews of policies and plans
• missing or partial approvals – signed/ratified

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9 Assessment pitfalls – section one

• 1.1 Mission statement not matching charitable purposes
• 1.4 Forward planning
• consultation – linked to 3.1
• action & resource planning for the current & subsequent planning period
• indicative budget/financial resources for current and future years
• meeting the 2011 Standard
• 1.6 Accounts – details and relevant years
• 1.7 Workforce – chart and agreements
• 1.8 Museum Mentor agreements

9 Assessment pitfalls – section two

• 2.2 Collections development policy
• there are changes, such as themes and priorities for rationalisation and

disposal

• positive or negative statement – ‘we will collect…’, ‘we won’t collect…’
• beware the ‘cut and paste’! We don’t need to see the guidance on how

to complete on a museums own policy

• Human remains/repatriation
• 2.3 and 2.4 Documentation policy/

Care and conservation policy approved

• 2.5 Documentation backlogs
• 2.8 Security – access to advice,

include all elements 9 Assessment pitfalls – section three

• 3.1 Good quality services and development
• link to 1.4 consultation, operating environment, reviews
• 3.1.5 Access assessments
• 3.2 VAQAS reports as well as certificates

10 General tips

• be creative with attachments, for example, think about

attaching a cover letter to the application

• mentors can speak to the assessor directly – if there are

successes or specific issues let us know

Thank you Any questions?

accreditation@artscouncil.org.uk www.artscouncil.org.uk