Douglas Henry State Museum Commission Quarterly Meeting Minutes and Agenda

The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission (DHSMC) met at 10:00 a.m. on January 8, 2018 in the Museum Experience Room (MER), Level D of the Tennessee State Museum (TSM) with Chairman Thomas S. Smith presiding.

Members Present

Thomas S. Smith, Chair

Nancy Baker De Friece, Vice Chair

Harbert Alexander

Victor Ashe (phone)

Walter Knestrick (phone)

Deputy Speaker Steve McDaniel

Deanie Parker

Laura Travis

Eleanor Yoakum (phone)

Ex Officio:

Robert Buchanan, Tennessee Historical Society Chair

Ashley Howell, TSM Executive Director

Members Absent

Pete Claussen

Tina Hodges

Representative Charles Sargent

Senator Bo Watson

Participating Guests in Attendance

Alex Rieger, Deputy Attorney General

Participating TSM Staff

Mary Jane Crockett-Green, Deputy Director/Director of Administration

Sharon Dennis, DHSMC Liaison

Dan Justice, Museum Technical Coordinator

Joe Pagetta, Director of Communications

Dan Pomeroy, Chief Curator/Director of Collections

Call to Order

Chairman Thomas S. Smith called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. He verified that a quorum was present following roll call and presided over the following business.

Welcome and Introduction

Chairman Smith welcomed everyone and invited Director Ashley Howell to recognize new department heads in attendance. Director Howell introduced to the commission new members of the management team; Tammi Edwards; Director of Special Projects, Denise Gallagher; Director of Exhibitions/Project Manager; Jeff Sellers, Director of Education/Public Programs and Joe Pagetta, Director of Communications.

Approval of the October 9, 2017 DHSMC Quarterly Meeting Minutes

Chairman Smith entertained a motion for approval of the minutes from the Quarterly meeting on October 9, 2017 with changes that reflect that the abstention vote to approve the July 10, 2017 Quarterly Meeting Minutes be identified as Victor Ashe and the no vote in the Bylaws, Change 1 to be identified as Victor Ashe. Chair Smith called for the motion with the requested changes. Harbert Alexander moved to approve the minutes; Deanie Parker seconded. There being no discussion, the Commission voted and unanimously approved the October 9, 2017 Quarterly meeting minutes with changes.

Audit Committee (AFC) Reports

Chairman Smith recognized Audit Committee Chair Harbert Alexander to report on the October 9, 2017 and December 11, 2017 meetings. Chair Alexander opened his report stating the October 9, 2017 AFC meeting in Knoxville satisfied the annual meeting requirement for the committee. The following month on December 11, 2017, the AFC met to review the findings of the November 22, 2017 Limited Review Letter from the State of Tennessee Comptroller, Department of Audit and discuss corrective actions set in motion by Director Howell and the DHSMC. Chair Smith opened the floor for questions. There were none.

Chair Smith commented on one finding by the comptroller currently being addressed, which is the relationship between the TSMF and the DHSMC and he will report on conversations with the TSMF chair regarding deficiencies and implementation of Best Practices with the understanding that TSMF is a separate entity, at the next Quarterly meeting.

The Chair appointed himself, Harbert Alexander, Victor Ashe, Deputy Speaker Steve McDaniel and Senator Watson to serve on an Ad-hoc committee to study Best Practices and to reference how the DHSMC should utilize best practices amongst itself, museum management and in its relationship with the TSMF.

Chair Smith concluded that the DHSMC is responsible for oversight of the TSM. He referenced Senator Watson’s previous comments on fundraising and the fact that Director Howell is astute in both the fundraising process and in utilizing Best Practices and that follow-up to correct deficiencies in this area is in progress. He called for questions or comments. As there were none, the chair thanked AFC Chair Alexander for his report.

Signed Annual Conflict of Interest Forms

Chair Smith asked if all the Annual Conflict of Interest forms were signed and returned. All were reported signed and returned with the exception of Victor Ashe. Chair Smith asked Commissioner Ashe to sign and return when he returns to the U.S.

Collections Committee (CAC) Report

Chair Smith recognized CAC Chair Deanie Parker who reported there will be no official report due to the obligations of the Collections staff in preparation for the new museum. She deferred to Director of Collections Dan Pomeroy who referenced the Artifact/Object Acquisitions report distributed and included in the meeting books and thanked CAC Chair Parker for her continuous support.

Chair Smith called for questions or comments. Discussion followed including the question as to whether the TSM is ever in competition for presidential artifacts either with state or federal institutions. Mr. Pomeroy replied that TSM could be in competition; however, every effort to not be in competition is made with State Universities, Museums, State-wide historical societies and National Archives on a federal level. Chair Smith Thanked Mr. Pomeroy for his report.

Budget Report

Chair Smith recognized TSM Deputy Director Mary Jane Crockett-Green, who began by stating that the financial performance is very close to the estimates. She shared this year is an extremely important year in that we are looking very closely at our spending in order to realign museum financial estimates with the DHSMC approved Strategic Plan, departmental budgets and the cost of constantly rotating exhibits in the fiscal area. Chair Smith thanked Ms. Crockett-Green for her report.  

Executive Director Report/Media

Chairman Smith recognized Executive Director Ashley Howell, who opened her report thanking the DHSMC members for their attendance and the opportunity to recognize new department heads. She explained that management has a lot of moving parts and is accomplished by a team effort.

Director Howell explained the TSM Implementation grid discussing the three strategic goals that are broken down with sub-goals, how she evaluates each moving forward. Staff individual performance plans define the responsibilities of each staff member and are tied to the implementation of strategic goals.

Implementation Grid

Director Howell illustrated the implementation grid in two examples, both pertaining to the first strategic goal:

Goal One:  Serve the State of Tennessee through History, Art, and Culture

            III.        Develop distance learning programs in conjunction with exhibitions and    collection

            a.         Evaluate and expand K-12 offerings to serve all counties through tours, digital      learning, teacher workshops, and traveling trunks

The Traveling Trunks program sends Tennessee history-based, hands-on activities to classrooms across the state. These lessons are designed to be a “museum in a box.” Each one highlights a different topic in the state’s history. The trunks contain many primary sources including replica artifacts from the collection and in some cases real artifacts that students can touch and feel.

The program launched in the spring of 2011 and has served as a major part of outreach education at TSM, serving over 25,000 students annually.  We have 36 trunks total covering ten topics. 

While the trunks have served the majority of the state since its inception, the challenge has been to ensure that schools from outside Middle Tennessee have the opportunity to consistently use the program.  The counties that have been underserved remain the rural counties of East and West Tennessee. 

In reviewing this information, TSM is seeking to expand the program into these regions by assuming the cost of shipment both to and from these schools.  Currently, the museum pays for one-way shipping and the school is responsible for return shipping. 

The museum wants to distribute the trunks more evenly across the state designating a certain number of trunks for each division to ensure that teachers in East and West Tennessee have more opportunities to reserve a trunk.  This phase will be implemented in the next school year 2018-19.

Discussion of the commission included fundraising, curriculum, cost of the trunk program, and supply and demand.  Director Howell answered these questions with the help of Jeff Sellers, Director of Education. 

Director Howell continued her report regarding strategic initiatives and the use of social media to connect with constituents across the state to engage with the collection. 

Goal One:  Serve the State of Tennessee through History, Art, and Culture

            IV.        Align communications to focus on collections and programs

            d.         Develop a social media plan to expand engagement

The communications team is currently developing a social media plan and re-engaging with how social media is used.  TSM is currently active on Facebook and Instagram.  In seven weeks, Instagram followers have increased by 42% and have featured artifacts with connections to or mentions to: Smyrna, Rocky Top, Nutbush, Brownsville, Franklin, Columbia, Del Rio, Crossville, Carter County, Pall Mall, Henning, Gadsden, Oak Ridge, Elizabethton, and Greeneville.

New Museum Update

The museum continues to be on time and on budget.  A building tour will be planned for the next DHSMC meeting.  Exhibition construction will begin sometime in May.  Director Howell asked for feedback regarding a closing date of the current museum. Public programs will continue through the end of April.  Artifacts are continually being removed from cases for conservation and by the end of April; many of the artifacts will not be on display.  Also, at that time, many of the large artifacts will also be removed. 

The recommendation was made that the last day for operations to be Sunday, May 6.  This date gives TSM approximately five months to focus on the deinstallation/installation of exhibitions, planning for programs and visitor services, implementation of new software, and training for the new facility.  Capitol tours would continue during this time.

Green McAdoo

Green McAdoo Cultural Center, located in Clinton, TN, is currently being transferred to the State of Tennessee with a lease agreement with the City of Clinton.  There will be a recurring appropriation that will be administered to the City of Clinton and TSM will be the pass-through agency for this grant like the one-time appropriations TSM is administering this year.  TSM will not be responsible for the day to day management nor is TSM included in the lease agreement.  These are details that have only been determined in the past few weeks.

I Have a Voice

Finally, Director Howell stated that the newest traveling display exhibition, I Have a Voice: Tennessee’s African American Musical Heritage opens this Friday at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center and will run through March 3.  This is the first venue of a seven venue tour. 

Chair Smith called for questions or further discussion following the director’s report. There was none.

Nominating Committee (NC) Appointments

Chair Smith announced the Nominating Committee appointments include Representative Charles Sargent; Chair, Deanie Parker and Laura Travis.

Audit Committee (AFC) Appointments

Chairman Smith announced his proposed appointments to the Audit Finance Committee which include Harbert Alexander (Chair), Representative Charles Sargent, Victor Ashe, Eleanor Yoakum and Tina Hodges noting that the Commission Chair and the Museum Executive Director also serve as ex-officio members of the Committee.

Chairman Smith called for a vote to approve the named appointments to the Audit Committee. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the candidates with no abstentions.

Public Comments

Chair Smith called for public comments. There were none.

Upcoming Meeting Dates

Chairman Smith announced that the April 9, 2018 Quarterly meeting will be in the TSM Museum Experience Room (MER). The July 9, 2018, October 8, 2018 and January 14, 2019 meeting place places are to be determined.

Other Business                                                                                                                                Chairman Smith recognized Laura Travis who stated that she planned to run for mayor (Rhea County Executive) and asked for approval that there is no conflict. Chairman Smith thanked Ms. Travis and assured her there is no conflict with the DHSMC.

Announcement Made

For the record, Chair Smith recognized Director Howell’s daily responsibilities to both the museum and the new museum in performing two jobs with thanks to her and her staff.

Adjournment

Chair Smith thanked those present and on the phone for their attendance. There being no further discussion, the Chair called for a motion to adjourn. Harbert Alexander moved to adjourn the January 8, 2018 DHSMC Quarterly meeting; Deanie Parker seconded. The meeting adjourned at 11:11 a.m.

Main Motions Summary

Motion: Moved by Harbert Alexander to approve the October 9, 2017 DHSMC Quarterly Meeting minutes with changes. The motion carried unanimously.

Motion:  Moved by Chair Smith to approve the Audit Committee (AFC) appointees Harbert Alexander, Chair, Victor Ashe, Tina Hodges, Representative Charles Sargent and Eleanor Yoakum. The motion carried unanimously with nine (9) votes in favor, no votes against and no abstentions.

Motion:  Moved by Harbert Alexander to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried unanimously.