Visiting Committee Quick Reference Guide

Accreditation Visiting Committee Quick Reference Guide

Your Users Guide to the Peer Review Manual
This Guide complements your Peer Review Manual. It highlights the basics of each step of the visit process and references sections of the Manual that have the full details you will need to read. The relevant sections of the manual can be linked to by clicking on the pages in parentheses. Or go to the complete manual online.

Scroll through each section below, or select from the following topics of interest:
Before the Visit: Preparation
On Site: Conducting the Visit
After the Visit: Writing the Narrative Report
Wrapping Up: Submitting the Report and Returning Materials

Before the Visit: Preparation
1. Review Your Roles and Responsibilities
Go over the specific duties of the Team Contact and the Team Member (D23-24), and review the Site Visit Expectations (D10-11), and the Visiting Committee Position Description (E8-11).

2. Review All Documentation (D27)
Prior to the visit, ensure you have a thorough understanding of the institution by reading the entire Self-Study—questionnaire and supporting documentation—so you will be able to compare it to the museum’s actual practices while on site, set an appropriate visit agenda, and identify any additional materials you need to ask for in advance.

3. Set the Agenda/Work with the Team Contact to develop the Agenda (D28)
Use A Guide to the Characteristics of an Accreditable Museum (D5), refer to your notes and questions, and consult with your team partner and the museum to develop an agenda that will provide you the time to:
• Gain insight into daily operations
• Verify the self-study and supporting documentation
• Answer any questions or concerns that emerge from your review of the materials (especially any cited for special attention by the Accreditation Commission in the museum’s Interim Approval decision letter and/or cited by staff in the museum’s Self-Study Review Checklist)
• Visit any off-site facilities
• Get full participation of all key museum staff and stakeholders
• Reflect, discuss, and take notes privately together
• Gauge what/whether the museum has made progress since its last review. (if a subsequent accreditation review)

4. Travel Arrangements and Logistics (D25-26; E10)
The site visit is a professional business trip that typically includes transportation (airfare and/or care rental), hotel accommodation, and meals. The museum and peer reviewer should agree to all travel arrangements in advance, particularly for any unusual or very high expenses, to ensure that the plans are reasonable, appropriate, and acceptable to both parties. The museum covers all expenses of the site visit. Using the Visiting Committee Travel Reimbursement Form, submit your out-of-pocket expenses with original receipts and signature to the Accreditation staff for reimbursement. The museum is then invoiced that amount.

On Site: Conducting the Visit (D29-32)
1. Starting Off
Before arriving at the museum, get acquainted with your team member, compare notes, and outline your strategy.

2. Interview with the Director
Interview the director at the beginning of the visit:
• set the tone for the visit by stating the purpose of your role during the visit
• confirm the confidential nature of the information gathered
• review the agenda
• ask questions and clarify aspects of the review and museum’s operations
• gather and review any new information or documents
• emphasize that you will not offer any recommendations or discuss your opinions about the Commission’s decision

3. Interview with Staff & Governing Authority
Meet with key staff and members of the governing authority (individually and/or as a group depending on size and time). These interviews must be thorough and candid and should take place in private, without the director present, to provide an opportunity for open discussion.

4. Tour all Facilities
Visit all public and behind the scenes spaces; schedule time to visit off site storage facilities or branch/satellite sites.

5. Exit Interview
Always schedule an exit interview. During the exit interview, ask for the director’s observations about the process, verify that the factual information you gathered is accurate, and describe the Visiting Committee’s general observations, citing any areas of significant concern you have, without revealing the advisory conclusion regarding accreditation that you will submit to the Accreditation Commission. Remind the director that the Commission is the final decision maker and will use the report in conjunction with the museum’s other materials. The Commission’s decision may wind up different than the team’s conclusions.

6. Final Team Meeting and Your Advisory Conclusion
Before leaving, develop a consensus with your partner about the team’s conclusion(s) and complete and sign the Visiting Committee’s Advisory Conclusion Form. The Accreditation staff and commission will expect the report to substantively and concretely support your advisory conclusion. Your choices include:
• Grant Accreditation
• Table (with explanation why)
• Withhold/Deny Accreditation (with explanation why)
If you are on the fence or split, call the Accreditation Program staff for advice

Tip: Shortly after the end of the visit, write down your initial thoughts, starting an outline from which you can build the report to keep your ideas fresh.

After the Visit: Writing the Narrative Report (D33-37)
Writing the report soon after the visit will keep your memories fresh and lead to a more specific and stronger document. AAM staff have observed that as time elapses, other priorities begin to claim your attention, and the freshness of your memory about the details decreases.
• See pages D33-37 for format, writing style, and content guidelines/instructions.
• The report communicates the team’s analysis of the museum’s operations to the Accreditation Commission—the primary audience for the report. The Commission relies on an accurate, comprehensive, and thoughtful report to make a fair and informed decision.
• Following the Commission’s review, the report will be sent to the museum. A fair and balanced report based on specific observations, critical thinking, and a collegial approach will contribute to the institution’s growth and development.
• Be completely candid and honest in your description and analysis, but diplomatic and collegial in the phrasing.
• Reminder: do not indicate your advisory conclusion in the body of the report, or include any advice on what to do, or how to do it, in the report.
• Call the Accreditation Program staff or Peer Reviewer Manager if you need any help crafting the report (e.g., need guidance on the best way to approach a significant problem area, not sure whether to advise tabling, etc.).

Wrapping Up: Submitting the Report and Returning Materials (D38)
Please submit your report and return the Self-Study materials on time. If you need additional time, please contact the Accreditation Program staff as soon as possible to let them know. Lateness may result in the museum getting bumped to a later Accreditation Commission meeting agenda, delaying its final decision by several months. To complete your assignment, submit:

1. The Report
• Submissions via e-mail are preferred.
• Please give the report a once-over to ensure there are no spelling/grammar error or typos.

2. Signed Advisory Conclusion Form
• Thisshould be mailed or faxed in at the same time the report is submitted (fax 202-289-6578)

3. Self-Study Materials
• Return ALL the Self-Study materials (questionnaire and supplementary documentation) you received, plus any additional materials picked up on site, to the Accreditation Program staff.
(Do not return them to, or leave them at, the museum. The Accreditation Commission needs the materials for its review.)
• Sendthem back as soon as possible after submitting the report. You can claim shipping expenses on your travel reimbursement form, or call the Accreditation Program staff to use AAM’s UPS/FedEx account number.
• Pleasetry to return the materials in the same condition you received them.
• If you removed any documents from the Self-Study binders, please put them back in, especially the Self-Study Checklist and the previous Visiting Committee report.

A member of the Accreditation Commission or the Accreditation Program staff may contact you with questions about the report or the visit.

After the Commission meeting during which the museum you visited is examined, you will receive a copy of the Commission’s official decision letter. Once that happens, please destroy any remaining notes you have from the visit and remember to maintain the confidentiality of the decision and the museum’s details.

Thank you for volunteering to be part of this important process. We appreciate your time and hard work!