The Accreditation Program Advisory Group (APAG) is established by the staff of the Accreditation Program of the American Association of Museums (AAM) with the approval of the Accreditation Commission. It consists of 25-30 directors of accredited museums or accepted applicants, or the designated accreditation contacts at accredited or applicant museums currently in review.

The purpose of the APAG is to provide input by, and on behalf of, museums participating in the AAM Accreditation Program regarding Program policy and administration. The APAG is established in 2006 as a pilot group for the period of one year. During this time, the group will be tasked with giving input regarding:

• policy on sharing data/contact info from accredited museums with researchers
• whether participating museums are getting the information they need from Program staff, and whether there is a need for change in frequency, method, or types of information being communicated
• what AAM can do to add value to the museum's accredited status
• whether museums in the Accreditation Program value the APAG as a way to give input to the Program

After one year, group members and Program staff will assess whether this was a useful forum for input, solicit input from museums in the program regarding how well the APAG has represented their interests, and decide whether to continue the group with new appointments. The Advisory Group’s work is distinct from that of the Accreditation Commission, and does not involve advising the Commission or providing input on decisions regarding accreditation of individual museums.

Advisory Group members are chosen to represent a broad cross-section of the museums served by Accreditation (by discipline, size, governance, geographic region). The work of the group members is conducted primarily through email—there are no physical meetings and no travel is required.