Core Documents Verification
Core Documents Verification confirms that an institution has an educational mission and the policies and procedures in place that reflect standard practices of professional museums, as articulated in National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums and used in the Accreditation Program.
Why participate?
Completing Core Documents Verification:
- Distinguishes your museum as a professional member of the field and an educational entity.
- Streamlines your path towards accreditation.
- Acts as an accountability tool for keeping your policies up to date.
- Contributes to field-wide advocacy efforts by sending a strong, visible message to the public and policymakers that the museum field is professional, accountable and committed to shared standards and the quest for excellence.
How does it work?
The program revolves around the evaluation of five core policy documents against a set of required elements. Museums upload these documents and answer a few quantitative questions to verify eligibility and capture basic demographic information. Alliance staff or a trained peer reviewer then conducts an evaluation.
The program is pass/fail. All documents must meet the required elements and eligibility requirements for the institution to pass. The Core Documents designation is valid for five years, at which point the museum must indicate if any documents have changed and reaffirm eligibility. Revised documents may need to be re-approved at the discretion of the Alliance.
How does it connect with the Accreditation Program?
Successfully completing the Core Documents Verification program is a required step before applying for Accreditation. The documents and information submitted in the process flows directly into your accreditation paperwork, eliminating the need to re-answer or resubmit this material as long as it’s still current.