New Certificate Program Takes a Microscope to Museums

The University of Cincinnati is offering a new certificate program to prepare students for professional careers in museums.

First offered this fall, the certificate program provides UC students vital preparation - including an internship - at a time when the seemingly staid world of museums is in flux.

The growth of niche museums is mushrooming, from Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center set to open in early 2004. Similarly, demands on museum staff are heightening, according to Anne Timpano, director of galleries at UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, who also instituted and teaches in the new certificate program.

"Museums are now raising the bar on accountability and professionalism. Now, we have museum staff who are experts in a subject matter, and highly specialized in particular aspects of museum work whereas in previous eras, museums were often the domain of people, gentry if you will, who dabbled in caring for collections," she explained.

In an age where scarce leisure time can be spent on everything from sports events to cable TV to the Internet, museums have to be more entrepreneurial with education and exhibition efforts. And though they compete very successfully, museums are now demanding more from staff even at the entry level.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 300 million people attended museums in 1985. Five years later in 1990, about 500 million people visited museums in a year's time. These rising numbers in addition to the rise in specialty museums means more demand for staff.

"It used to be that you learned museum work on the job," said Timpano. "I did when I got my first museum job at the Smithsonian. Twenty-five years later, that's not likely to be the case. Those with internships and academic training have a better chance in the job market because their learning curve is going to be reduced."

Lucy Putnam, 35, of Montgomery is currently enrolled in the Museum Studies Certificate Program because she already holds a fine arts degree and would like to now pursue graduate studies in art history or anthropology in order to work for a local museum. "It's magic. It's such a relief to study in this program here in Cincinnati. I wanted to test the waters for a possible new career while still being a mom with a job. I think the best part of the program will be the internship which I would do next summer. I don't know where I want to go or what I want to do. I've learned a lot about museums in the first class, and every one of them sounded interesting to me."

Another student in the program, art history graduate student Starla Alexander, 32, of West Carrollton, Ohio, already has a summer internship lined up in order to earn her certificate. She will help teach children's summer education courses at the Dayton Art Institute once she completes the program's coursework. "I eventually want to teach art history at the college level so I wasn't even planning to earn the certificate. But I really liked the first class. It had real value. I never knew how a museum functioned, all the intricate details. Now, I'm going to earn the certificate because it's the kind of background that can really help, can be a real asset for job hunting," she said.

Putnam, Alexander and the 11 other students enrolled in the program all took "Museum Management" this past fall. In winter and spring quarter, they'll be able to enroll in "Collection Management," "Problems in Museum Administration," and "Conservation Methods." Each course is four credits so three courses and an internship are required to earn the certificate. Other courses in the current program are "Interpretation of Collections" and "Technology in Museums." More offerings are planned for the future, said Timpano.

UC's Museum Studies Certificate Program, offered via the university's Center for Applied Graduates Studies with support from UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning and UC's College of Evening and Continuing Education, is open to anyone with a baccalaureate degree. It is especially popular, according to Timpano, with current graduate students in art history and related fields. It is one of only two such graduate-level certificate programs in the state.

"I developed the program because I work closely with art history graduate students in UC's galleries," explained Timpano. Many of them expressed an interest in careers in art museums. But the courses could be helpful for architecture students who may eventually design museum expansions, or for history students who may work with historical societies or in history museums."

For more information or to register for the certificate program, call 513-556-3210 or e-mail: anne.timpano@uc.edu.