Institute of Museum Services: Technical Assistance Grants

NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

45 CFR Part 1180

Institute of Museum Services: Technical Assistance Grants

AGENCY: Institute of Museum Services, NFAH.

ACTION: Final regulations.

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SUMMARY: The Institute of Museum Services issues final regulations

relating to a program of Federal financial assistance for technical

assistance grants to support training and implementation in museums.

The regulations implement the Museum Services Act. They state

eligibility, conditions and other terms for the administration of the

Technical Assistance Grants.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rebecca Danvers, Telephone: (202) 606-8539.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Background

The Museum Services Act (``the Act'' which is Title II of the Arts,

Humanities and Cultural Affairs Act of 1976, was enacted on October 8,

1976 and amended in 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, and 1990). The purpose of

the Act is stated in section 202 as follows:

It is the purpose of the Museum Services Act to encourage and

assist museums in their educational role in conjunction with formal

systems of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education and

with programs of non-formal education for all age groups: to assist

museums in modernizing their methods and facilities so that they may

be better able to conserve our cultural, historic, and scientific

heritage and to ease the financial burden borne by museums as a

result of their increasing use by the public.

The Act establishes an Institute of Museum Services (IMS)

consisting of a National Museums Services Board and Director.

The Act provides that the National Museum Services Board shall

consist of fifteen members appointed for fixed terms by the

President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Chairman of

the Board is designated by the President from the appointed members.

Members are broadly representative of various museum disciplines,

including those relating to science, history, technology, art, zoos,

and botanical gardens; of the curatorial, educational, and cultural

resources of the United States; and of the general public. The Board

has the responsibility for establishing the general policies of the

Institute. The Director is authorized, subject to the policy

direction of the Board, to make grants under the Act to museums. IMS

is an independent agency placed in the National Foundation on the

Arts and the Humanities (National Foundation). Public Law 101-512,

Nov. 5, 1990. The Act lists a number of illustrative activities for

which grants may be made, including assisting museums to improve

their operations. Training and implementation provided by the

Technical Assistance Grants are intended to help museums improve

their operations.

Subpart F--Technical Training and Implementation Grants to Museums

Response to Comments

IMS published proposed regulations on September 17, 1993. IMS

received two letters of comment. One letter regards clarification on

the eligibility requirement for staff and acceptable training

opportunities. IMS has added language that clarifies that a museum is

considered eligible for Technical Assistance Grants if it has full-time

or part-time staff. IMS has added language that clarifies under what

conditions sessions offered as part of program at an annual meeting of

a professional museum association would be considered as a training

activity.

One commenter believed that funding should be available for

assisting a museum to begin operation. IMS believes that it is

appropriate that the limited federal funds available to museums through

IMS programs be offered to museums that have a record of public

service. IMS recognizes the value of newly opened museums by including

them in the eligibility for two other IMS programs of assistance (CAP

and MAP).

One commenter believed Technical Assistance Grant funds should be

available to professional associations. It is the intent of the

Technical Assistance Program to reach unserved museums and thereby

increase our services to museums. IMS recognizes the valuable services

of professional associations and currently has two programs of

assistance open to professional associations (PSP and MLI).

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1180

Grant programs--education, Museums, Nonprofit organizations.

Therefore, as set forth in the preamble, part 1180 of title 45 of

the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 1180--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 1180 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 961 et seq., unless otherwise noted.

2. Section 1180.78 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 1180.78 Technical training and implementation grants to museums.

(a) Purpose of Program. The Director of the Institute of Museum

Services makes two-part grants under this subpart to assist those who

work in museums (paid or volunteer) to obtain training in technical

areas of museum operations and to implement the training to improve

museum services to the public.

(b) Eligibility. (1) To be eligible to apply for a grant under this

subpart, a museum must:

(i) be a public or private nonprofit institution that is organized

on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes;

and

(ii) care for, and own or use tangible objects, whether animate or

inanimate, and exhibit these objects to the public on a regular basis

through facilities which it owns or operates, and

(iii) have at least one staff member, whether paid or unpaid, full-

time or part-time, whose primary responsibility is the acquisition,

care or exhibition to the public of objects owned or used by the

museum; and

(iv) be open and providing museum services to the general public on

a regular basis; and

(v) be located in one of the fifty States of the Union, the

District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American

Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, or Palau

(until its compact of free association is approved.)

(2) A museum must have an operating budget for the fiscal year

immediately preceding the deadline to which the museum applies of no

more than $250,000 exclusive of non-cash support.

(3) Museum includes (but is not limited to) the following

institutions if they satisfy the provisions of this section:

(i) aquariums and zoological parks;

(ii) botanical gardens and arboretums;

(iii) nature centers;

(iv) museums relating to art, history (including historic buildings

and sites);

(v) natural history, science and technology, planetariums, and

specialized subject.

(4) A museum that receives a grant for training and implementation

under this subpart for a fiscal year may not receive another grant

under this subpart for the same or subsequent fiscal years.

(5) Preference for funding will be given to a museum that has not

received any grants from the Institute within two years of the deadline

to which it applies over funding for a museum that has received a grant

from the Institute within two years of application.

(c) Applicability of other regulations The following sections in

part 1180 do apply to grants for training and implementation under this

subpart: Sections 1180.3(d), 1180.4, 1180.5(c)-(e), 1180.6, 1180.10,

1180.11(a)-(b), 1180.16(b), 1180.30-34, 1180.36-37, 1180.39, 1180.42-

44, 1180.47-48, 1180.51-57, part 1183, part 1185.

(d) Application requirements. (1) An applicant under this subpart

must submit an application in such time and such manner, and containing

such information, as requested by the Institute.

(2) An applicant must submit with its application financial

information for its most recently completed fiscal year for which

satisfactory information is available and projected financial

information for the fiscal year(s) that includes the time of the grant

period.

(e) Procedures and criteria for review of applications. (1) To

evaluate applications and determine the amount of their awards, the

Institute rates competitive applications under the criteria stated in

paragraph (e)(2) of this section. Normally, these applications are

evaluated by field reviewers, panels of experts, or both. The director

may also use technical experts in the review of applications.

(2) This paragraph sets forth the criteria the Institute uses in

evaluating and reviewing applications for technical training and

implementation grants under this subpart. Evaluators are instructed to

use only these criteria in the evaluation of these applications.

(i) Does the museum demonstrate its importance to the community it

serves?

(ii) Is the type of training requested appropriate to the purpose

or mission of the museum?

(iii) Are the costs requested to obtain the training reasonable and

necessary?

(iv) Is the training needed at the museum?

(v) Is the staff member(s) (paid or volunteer) identified to

receive the training the appropriate person(s) within the museum's

organizational structure?

(vi) Does the individual(s) identified for training demonstrate at

least a two-year commitment to the museum field?

(vii) Does the museum demonstrate a commitment to implement the

training?

(f) Allowable costs. (1) A museum may use a grant under this

subpart for expenses to obtain training in areas of museum operations

and for activities to implement the training.

(2) Funds may be used to pay for registration or tuition fees for

training courses or workshops. Individual(s) may use the grant funds to

pay for a course that is part of a degree-granting program only for

non-credit such as to audit the course.) Funds are generally not

intended to support attendance at association annual meetings unless a

specific training session or workshop is part of the meeting (or as a

pre or post conference activity). A course of study that is identified

by clearly and specifically named sessions that are part of an annual

meeting program and that clearly and specifically address the area of

training need will be considered.

(3) Funds may be used for travel to and from training activities

and expenses incurred during travel, such as housing and meals.

(4) Funds may be used to purchase instructional materials.

(5) Funds may not be used to pay the salary of the person(s)

receiving the training. The time the staff member(s) expends to obtain

the training and to implement the training is considered a matching,

in-kind contribution to the grant activities.

(6) Funds may not be used for consulting fees. (In special cases

where training is not available otherwise, the Institute may consider

an individually designed training agenda that includes the use of a

consultant clearly serving as a trainer to the applicant in specific

areas of museum operations.)

(7) Funds may be used to purchase supplies, materials, and

equipment for areas of museum operations for which training was

received.

(8) Funds may support additional travel as needed to implement

training (eg. travel to libraries, archives, etc. to document

collections).

(g) Conditions of participation. Following the completion of the

training activity the museum must submit an implementation plan to the

Institute for review before implementation funds are released. The

implementation plan must indicate the time frame for implementation

activities, the personnel involved, the activities to be completed,

where the activities will take place, and the costs for implementing

the plan.

(h) Form of assistance: limitation of amount. (1) The Director

makes payments to a museum under this subpart in advance.

(2) The amount of the grant to a museum will be determined by the

Director, in accordance with the policy direction of the Board,

regarding the maximum amount available for each part of the grant. The

amount of the grant will be subject to the availability of funds.

(i) Reporting requirements. The museum receiving a grant for

training and implementation under this subpart must submit a final

financial and narrative report that evaluates the success of the

applicant in meeting the stated goals and any plans to continue

activities in the area of training.

(j) Limitation on number of applications. A museum may submit only

one application for each deadline.

(k) Duration of grant. (1) Grants made under this subpart generally

permit the grantee to use the funds for a period of up to 24 months

from the start of the grant period. The grantee may use grant funds

during the period specified in the grant document unless the grant is

suspended or terminated.

(2) If the grantee needs additional time to complete the grant, the

grantee may apply for an extension of the grant period without

additional funds. The Director may approve this extension at his or her

discretion.

Dated: March 1, 1994.

Diane B. Frankel,

Director, Institute of Museum Services.

[FR Doc. 94-7779 Filed 3-31-94; 8:45 am]

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