Present: Ian Carradice (St Andrews, Convenor), Neil Curtis (Aberdeen, Secretary), Alan Knox (Aberdeen), Ross Hayworth (Robert Gordon University), Matthew Jarron (Dundee), Dawn Kemp (Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh), Jacky MacBeath (Edinburgh), Evelyn Silber (Glasgow), Ewen Smith (Glasgow), Peter Trowles (Glasgow School of Art)
1. Apologies
Jane Cameron (Stirling), John Scally (Edinburgh), Patricia Whatley (Dundee)
2. Approval of minutes of Annual General Meeting on 8th September 2004
The minutes were approved subject to correcting the date of the European medical Museums Group conference in Edinburgh in 2008.
3. Matters arising
4. 2004 Conference
This had been successful, with thanks to Jacky MacBeath
4. 'Opening Doors to Learning'
It was noted that this had been distributed successfully, with a few copies still held by Evelyn Silber.
4. Convenor's report
Since the last AGM, the Committee has only held two meetings, one of which was just a few minutes ago. This is not unusual, in that UMIS Committee meetings are held when necessary and necessity increases in years ending with an even number, since they are the years that we hold our Conference, which tends to be our largest piece of business. However, the Committee has also been in regular contact via circular emails. The main items of business dealt with have been as follows:
UMIS responses were prepared and sent to the appropriate bodies for two major consultations:
1) The Final Report of the Cultural Commission, entitled 'Our Next Major Enterprise…' In our response to this massive document we highlighted the fact that University Museums were well placed to deliver the Commission's objectives both in delivery of services and in providing strategic leadership, but that our potential could only be fully realised if we received sustainable funding. Members will know that the Cultural Commission's Report has received at best a mixed reception.
2) SHEFC's Cultural Review: 'Supporting Cultural Engagement'. We prepared a detailed response to this, which may have also fed into the responses of our individual institutions. I am unsure of where SHEFC has now taken this process of consultation, but one important point is that it should feed into the forthcoming review of SHEFC's Museums and Collections Grant.
Additionally, the Committee reviewed its last Conference, the publication of which on the Web is imminent, and began discussing the next (5th) Conference, and it has been proposed that this will be hosted by the University of Dundee in 2006 (details of dates and venue yet to be confirmed).
One of the more significant developments during the last year was the implementation of VAT relief for qualifying University Museums. This came into force in summer 2005, backdated to 2004 where appropriate. The government has indicated that 'the door is still open' for Universities that did not immediately qualify to apply in the future for VAT exemption. The changes to relevant Human Remains and Human Tissue legislation in Scotland are imminent, with the outcome of the review expected this December. Another area for current discussion is strategic collecting for museums and a Scottish working group has been formed to move this initiative forward. Finally, I can report that several successful applications to the Regional Development Challenge Fund involved Universities, and one in particular, Scotland and Medicine, was led by one of our members (Royal College of Surgeons).
I would like to remind members that the UMIS webpage now provides current news reports, which are very interesting and which help us to promote ourselves. However, this is only as good or as up-to-date as we make it, so I urge us all to ensure that we keep Matthew informed of our news so that it can be included in the webpage.
Since this is my final AGM as Convener, I would like to close by thanking you all for your support over the last six years.
5. Treasurer's report
The Treasurer's report was read and accepted, noting that there were now 14 members. It was agreed that there should be no change in the subscription rate for the coming year.
6. Election of office bearers
Having served two 3-year terms, Ian Carradice reported his intention to step down as Convenor. He proposed that Evelyn Silber be elected as Convener for 2005-8, which was unanimously welcomed. The other officers were willing to continue in post. The Secretary thanked Ian Carradice, the departing Convenor, warmly for his
efforts on behalf of UMIS over the previous 6 years.
The committee for 2005-6 is therefore:
7. Other reports
7.1 University Museums Group
Evelyn Silber reported that the UMG committee was discussing the decision that in the future funding from HEFCE will no longer be distributed as grants from AHRC, but will instead from a non-identifiable element of the HEFCE block grant to HEIs. In the meantime, the AHRC museum funding allocations for the coming year had been announced with some new institutions receiving funding, but some other collections had seen a reduction in their core grant. Nichola Johnson was now Chair of UMG and was also the university museums representative to the Museums Association.
7.2 University Museums Committee of ICOM (UMAC)
Alan Knox and Ewen Smith reported that the papers from the UMAC conference in Uppsala had not yet been web-mounted and that the next conference would be in Mexico City in 26-29 September 2006 with the topic 'New Roads for University Museums'.
7.3 Scottish Museums Council
In the absence of Mungo Campbell, those who had attended the SMC AGM had noted that it had been successful, with plenty of discussion and consultation.
8. UMIS Conference
Following the success of the 2004 conference, the venue of the 2006 conference was confirmed as Dundee. There was some discussion about possible themes, with the role of subject specialist networks being suggested by Dawn Kemp. The committee agreed to decide on a theme soon to enable adequate time for planning.
9. AOB
In the expectation of an imminent quinquennial review of SHEFC's museum funding, there was some discussion about how to engage with this. It was suggested that, through their host institutions, members should enquire about what form, if any, this review would take. It was noted that the result of the Cultural Commission report and SHEFC's review of cultural engagement was still unclear.
Other issues discussed as having some potential impact on university museums in Scotland included the changes to AHRC research funding to include analogous institutions such as major non-university museums, the establishment of subject specialist networks, the potential collection significance schemes being considered by the Scottish Executive, the SMC's working party on human remains and the future of partnerships with the National Museums of Scotland.
The Museums Association conference in 2007 in Glasgow was noted as offering potential for UMIS involvement.
10. Date of next meeting
The date for the 2006 AGM would be set by the committee for some time in the latter half of the year.
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