Statement of Authority
The museum is organized as a unit of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and holds in public trust a collection of artwork that advances the academic mission of the university. The director and chief curator (director) of the museum reports directly to the divisional dean of Arts and Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences and, through the University of Colorado Boulder provost, to the regents of the University of Colorado.
The director is the chief officer of the museum and is responsible for the operation of museum’s staff, programs, the development and maintenance of the museum’s collection, the needs of the building and the security of the museum.
Authority and Responsibility of the Regents of the University of Colorado and Designated Representatives
The museum is governed by the regents of the University of Colorado, who have legal and fiduciary responsibility over all assets and entities of the University of Colorado. The regents of the University of Colorado designate authority to the provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs (provost) of the University of Colorado Boulder to represent the regents of the University of Colorado. The provost approves all deeds of gift, and all museum-specific policies and strategic planning documents.
Authority and Responsibility of Museum Staff
Museum staff are stewards of the collection. The Staff Committee on the Collection (Staff Committee) is a committee of staff members that reviews and advises on all collection-based decisions encompassing acquisitions, deaccessions and loans of artwork. The Staff Committee includes staff from the following departments: curatorial, collection/registration and exhibition.
Authority and Responsibility of Collection Committee
The Collection Committee is charged with reviewing and approving acquisitions and deaccessions to the museum’s collection. These decisions shape the collection and lay the groundwork for future growth. The Collection Committee abides by the Collection Policy and its decisions support the collecting goals of the museum. The Collection Committee is responsible for reviewing all acquisition and deaccession proposals submitted by the director and/or the museum’s curator of collections and exhibitions (curator). The Collection Committee meets four times per academic year. The director appoints co-chairs, one external community member and one faculty representative, to the Collection Committee who serve a two-year term, renewable once. The Collection Committee shall approve or deny motions with a simple majority of a quorum of the committee. For the purposes of this document a quorum is the minimum number of voting members who must be present at a meeting in order to conduct business in the name of the group. The minimum number is one greater than half the number of voting members.
The director shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Collection Committee and will cast only tie-breaking votes. The curator and museum collection manager/registrar shall serve as nonvoting ex-officio members of the committee.
The Collection Committee will comprise no fewer than eight and no more than 12 voting members, exclusive of ex-officio members. The Collection Committee should include two to three faculty members with expertise in an area of museum collecting, a representative of another collection on campus, one graduate student and representatives of the community constituency served by the museum. Members serve three-year terms with an option for one reappointment. Academic committee members serve six semesters, which need not be consecutive, and have the option for one reappointment of an additional six semesters.
The director must approve all proposed acquisitions and deaccessions before presentation to the Collection Committee.
Artwork cannot be accepted into the collection by University of Colorado employees or University of Colorado Foundation employees without museum approval, i.e., approval by the director, followed by approval by the Collection Committee and final signature by the provost.