Board Members Present: David Connell; Susie Garretson, Chair; Susan Golightly; Leigh Kuwanwisiwma; LaVelle McCoy; Jack Metzger; Peter Pilles; Wayne Ranney; Octaviana Trujillo; and Stephen Verkamp.

Sedona Muses Representative: Mary Ann Isom

Not In Attendance: Drew Barringer; Rowena Dickerson; Sam Henderson; Beverly Miller; Barbara Poley (on leave); Katrina Rogers; and Carolyn Shoemaker.

Others Present: Robert Breunig, Museum Director; Catherine Nichols, Intern; Laura Rogers, Special Assistant to the Director; Julie Sharpe, Executive Assistant; Lynn Yeager, Controller.

Summary: The Board meeting of August 5 reviewed and approved the Documentation Retention Policy, Ethics Policy, Collections Management Policy, Educational Philosophy, and the Institutional Plan. Officers for the 2006-2007 year were elected.

I. Call to Order
Chair Garretson called the meeting to order at 9:00 am and asked for introductions to be made. New board member LaVelle McCoy was introduced.

II. Approval of Previous Minutes
A motion to approve the June 3 Board minutes was made by Susan Golightly and seconded by Wayne Ranney. The motion passed unanimously.

III. Approval of Consent Agenda
Chair Susie Garretson called for approval of the consent agenda, to include the following: Executive Committee Minutes of June 22, July 20, and August 3; Institutional Planning Committee Minutes of June 8, June 22, July 6, and July 20; Program Committee Minutes of June 5, June 19, and July 10; Governance Committee Minutes of July 3 and July 19. A motion to approve the consent agenda was made by LaVelle McCoy and seconded by Miguel Vasquez. The motion passed unanimously.

IV. Report from the Chair
Susie Garretson presented a recommendation from the Executive Committee for a Documentation Retention and Destruction Policy. This type of policy is required in order to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which was passed by Congress following the Enron and Arthur Anderson cases. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that evidence in legal cases cannot be destroyed to avoid culpability. The law requires that organizations lay out a clear policy that communicates which documents are kept on file, for how long, and when documents may be destroyed. The current draft of MNA’s policy was submitted to Richard Kasper, who is an attorney specializing in nonprofit law, for review. He stated that the plan was excellent.

A discussion of the plan that ensued.

Following discussion a motion to approve the Document Retention and Destruction Policy was made by Susan Golightly. The motion was seconded by LaVelle McCoy and passed unanimously.

V. Report from the Director
The self-study for AAM accreditation is nearly complete, with one final essay question and a couple of resumes and job descriptions remaining. He explained the benefits of applying by early September so that the Accreditation Commission can review it in early December. After the self-study is reviewed, a Visiting Committee will make a site visit—hopefully in 2007. The Visiting Committee will then make a recommendation to the Accreditation Commission; the Commission will then make a final decision. Robert thanked Laura Rogers and Catherine Nichols for all of their hard work in preparing the self study.

Plans are under way to build a 17,000 square foot Collection’s Center that will house all category 1 and 2 collections, as determined by sensitivity to environmental conditions. We have been collaborating with an intertribal advisory committee, which has expressed their views about the new building. Various ideas from this group have been integrated into a new building plan, which was declared excellent by the advisory committee.

Negotiations have been completed with NAU to share Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin’s time and appoint her to MNA’s Danson Chair of Anthropology. MNA will be “buying out” two of her courses over the next year.

The Hopi and Navajo Festivals were very successful this year. The artists did very well. Leigh Kuwanwisiwma stated that he visited the Navajo Show for the first time and was overwhelmed by the majesty of the artwork. He suggested that the museum might next create a venue to promote the artists, perhaps a website. Bookstore and Gift Shop sales were down during the Navajo Show, but that may have been due to thunderstorms throughout the weekend.

A final report was submitted to Rockefeller Foundation at the end of July on their funding of the first phase of the Hopi Iconography Project. The museum is now preparing a planning grant to the National Endowment for the Humanities for the exhibit portion of Hopi Iconography Project. This landmark exhibit will be titled Sìitala: Life in Balance, World in Bloom. Members of the project team from MNA and the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office were able to interview dozens of artists from every mesa to get a comprehensive spectrum of Hopi perspectives in preparation for this exhibit.

Director Breunig reported that the museum had received a display specimen of a California Condor from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. This specimen, along with a Mexican Grey wolf will be used to create some temporary exhibits on endangered species. Arizona Game and Fish Commissioner Mike Golightly was instrumental in securing the specimens.

Robert announced that MNA had received a several operating grants including grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the Flagstaff Cultural Partners. The museum also received a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council for the Celebraciónes de la Gente event in October. He also reported that a major grant proposal had been submitted to the Nina Mason Pulliam Trust to fund planning for new permanent exhibits.

VI. Report from the Finance and Investment Committee
David Connell reported that the museum is seeing a lot of good numbers. Revenue is $162,000 above plan. The net is 107,000 above budget for June. Expenses were 55,000 worse than budget, but in large part that was due to the increase in “cost of goods sold”, which is tied with the increase in sales. Donations are at 17% for the fiscal year, which is common since our donations tend to come in at the end of our fiscal year.

Mr. Connell noted that the museum could benefit by altering its fiscal year to start in October, so that year end (calendar year) donations are received in the first quarter of the fiscal year rather than in the last quarter and then the budget could be adjusted according to what we know we have taken in at year end instead of trying to predict what we will have 12 months out.

The Finance Committee recommended that the board appoint LaVelle McCoy as board member and shareholder representative to MNA-ES. The motion passed unanimously.

Break
Susie Garretson called for a ten minute break at 10:30 am. The meeting resumed at 10:40am.

VII. Report from the Governance Committee

Susan Golightly made a motion to elect the new board slate of officer nominees (with the exception of the Chair) as recommended by the Governance Committee. They are Katrina Rogers, Vice Chair; David Connell, Treasurer; Sam Henderson, Secretary. Wayne Ranney seconded, the motion passed unanimously.

Susan Golightly explained that a legal opinion had been sought to confirm that under the current language of the bylaws that Susie Garretson was eligible for an additional one year term as Chair. Attorney Patrice Horstman advised the board that her reading of the bylaws indicated that Ms. Garretson was indeed eligible. The board then unanimously reelected Susie Garretson Chair.

Susan Golightly submitted a motion to approve Board meeting dates for 2007. The motion passed unanimously.

Susan Golightly submitted a motion to approve changes as noted to the MNA Ethics Policy. After discussion the motion passed unanimously.

VIII. Report from the Program Committee

Susan Garretson made a motion to approve the draft educational philosophy as prepared by the staff, Peter Pilles seconded, the motion passed unanimously.

The Program Committee reported on and recommended a draft Collections Management Policy for approval. The board discussed the policy and in particular staff reactions to the section on access to collections. Part of the discussion touched on a personnel conflict, but the Board decided that there was no way to rewrite the policy to resolve the conflict and that it was more important for the policy to be made with the future operation of the museum in mind.

A discussion ensued about the editorial content of the collections policy. There was some tweaking to the wording of the items, but nothing substantive.

Lee Kuwanwisiwma commented that the policy should contain a statement of responsibility when repatriating items to recognize that it shall not knowingly subject personnel or tribal to harmful materials. He explained that older artifacts have sometimes been treated with old methods, like using arsenic to preserve them. These items are then extremely toxic. He felt the museum should be responsible to test items before repatriation.

A motion to approve the Collections Management Policy with the minor editorial changes and new language to address Mr. Kuwanwisiwma’s concerns was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

X. Muses Report
Mary Ann Isom reported that the muses have had a very productive year. Membership has grown and diversified. The muses are looking forward to becoming more independent as an organization.

Lunch
Susie Garretson called for a 30 minute lunch break at 1:00 pm. The meeting resumed at 1:30 pm.

IX. Report from the Institutional Planning Committee
Allan Affedt reported that the Institutional Planning Committee has completed its work and was now recommending the acceptance of the plan. Robert reviewed the main points of the plan, which covered the goals and action points:

1. To build a sustainable financial base
2. To protect and enhance the collections
3. To build exciting exhibits and educational programs
4. To foster excellence in research
5. To improve the stewardship of grounds, assets, and facilities
6. To invest in staff and volunteers
7. To develop strong partnerships
8. To build MNA’s reputation
9. To operate with the highest standard

These goals were then opened to discussion. All felt that the plan had been very thoroughly prepared over ten months and was appropriate.

LaVelle McCoy submitted a motion to approve the Institutional Plan. Wayne Ranney seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Susie Garretson called for the meeting to move into executive session at 2:15 pm