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Museum of Northern Arizona
Code of Ethics

Adopted October 2, 2005; Revised, August 5, 2006; revised October 7th, 2006

The Museum of Northern Arizona’s Code of Ethics applies to the trustees, staff, research associates, scientists, volunteers, and others affiliated with the Museum for official purposes. These individuals will be known collectively as “Museum Associates.”

All of the principles articulated in the Code of Ethics, regardless of the section in which they are established, apply to all Museum Associates.

A copy of the Museum of Northern Arizona Code of Ethics will be given to each new Associate. Each Associate will be asked to indicate, by signature, that they have received and agreed to read and abide by the document.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The Museum of Northern Arizona’s Board of Trustees is responsible for maintaining the institution’s public trust and its service to society: locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. The governing authority protects and enhances the Museum’s collections and programs and its physical, human, and financial resources. The board ensures that support for the Museum’s mission, respect for the diversity of society, and for the natural and cultural common wealth, will be reflected in the use of all Museum resources.

It is the policy of the Museum of Northern Arizona, Inc., that all members of the Board of Trustees and officers of the corporation shall exercise good faith in all transactions related to their trustee/officer role with the Museum.

The Museum trustee shall conduct all activities, including those relating to persons closely associated with the trustee such as business associates or relatives related by blood or marriage, in such a way that no conflict will arise with the policies, operations or interest of the Museum and that an appearance of conflict is avoided.

Any trustee or officer who has, or whose business associate, relative or a person close to the trustee has, a self-interest in any contract, sale, purchase, lease, exchange or service to or from the Museum, or a self-interest in any decision of the Museum, including monies, shall make known that interest and shall refrain from voting upon same, and in some instances, depending on the extent of self-interest, participating in the decision-making process.

No trustee or person close to the trustee or acting on behalf of the trustee may acquire objects deaccessioned from the Museum of Northern Arizona. Since the exhibition of an object can enhance its value, the display of objects owned or created by the trustee or a person close to the trustee shall be by Museum authorization only.

Trustees should only use the Museum of Northern Arizona’s property for official purposes and make no personal use of the Museum’s collection, property or services in a manner not available to a comparable member of the general public.

The Board of Trustees ensures the following:

1. that all those who work for and on behalf of the Museum understand and support its mission and public trust responsibilities;
2. that its Board members understand and fulfill their trusteeship and act corporately, not as individuals;
3. that the Museum’s collections and programs and its physical, human and financial resources are protected, maintained, and developed in support of the organization’s mission;
4. that it is responsible to and represents the interests of society;
5. that it maintains a relationship with staff in which shared roles are recognized and separate responsibilities are respected;
6. that working relationships among trustees, employees, and volunteers are based on equity and mutual respect;
7. that professional standards and practices inform and guide Museum operations;
8. that policies are articulated and prudent oversight is practiced;
9. that governance promotes the public good rather than individual financial or personal gain.

BOARD OF TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Fiduciary obligation. The Board of Trustees of the Museum of Northern Arizona holds fiduciary responsibility for the institution’s assets, collections, and programs, and for its good standing as a not-for-profit charitable and educational institution.

Through collective decision-making, the Board is accountable for assuring that high standards of integrity, prudence, and professionalism are observed;
a. in the preservation and strengthening of financial assets;
b. in the maintenance and safekeeping of land, buildings and collections;
c. in the development of exhibits, publications, educational programs, research endeavors, and marketing and promotional activities of the Museum’s mission, and;
d. in soliciting charitable contributions, keeping financial records, investing its financial resources, and filing timely financial reports and tax returns to safeguard the Museum’s tax-exempt status.

2. Decision-making Authority. The fiduciary responsibilities of trusteeship are carried out corporately, through participation in decision-making by the full Board and its established committees.

The Chair of the Board shall be the only trustee authorized to take action on behalf of those bodies, including policy guidance to the director, unless such responsibility is explicitly delegated.

3. Conflict of Interest Disclosure. Trustees should be careful to avoid all conflicts of interest, either actual or perceived, between their role as a fiduciary of the institution and the business or personal relationships they maintain with the institution, its staff, and its volunteers. Trustees should never profit from their relationship to the Museum. No personal items may be offered on consignment to the Museum’s retail operations or may be sold under the auspices of the Museum at any one of its sales or exhibitions, as this constitutes a conflict of interest.

In addition, Trustees must make public disclosure of their financial interest in any proposed transactions involving themselves or their businesses and the Museum, whether directly or indirectly. Trustees must abstain from voting on any Board action in which they have a financial interest, and may not seek to influence other trustees or staff on any Museum matters in which their financial interest is involved.

4. Guidance to Staff, Research Associates, and Volunteers. Trustee direction to staff, research associates, and volunteers on matters of Museum policy and procedures shall be communicated through either the Director or Chair of the Board.

STAFF

Staff Responsibility to the Museum. As a nonprofit corporation, the Museum of Northern Arizona assumes a position of public trust that must be upheld at all times. Financial transactions by staff involving the Museum must at all times be conducted according to the highest legal and ethical standards. At no time may any staff member attempt to take advantage of the Museum’s status as a nonprofit corporation or place the Museum in the position of aiding a third party in any illegal activity, including the evading of the lawful payment of taxes.

The Museum’s Code of Ethics applies to all staff regardless of whether those people consider themselves bound by professional standards established by the International Council of Museums and the relevant standing professional committees of the American Association of Museums and regardless of other professional obligations.

One of the primary activities of a museum is collecting. It is in the area of personal collecting that many ethical issues arise affecting staff actions in relation to the Museum.

The fundamental principle guiding personal collection by Museum staff is that the staff is prohibited from competing with the Museum for an object. The collection categories are stated in the Museum’s Collections Policy. It is not the intent of the Museum to deprive an individual of an inheritance. Moreover, the guidelines are not intended to interfere with the gifting of cultural material to employees participating in the traditional activities of their own culture.

1. Consignments. No employee collection may be offered on consignment to the Museum’s retail operations or may be sold under the auspices of the Museum at any one of its sales exhibitions.

2. Employee Dealing. No employee of the Museum may participate in any professional dealing (defined here as the buying or selling for profit) in objects similar or related to the objects collected by the Museum.

3. Consulting. Consulting activities or special requests for employee’s services outside the Museum must neither unduly interfere with the regular operational needs of the Museum nor represent any potential or actual conflict of interest with the Museum. Regardless of whether or not professional services are performed on the employee’s time off, all such activities must be approved by the employee’s supervisor in consultation with the Director.

4. Loans. Loans of collections or Museum assets are made only to institutions when it is clearly established that the loan will support the mission and will be in accordance with the current Collections Management Policy (appendix 2, see excerpt from the MNA Collections Management Policy) of the Museum. Cash or other assets cannot be loaned to a private individual or Museum Associate.

5. Role of staff in public programs. Furthermore, staff members are encouraged to participate in public programs, lectures, workshops, and seminars in a professional capacity and as a representative of the staff of the Museum of Northern Arizona. These engagements may be a part of the employee’s regular duties and the employee’s supervisor is responsible for determining the appropriateness of such activity on a case-by-case basis.

6. Director. The Museum’s Director may not accept personal fees and honoraria for consulting and speaking engagements without the written approval of the Board president.

7. Personnel. Employees should acknowledge, by signature, their ethical responsibility to adhere to the policies outlined in the MNA Personnel Manual.

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are subject to a code of ethics similar to that which binds the professionals in the field in which they work. Like them, volunteers assume certain responsibilities and should be expected to account for their work on behalf of the Museum in a similar manner to other individuals associated with the institution.

Volunteers are expected to:

1. Have a good attitude about the work they do on behalf of the Museum;

2. Be open in their communications with staff and other individuals associated with the Museum;

3. Serve the best interests of the Museum at all times;

4. Keep confidential matters confidential;

5. Be willing to learn how to best serve the activity for which they have volunteered; and

6. Be dependable in the conduct of their work.

MUSEUM ASSOCIATES

Confidentiality. Trustees, staff members, research associates, and volunteers must be attentive to the potential sensitivity of many issues involving museum finances, confidential board discussions, personnel, research activities, specialized services and partnership initiatives, and collections. Such matters should be treated as confidential until or unless they become public knowledge through Board action or official Museum communications such as news releases, newsletters, feature stories, and the Annual Report.

Conflicts of Interest. Museum Associates should at all times consider their relationships and actions in the public and private sectors with respect to their association to the Museum and its mission.

1. Museum Associates should strive to maintain ethical, good faith relationships in their affiliation and involvement with and between MNA other institutions and individuals.

2. Any Museum-related gift or favor valued at $100 or more, to a Museum Associate from a member of a public must be reported to the director. The director should report any offer of gifts or favors to the executive committee of the board. As a general rule, associates should courteously refuse these gifts or favors from the public, especially from vendors or persons who have business dealings with the Museum. Associates should exercise caution to avoid situations that would be perceived as a conflict of interest or in which their independent judgment would appear to be compromised.

3. Museum Associates should acknowledge the conflict of interest that the acceptance of a loan of money, assets, or objects from individuals doing business or having a business relationship with the Museum would create, and decline those loans.

4. Museum Associates should be aware of circumstances where outside volunteer activity could pose or be perceived as a conflict of interest. Therefore, Associates should be scrupulous about their involvement in any activity that would pose a conflict of interest with the mission of the Museum.

5. Museum Associates should be forthright about their engagement in any significant political activity and maintain a clear degree of separation between their performance of a civic duty and their Museum-related decisions, actions, and productions. Associates should not state or imply that MNA endorses or supports their political activities and should not use their affiliation with the Museum to further or affect their political cause, interest, or involvement. Email accounts hosted and managed by MNA should not be used for political activities.

6. The use of MNA’s name or brand should only be used by Museum Associates in the conduct of appropriate private activities when specific written approval is given by the director. Similarly, Associates should refrain from suggesting that the Museum sponsors or endorses their private activities without specific approval.

7. Museum Associates should adhere to policies outlined in the Donor’s Bill of Rights. (See appendix 1) In the area of fundraising, the Museum and Museum Associates should be scrupulous to use gifts for their intended purposes. Associates should demonstrate honesty and integrity when communicating information to donors in order to secure a gift, as well as the Museum’s intentions regarding how that gift will be used.

Collections. Trustees, staff, and research associates must comply with the following standards set forth in the Museum of Northern Arizona’s Collections Policy.

The distinctive character of Museum ethics derives from the ownership, care, and use of objects, specimens, and living collections representing primarily the Colorado Plateau’s natural and cultural common wealth. This stewardship of collections entails the highest public trust and carries with it the presumption of rightful ownership, permanence, care, documentation, accessibility, and responsible disposal.

Museum Associates that deal with collections ensure that:

1. collections in the Museum’s custody support its mission and public trust responsibilities;

2. collections in the Museum’s custody are protected, secured, unencumbered, cared for, and preserved;

3. collections in the Museum’s custody are accounted for and documented, whether owned by the Museum, or curated under tribal and governmental agencies, or other cooperative agreements;

4. access to the collections and related information is permitted as regulated by Museum policies and procedures;

5. acquisition, disposal, and loan activities are conducted in a manner that respects the protection and preservation of natural and cultural resources and discourages illicit trade in such materials;

6. if requested, the Museum may provide an approved list of certified or accredited appraisers or other related professionals so long as their qualifications are well established and no individual or institutional commission or compensation is received

7. disposal of collections through sale, trade, or research activities shall be governed by the Museum’s deaccessioning policy and by the Museum’s policies and procedures as noted in its Collections Policy;

8. the unique and special nature of human remains and funerary and sacred objects are treated with respect and recognized as the basis of all decisions and actions concerning such collections; and

9. collections-related activities promote the public good rather than individual financial or personal gain.

Programs. Museums serve society by advancing an understanding and appreciation of the natural and cultural common wealth through exhibitions, research, scholarship, publications, and educational activities. These programs further the Museum’s mission and are responsive to the concerns, interests, and needs of society.

Museum Associates involved with programs ensure that:

1. programs support its mission and public trust responsibilities;

2. programs are founded on scholarship and marked by intellectual integrity;

3. programs are accessible and encourage participation by appropriate audiences consistent with its mission and resources;

4. programs respect pluralistic values, traditions, and concerns;

5. revenue-producing activities and partnerships are compatible with the Museum’s mission and support its public trust responsibilities;

6. programs promote the public good rather than individual financial or personal gain.

RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, ARTISTIC ASSOCIATES AND SCIENTIFIC STAFF

Research associates, artistic associates and scientists that are affiliated with the Museum of Northern Arizona will conduct themselves and adhere to the professional standards and codes of conduct of their specific disciplines. MNA also expects that they will:

1. act in the interest of the advancement of science and contribute the best, highest quality scientific information;

2. conduct, manage, judge, report, and communicate scientific activities and information honestly, thoroughly and without conflict of interest;

3. be responsible for MNA resources entrusted to them;

4. be accountable for the prompt and accurate collection, use, and reporting of all financial resources and transactions under their control;

5. neither hinder the scientific and information gathering activities of others nor engage in dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or other scientific, research, or professional misconduct;

6. be diligent in the creation, use, preservation, and maintenance of collections and data records;

7. follow the records retention policies of the appropriate MNA department or program;

8. comply with Federal law and established agreements related to the use, security, and release of confidential and proprietary data;

9. know, understand, and adhere to standards of public information dissemination and the formal publication of scientific information and respect the property rigits of others;

10. acknowledge that the intellectual property resulting from research and related work performed while employed by the Museum or on a grant funded through the museum is the property of MNA, unless other arrangements are made in advance with an individual or institution;

11. be responsible in all scientific activities for both the collection and interpretation of data that is collected and the integrity of conclusions presented from such data;

12. conduct research fairly, openly, honestly, and accurately.

13. treat confidential or privileged research data or information responsibly, respectfully, and as promised in the research design.

14. formally acknowledge the work or input of other researchers, and of host or sponsoring organizations.

15. fully disclose all research methods and procedures to any research subjects and to MNA.

16. welcome and participate in peer review of research design, methods, and results.

17. accept full responsibility for all research activities, including data collection and interpretation, and for the integrity of conclusions presented from such data use and;

18. be characterized by the clear placement of the public good above personal or individual gain or success.

The Museum’s mission statement, vision, goals, and other institutionally articulated guiding principles express the organization’s ethical responsibilities toward public programs and services. All programs are marked by respect and sensitivity for cultural differences, as well as rigorous scholarship and intellectual integrity.

Appendix 1
DONOR BILL OF RIGHTS

PHILANTHROPY is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

I.
To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.

II.
To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization’s governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.

III.
To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.

IV.
To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.

V.
To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition.

VI.
To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with
confidentiality to the extent provided by law.

VII.
To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.

VIII.
To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.

IX.
To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.

X.
To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

Appendix 2
“Incoming and Outgoing Loans and Temporary Custody” from MNA Collections Management Policy

1. Outgoing loans will be granted for exhibit, interpretive, research or other purposes to institutions or corporations for objectives that are in keeping with the scope and mission of the Museum.
   1. The Museum requires that requests for loans must be made in writing and submitted to the Collections Department. Requests for loans are initially reviewed and evaluated by the Collections Department and approved in consultation with the appropriate Curator or governmental agency. If no appropriate Curator exists, the recommendation is made by the Collections Manager. If a consensus upon a recommendation cannot be made, the Director will review the request and make a final recommendation. Significant loan activities are to be reported to the Director, who has authority to accept or reject any loans.
   2. Loans are made only for educational purposes to other museums, corporations, or similar cultural and scientific institutions whose mission sufficiently justifies the appropriateness and relevancy of the loan. Loans must be requested by an official representative of the borrowing agency. As a general rule, loans are not made to individuals and students. Loans of geological and natural science collections may be made to qualified private researchers, upon the recommendation of the R&C Committee and the approval of the Director or owning or controlling government or tribal agency. Under no circumstance will the Fine Art or Anthropology Collections be loaned to private individuals.
   3. Loan requests will be evaluated with respect to the following conditions:
      1. the purpose for which the object is to be used,
      2. the context in which the object will be held and presented,
      3. the physical and/or intellectual integrity, or the value of the object,
      4. restrictions regarding the loan of the object indicated in the accession records,
      5. the environmental conditions of transport, storage, and display to which the object will be exposed, including temperature, humidity, light level, and air quality
      6. the security and insurance policies and provisions of the borrowing institution,
      7. the plan and cost for moving the object, (unless otherwise specified, the borrower will pay the cost of moving the object)
      8. an AAM Standard Facility Report or a standard MNA security and condition report.
   4. The integrity of loaned items will be scrupulously protected by the borrowing institution. The method of packaging and transport shall be in keeping with the safeguarding of the objects or specimens under the supervision of the Collections Department in consultation with the appropriate Curator. The Collections Department will ensure that necessary permits are obtained in order to maintain compliance with national and international laws. The Collections Department will also insure that appropriate insurance coverage is obtained for any object being loaned.
   5. No object on loan may be restored, cleaned, preserved, or otherwise altered for display or research purposes without written permission from the Collections Department in consultation with the appropriate Curator or controlling or owning government or tribal agency. No parts of specimens may be removed for study, nor shall any parts of specimens or duplicate specimens be retained or disposed of by the borrower without specific prior written agreement. Any molds or casts made to geologic specimens must be approved in advance by the Museum. One cast may be retained by the borrowing institution, while all molds must be returned to the Museum. All items will be protected from vandalism and/or theft by appropriate security measures.
   6. Loans will be granted for a period up to one year with an option for renewal. Renewal of loans will be considered on a year-by-year basis, The Collections Department is responsible for monitoring the status of all loans. Long term loans are subject to review unless the loan agreement specifies otherwise.
2. As a general rule, subloans should not be granted. No subloans to other institutions will be made by the loanee without prior written permission from the Collections Department, under the recommendation of the appropriate Curator and the approval of the Director or government agency. Subloans of MNA objects will not be granted unless such loan rights are conferred to the borrowing institution by the loan agreement. No items may be used for commercial purposes without the written approval of the Collections Department, who will make a recommendation in consultation with the appropriate Curator. Rights of reproduction are not included in the loan agreement and must be obtained in writing from the Collections Department.
3. The same conditions and care that pertain to outgoing Museum loans will be accorded to incoming loans.
4. The Museum will make every effort to ensure that there is a good faith effort to examine the provenance of borrowed objects and obtain any special permits, if required. The Collections Manager, in consultation with the owning agency, will be responsible for ensuring that the provenances of objects are addressed.
5. Appropriate loan forms shall prescribe procedures for incoming and outgoing loans. A complete record of such transactions will be maintained by the Collections Department.
6. Objects left in the temporary custody of the museum will be considered an incoming loan and treated as such.

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