ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Dave,

We have 4 FT educators. You left out Jen P.

Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Smith
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Assistance needed by new user

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
****************************************************************************
*

Jeff is right, but not particularly helpful.  Here's some bones:

We are a small center in a 3-year old 30,000 net square foot building.  We
have 12,000 square feet of exhibits.  We have a full time staff of 18 and an
annual budget of $1.8M, 60-70% of which comes from our visitors ($10 for
adult, $8 for child/senior/military).  In a metropolitan area with an aging
population (median age > 40) of ~750K, we have 80K annual visitors, about
50% school kids, 50% walk-ins and events.  We have 1300 members ($75/year).
Our executive director get paid $110K (you can find this on Form 990s on
guidestar.com) and we have 4 directors under him: Associate Director/ Dir of
Education (classroom educators, outreach, exhibit content), Director of
Professional Development (teacher programs - that's me), Director of
Business Operations (facilities, financial management, gift shop, and floor
staff), and Director of Development (fundraising, grants, and marketing).
Education has three full time educators - one is manager of all the ed
programs, one runs summer camp, and one runs scout and other overnight
programs, and all three teach classes and outreach programs.  We have three
full-time staff in development, 2 in the business office, and one in
reservations/front desk we have a number of part timers in all areas.  Our
directors make in the range of $50-65K, the full time staff are in the range
of $30K and part-time educators make $8-10/hour.  I don't know what the
other part-times make.

Don't underestimate the capital for the exhibits - undercapitalizing
exhibits was our big mistake going into this building  figure 10-20% of
building costs should got to exhibits.  We spent $6M on our building alone,
but only about $100K-200K on exhibits, which was not nearly enough.  A good
exhibit cost $25K-$100K, which is something funders are not going to
understand or believe and you are going to have to educate them that exibits
are essentially custom items, handbuilt, and require incredible durability
(10 million to 100 million duty cycles before failure).

Dave Smith

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 4:54 PM, Yvonne Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
>
****************************************************************************
*
>
> Hello,
>
> My name is Yvonne Smith and I am the Supervisor (City job title) of
> Discovery Science & Outdoor Center in Ocala, FL.  I am under the gun and
> need some help.
>
> We have a new City Manager and I have until Friday to put together a
> preliminary proposal for a new site that the City will be purchasing.
> It will be home to either our science center or a community recreation
> center.   Along with our vision for the building, I must educate him on
> science centers in general.  I am putting together a Power Point
> presentation and I'm lacking the following information based on a 32,000
> square foot building:
>
> a typical organizational chart for science centers
> job descriptions and pay scales for staff
>
> Up to this point, we have been a " center" under the Recreation Division
> and had to fit those job descriptions and pay categories. This move
> would now allow us to function as our own division and as a true science
> center.  It would also help tremendously with how we are perceived in
> the community.  It is an incredible opportunity for us and I appreciate
> any assistance you can offer.
>
> ***********************************************************************
> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and
the
> Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
>
> Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at
> www.exhibitfiles.org.
>
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-- 
David L. Smith
Da Vinci Science Center
Allentown, PA
http://www.davinci-center.org

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was
listening, everything must be said again.  -- Andre Gide

***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the
Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at
www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
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