I don't know how it is in other states, but here in Iowa there is one permanent review person at SHPO for archaeological reports and one hourly renewable contract person who reviews compliance reports. While it may be that many archaeologists that move into administrative positions do not continue to do research or keep up with current research or go to conferences, it may not be because they do not want to. I know that review archaeologists here have many more reports to review than can be done in the hours that they are paid to work. They are barraged on all sides by people who do not want them to uphold the rather stringent standards for compliance. Their salary is not high and one gets no benefits. Conferences would need to be attended on their own time with the own funds for the most part. They are also expected to "keep up with the current research" of all archaeology from Paleo-Indian to historic plus increasingly stringent requirements for geomorphological testing and evaluation. In addition they are expected to work with various goverment and private agencies to increase awareness of compliance issues as well as encouraging public knowledge of archaeology etc. I think that these expectations are enough to give anyone "burn-out". I for one want to applaud the work of the review officers at Iowa's SHPO. They are facing the heat of continuing pressure to require fewer surveys and less detailed surveys and they are expected to review more and more detailed and specialized Phase I, II and III reports. That's my two-cents worth. Susan R. Snow Project Archaeologist General Contracts Program Office of the State Archaeologist University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242 [log in to unmask]