The wisconsin historical society will create a professional development project to cultivate a staff culture centered around visitors and to strengthen the ability of staff to embed evaluation in…

The Wisconsin Historical Society was awarded a $372,821 Project Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the Museums for America (MFA) program. The grant will fund a professional development project to cultivate a staff culture centered around visitors and strengthen the ability of staff to embed evaluation in program planning and execution. Key activities include hiring a museum evaluation expert to train and coach public programming staff on visitor-centered design and implementation, as well as developing a data repository and reporting system to support using evaluation data to inform future decision-making and programming. The project will result in the creation of a permanent evaluation-related position, a resource library of evaluation training materials and tools, and an evaluation plan to be implemented across the organization's programs and services. This will enable the Wisconsin Historical Society's staff to conduct effective evaluation and continuously improve their visitor-centered programming in the long term.

The wisconsin historical society will create a professional development project to cultivate a staff culture centered around visitors and to strengthen the ability of staff to embed evaluation in program planning and execution. Project activities include hiring a museum evaluation expert to train and coach public programming staff on visitor-centered design and implementation, within a framework of culture change and skill development. This consultant will also work with the IT team to create a data repository and reporting system that supports evaluation data informing future decision-making and programming. As a result of this project, a permanent evaluation-related position will be created, as well as a resource library of evaluation training materials and tools, and an evaluation plan to be implemented across programs and services. In the long term, staff will have the skills to conduct effective evaluation and continuously improve visitor-centered programming.