Developing a strategic plan for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame education program

Abstract

My involvement with the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame educational goals of the museum began in 2002 as a volunteer. For several months I assisted the Director of Education by helping revise educational materials and editing a new outreach program. In 2004, shortly after the Education director resigned, I was approached by the Executive Director. She was unsure of where to take the museum's education program in the future. Her desire was to take a step back and evaluate what the museum's education programs had accomplished in the past two years since the museum's reopening in Ft. Worth (2002) and set goals moving forward. My dissertation and the purpose of this project was to develop a strategic plan for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame education program. The strategic plan representing decisions made by the Education Committee included objectives and action plans for the following goals: 1.The Museum will utilize ongoing strategic thinking to prioritize and execute educational goals. 2.The Museum will develop and implement an educational funding strategy (operations and endowment). 3.The museum will establish a professional education department with long-term leadership, vision, experiences, and skills. 4.The museum will create and implement an audience development strategy for educational programming. 5.The museum will enhance the "educational" experience of visitors to the museum. 6.The museum will develop and implement an educational outreach plan to educate beyond the museum's four walls.