NASAA Leadership Institute
September 18-20, 2006
Deputy/Assistant Director Peer Group Session Notes
Discussion Topic: Agency Infrastructure Development
 Preparing leadership transition
 Staff review and evaluation
 Human resource issues
 Limited staffing and resources
 Performance-based employee evaluation and review
 Balancing the multiple role of budget, finance, personnel and operations
 Strategic Planning
 Moving arts to more innovative programming
Task was to collectively examine creative and feasible solutions for addressing the following
four major questions:
1. What are the relevant internal and external factors that affect your ability to successfully
carry out your duties as the Deputy/Assistant Director?
2. What are practical solutions for solving the aforementioned challenges? Please be sure
to identify specific examples that could be helpful to agencies across the country.
3. What are ways that we as leaders in the State Arts Agencies can meet or overcome the
challenges of the future?
4. How can we as a community of art professionals, work together to meet these
challenges beyond the Leadership Institute?
Internal & External Factors Identified for Task Question No. 1:
1. Amount of NEA appropriation, initiatives, and impact on agencies.
 Stumbled with Poetry Out Loud (POL), but recovered by including humanities to
pass the money onto (it was a staff drain).
 Partnered with regional educators to assist with POL.
 Should have a mechanism in place to define the structure and management of
the project.
 When is it ok to say “No” to money for special initiatives?
 Don’t always have a willing partner.
 It took extensive commitment from staff, but benefits and public value far
exceeded the costs.
 Need input into proposed NEA initiatives prior to distribution to the states.
 NASAA could interact more significantly with NEA regarding initiatives.
 NEA chairman is focusing on branding and using National initiatives as public
relations tool and furthering personal vision for the NEA.
 States by default are in reactive mode when the initiatives arrive fully formed.
 These initiatives provide learning moments to work with partners who have
different or conflicting styles/goals/outcomes.
 Have a tool kit to make an assessment when faced with a new initiative.
 Need to focus on how to make it work versus on what the difficulty may be on the
agency.
 Have benefited regionally from new networks while administering the NEA
initiatives.
2. Where the Executive Director’s attention and priorities are focused.
 Wants to hear from everyone before setting priorities, there are exercises we go
through.
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Peer Group – Deputy / Assistant Directors
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We are the buffer between the staff and the executive director.
Filter program issued up to executive director and filter policy issues down to
staff.
 Lots of times program staff has the longevity.
 Work around focus of Governors initiatives by team approach with key agency
staff.
 The process is established from the executive director’s priorities.
Where the legislators and Governor’s priorities are focused.
Knowledge and expertise of staff - also flex factor.
 More knowledgeable – sometimes the less flexible.
 How to respect what they know about the discipline and still have them be
flexible or try it a different way.
 Agency-wide goals need to trump techniques.
 Culture of agency - more pigeonholed staff feels more rigid, but to overlap
responsibilities/knowledge helps break this up.
Available job positions (freezes, vacancies) also re: appointments and turn over.
Expectations and/or expertise of the board/council members.
 Board/council expectations and how to bring them up to speed and moderate
their expectations (especially regarding staff).
 Members can change their expectations during their term on the board/council.
 Quality of orientation is important.
 Experiential orientation is more effective than paper/manual training.
 Involve key partners immediately in orientation and in ongoing meetings.
 Board agenda includes a staff feature.
 Hosted meeting by a 1ocal organization.
 Board members are guided by and respond to administrative and legislative
priorities.
 Role of the board/council chair is critical and their relationship with the executive
director.
Legislative mandates (where they overlap with other agencies).
 Listen to legislators regarding what they value.
Physical space issues (i.e., size of state, office, and/or communities).
Expectations around diversity (ethnic, age, all) (older and newer workers).
Availability and access to information in the field especially utilizing IT
information/services.
What can this group of Deputy/Assistant Directors do now and later?
 Opportunities for communication among this peer group.
 A structured conference call topic based forum through NASAA utilizing experts who
could make brief presentations on a topic followed by questions and discussion.
 NASAA could establish location on their website for updates just for deputy/assistant
directors.
 Utilize each other as a safe place to run ideas by.
 Utilize email to determine issues through NASAA.
 Utilize Blogs to communicate?
 Email group list serves work well, but NASAA would have to keep it current.
 There is a value to NASAA having deputy/assistant director pre-conference sessions
for years between leadership conferences.
 Value to NASAA holding regional training/meetings for years between leadership
conferences.
 Assign a peer mentor to new deputy/assistant directors.
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DiscussionTopic: Granting and Reporting
Question #1 – What are the relevant internal and external factors that affect your ability to
successfully carry out your duties as the Deputy/Assistant Director
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State legislators don’t like operating support for arts organizations – legislators don’t
understand/See the “intangible” value of general operating support, or legislation is enacted
for the benefit of only some organizations, and we (state arts agencies) can’t work (educate
or advocate) with each legislator 1-on-1
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National Endowment for the Arts requirements
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Public accountability – requirements for transparent processes
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Staff/Council time – the business of running programs (in office) limits time for visiting the
field and providing face-to-face technical assistance
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The field’s desires are not necessarily workable and/or do not take into consideration the big
picture (statewide support for and access to the arts)
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Database – organizing information and making it accessible
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Requiring credit (from grantees for arts agency support)
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Determining what we (state arts agencies) really need from (funded) organizations, including
information, credit, etc., that will not be onerous to the field
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Legislative term limits
Question #2 – What are practical solutions for solving the aforementioned challenges? Please
be sure to identify specific examples that could be helpful to agencies in the country.
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Gather accessible data that constituents can use and which means something – evaluate
data collection on an ongoing basis
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Have staff in the field evaluating data collection and actively involved in building
relationships
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Collect and publish stories (about the value of the arts or arts support)
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Listening, based on the Montana Arts Council model of listening tours
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Use NASAA and staff critical review to hone (information required on) applications down to
what we really need
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Ensure applicants get Dun & Bradstreet numbers
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North Carolina Arts Council asks applicants to provide greater visibility – not just credit
statements, but a ¼-page advertisements in programs
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Peer Group – Deputy / Assistant Directors
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The Puerto Rico arts agency assists applicants in establishing connection/relationships with
the media to ensure mention of state arts agency support
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State arts agencies have a role in encouraging grantees’ contact with legislators, by way of
sharing models (best practices) and ideas – Oklahoma Arts Council has found arts forums
with legislators effective
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State arts agencies should critically analyze use of staff’s time – the staffs of the Iowa Arts
Council and Montana Arts Council do not read applications
Question #3 – How can we as a community of arts professionals, work together to meet these
challenges beyond the Leadership Institute?
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List-serves can be good, but also can be too specific (meaning, used to discuss topics that
are too specific) or too “chit-chatty” – the best (discussions) are succinctly designed, based
on a limited number of questions to be answered by the participants
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NASAA’s blast list for deputy/assistant directors
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Occasional conference call forums
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“Tap” the arts education program directors for pointers on effective group communications
and related activities
OVERALL DISCUSSION:
Agency infrastructure
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Would like NASAA to facilitate regularly scheduled communication to help solve some of
the issues and explore solutions to some of the obstacles
Internal and External Factors
NEA Initiatives at the state level
 State partnered with humanities council to administer Poetry Out Loud
 Assuming we will be asked continually to respond to new initiatives, set up systems and
infrastructure for entire agency to respond strategically – Initiative Triage
 States want some kind of communication mechanism in place to participate in the
development of federal initiatives so as to better respond
 Need an evaluation toolkit
ED Priorities
 Role of DD is to filter program issues up to ED and policy issues down to staff
Board/Council Expectations
 Board members change their expectation while in service
 Experiential orientation beats paper orientation
 Involve key partners in ongoing meetings and discussions
 Board members are guided by and respond to legislative priorities
 Role of chair is critical in relation to ED
 Listen to legislators and what they value
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Peer Group – Deputy / Assistant Directors
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Granting and Reporting
Internal and External Factors:
General Operating Support
 Need to find a way to increase its tangibility to increase the value investment of
legislators
 Transparent process on all sides
Staff and council time is a factor
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Some states’ staff don’t read grant applications
Ways to gather information if you don’t read applications
Data collection and organization; we need to be careful about the kind of information we’re
asking for and if/how we intend to use it
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Meet internally at scheduled intervals to reevaluate what we’re asking for and what we
really need, and why
NASAA provides resources to assist in this
Requiring crediting, increasing visibility
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States asking for more than simple crediting, asking for ads in programs
Coaching organizations on building relationships with press
Some states require grantees to communicate with their legislators!
Important to have staff in the field, building relationships
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Listening tours
Collecting stories
Community Outreach and Technical Assistance
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Use of language – needs to be more inclusive, less sensational
o Continued, relevant conversations about ethnicity and community
o With constituents as well as at state and fed level (NEA)
Mental Models have changed
o Need ongoing, culture of learning
o Balance with work load
Role of NASAA and NEA
Challenge staff to think of professional development in new ways – include technology
and new ways of working
Solutions
 Professional development plans
 Relevancy of topics
Allocate time training, funds for development of new resources
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Peer Group – Deputy / Assistant Directors
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Ongoing work groups
o Move away from perpetuating old models of reporting
o Move away from census
Need a blueprint
o Long and short term goals
Scheduled needs assessment
o Multidirectional
o Internal & External
o Multiple parties
Strategic plans to reach new audiences
Working Beyond today…
Create local or regional networking opportunities
o Topic based
o Professional development
Implement mechanism to share critical finding and research
o Space on SAA website
Create mentorship opportunities facilitated by NASAA
Focus technical assistance for staff
o Allocate resources and time
Convene ED, DD and chairs at next NASAA Institute – team building
o Builds community
o Eradicates notions of being adversaries
How to move forward with this peer group
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Better ways to share information
E-group correspondence that is succinct and focused, not chatter
Perhaps some kind of data repository, housed by NASAA, so NASAA could direct
specific inquiries to specific people in the field
Conference calls might be good for this group – but they’d need to be structured with an
agenda
We’d like an in-person retreat
Maybe a bulletin board/blog hybrid to share information so we visit the information, the
information does not arrive in our inbox; perhaps people would be less likely to engage
in conversation and more likely to post relevant information
An email could be sent to alert people to new information on the blog/bulletin board
hybrid
Discuss the option of convening a group of DDs every other year to discuss issues in the
field --- need to establish NASAA’s role in facilitating such a convening
Participation will be content-driven, if a topic resonates with a DD, they will find a way to
attend
Perhaps the convening could be a leadership group of 5 or 6 people, and people would
rotate on and off of the leadership team --- A Task Force
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Between now and Baltimore, what can we do?
TASK FORCE
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Bryan
Shannon
Michelle
Jaime
Lionell
Shannon will send something out next week
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Peer Group – Deputy / Assistant Directors
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