STEPS Enrollment
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Register
- Academic Program - $195
- Partner Institution - $195
- Premier Partner Institution - $195
- Platinum Partner Institution - $195
- Institutional Budget - $195
Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations (STEPS)
Enrollment in STEPS is open to Institutional and Academic Program members only. Nonmember organizations are required to first purchase an AASLH Institutional or Academic Program membership.
The STEPS program helps small- and mid-sized organizations take a leap forward by educating board, staff, and volunteers about museum operations, and providing a structure for meaningful planning.
After several years of work by AASLH staff and volunteers, an updated version of the STEPS workbook is now available. The spiral bound publication offers self-assessment questions and performance indicators (Basic, Good, and Better) to help your organization assess its policies and practices and identify opportunities for improvement. The workbook is divided into six sections: Mission, Vision, and Governance; Audience and Community Engagement; Interpretation; Stewardship of Collections; Stewardship of Historic Structures and Landscapes, and Management. The companion online STEPS Community offers sample forms, policies, and other valuable resources, discussion forum, and access to workbook section pdfs.
New STEPS enrollees receive one copy of the spiral bound workbook, access to the STEPS Community and other benefits. Additional hard copies of the workbook may be purchased here.
Details
COST: $195 AASLH Institutional/Academic Program Members
NOTE: The STEPS workbook is a physical workbook that will be shipped to you shortly after your purchase. Workbooks cannot be shipped to a PO Box; street address only. Please be sure to provide a complete shipping address during checkout. You will receive access information to join the online STEPS Community upon enrollment.

Ashley Bouknight-Claybrooks (Moderator)
AASLH Senior Manager of Professional Development
Email: bouknight@aaslh.org
Ashley Bouknight-Claybrooks currently serves as the Senior Manager of Professional Development for the American Association for State and Local History, and was formerly Curator at Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage. Prior to her work in Nashville, she served as a community educator and museum consultant for various museums, historic sites, and neighborhood history projects in the southeast. She received a Masters of Arts in Public History and a Certificate in Museum Management from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Arts in Historic Preservation and Community Planning from the College of Charleston. She received a Ph.D. in Public History from Middle Tennessee State University. Her research focuses on collections management theory, intersectionality and inclusivity in museums, and community outreach.