In Good Company

Fort Collins Museum of Discovery has achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums!

Alliance Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement.

“The accreditation journey was an important opportunity for FCMoD to reflect on the hard work and extraordinary vision that brought our new museum to fruition.  The opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to excellence at every level of the organization brought an immense sense of pride and accomplishment to our staff, volunteers, governing partners, and our community.” – Donna Jared, Co-Executive Director

Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, over 1,070 are currently accredited. Fort Collins Museum of Discovery is one of only 22 museums accredited in Colorado. And Fort Collins Museum of Discovery holds the honor of being the only museum in Colorado to receive first-time accreditation in 2018!

In its letter notifying the museum of its accreditation, the AAM Accreditation Committee stated that: “Through a rigorous process of self-assessment and review by its peers, the museum has shown to be a good steward of its resources held in the public trust and committed to a philosophy of continual institutional growth.”

Accreditation is a very rigorous but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. Learn more about the museum’s process #OnTheBlog here!

The Alliance’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.

“Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.” – Laura L. Lott, Alliance president and CEO.

This is a big deal for us, but we couldn’t have done it without you, our Fort Collins community.

With you, we’re in good company.