| Description | Minutes of a joint committee of the University of Birmingham and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum, established to agree and monitor the strategic direction of the Ironbridge Institute.
The Ironbridge Institute was established jointly by the University of Birmingham and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust in 1990 to advance the study of the industrial past through research and teaching in industrial archaeology and related disciplines; to undertake studies and teaching in the curatorship management and interpretation of museums and other heritage facilities; to undertake studies and teaching in the development, promotion and marketing of tourism and related activities; and to undertake environmental studies arising from the processes of industrialisation and urbanisation. It was a condition of the continuance of the Institute that its activities were self-financing, and met all costs including the full indirect costs. The Institute was seen as part of its parent bodies, the University of Birmingham and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum.
Membership of the Steering Committee consisted of Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham; the Chair of the Museum Trust; three members appointed by the University, normally the University joint Director, the Programme Director, and the Head of the School of Social Science; and three members appointed from time to time by the Museum Trust
Although the Steering Committee was established in 1990, surviving minutes date from October 1992 to December 1995
Minutes and supporting papers of the Steering Committee include annual accounts consisting of financial forecasts and budget; copies of the Ironbridge Institute Director's annual reports which give details about research and publications of Institute members; postgraduate courses; fund raising; and other teaching. The minutes also give information about student numbers and recruitment, and there are references to the Ironbridge Lecture, and the operation and funding of the library at the Institute.
Minutes of the meeting held on 23 October 1992 discuss the possibility of funding for the establishment of a Chair of Industrial Archaeology. The Committee was also working towards developing a Strategic Plan for the Ironbridge Institute, and a School of Social Sciences Ironbridge Enquiry Working Party was set up to evaluate and assess this plan. The Steering Committee minutes include an annotated copy of the strategic plan, and there arealso minutes of meetings of the Working Party dated 1994, and copies of the report of Working Party, set up by the Head of School of Social Sciences to examine the operation of the Ironbridge Institute and its courses, and to consider draft Strategic Plan. The Working Gropu recommended assessment for the Ironbridge Institute to become self-financing
Other papers include a copy of the Interim Report of the Working Group on the Future Direction of Industrial Archaeology; a copy of the Audit of Industrial Archaeology/Industrial Heritage Course Provision and Potential Markets; a copy of the Revised Articles of Management of the Ironbridge Institute; and a copy of Teaching Quality Assessment November 1995
It was proposed in October 1995 that as the Ironbridge Institute was now well established, it was unnecessary to continue to oversee its running through a Steering Committee, and it was proposed that it be dissestablished, and the Institute be managed by the Director, overseen by representatives of the Trust and the University who would report back to their parent bodies. It was also proposed that the Vice-Principal of the University and the University's Registrar and Secretary should meet annually with the Chair and Chief Executive of the Museum to review the relationship and the Institute's annual report. The last meeting of the Steering Committee was held on 8 December 1995
Surviving records are not the authorised versions but are working copies, and these include annotated drafts, and some committee correspondence |