Academic Museums: Collections, Acquisitions & Faculty Collaborations
September 2026
How do college/university-affiliated museums decide what to acquire, how to manage their collections and how to communicate with faculty about leveraging the museum’s collections for their teaching needs?
These questions, posed by an ABA member, led to a qualitative interview-based study, where we spoke with 9 peer institutions based in the US to understand their current collection and acquisition processes, and how they collaborate with faculty to embed the museum’s collections in their teaching.
Main findings include:
Museum authority over acquisitions is non-negotiable — faculty are advisors, not decision-makers. All institutions are consistent: curators and directors make final acquisition decisions, and faculty input — however welcome — is not determinative.
Opening a new collecting area requires sustained institutional infrastructure — not just a single gift or acquisition. Museums across our interviews consistently resist isolated acquisitions that create new categories of responsibility without the curatorial expertise, storage, conservation, and long-term commitment to support them.
Transparency with faculty about acquisition complexity reduces misalignments. Faculty often do not understand how many factors — provenance history, storage capacity, conservation requirements, insurance costs, curatorial fit, legal review, budget constraints, and institutional priorities — are involved in a single acquisition decision. Proactive, honest communication about these layers helps manage expectations before they become frustrations.
Reframe faculty conversations from “what object do you want?” to “what are you trying to teach?” Several museums have explicitly shifted toward learning-outcome-centered dialogue rather than object-request-centered conversations. Rather than asking what faculty want the museum to acquire, these institutions ask what learning goals the faculty member is trying to achieve — and then work backward to identify existing collection objects, loans, or alternatives that can serve those goals.
The full report is available to ABA members by clicking below.
This article is related to a recently completed custom research project conducted on behalf of an ABA member. Our research team is always delighted to speak with members about tailoring research projects to your organization. To learn more or submit a custom research request, simply contact your member advisor or email us at info@advisoryarts.com.
