Archaeological Institute of America

1. To recommit the AIA, a 134-year old learned society, to advocating the importance of archaeology in public understanding and the preservation of the world's archaeological heritage.
2. To design, pilot, and replicate more educational programs for both K-12 students and interested adults.
3. To increase membership in the Archaeological Institute of America and inspire AIA members to greater levels of engagement with the organization.
4. To increase Professional Services for our core constituency of professional archaeologists. Professional Services include scholarly archaeological research fellowships, grants to help professional archaeologists present and publish their work, funding for archaeological excavation, and opportunities to present archaeological research to both academic and lay audiences.
5. To promote AIA's ongoing initiatives and successes with Site Preservation and Publications Programs.
6. To promote and invigorate AIA's network of Local Societies, a network of 109 (and counting!) volunteer-run organizations, based from coast-to-coast, that are affiliated with AIA. These Local Societies organize, in conjunction with AIA headquarters, archaeological lectures, field trips, and other educational programs that are presented free-of-charge to the public.
7. To foster collaborations and partnerships as a core competency to advance the mission of AIA and educate more people, worldwide, about archaeological heritage.
8. To reinforce and sustain the financial strength of the AIA to better fulfill our mission.
9. To repurpose and redesign the governance, volunteer, and management structure of the AIA around mission fulfillment.
10. To expand the role of technology as a core competency within the AIA's activities that aspires to be the best in class for learned societies.

1. To recommit the AIA to advocating the importance of archaeology in public understanding and the preservation of the world’s archaeological heritage.

1.1 Testify at all Cultural Property Advisory Committee hearings on Memoranda of Understanding regarding trade in antiquities.

1.2 Monitor world events and speak out when appropriate.

1.3 Promote and expand International Archaeology Day.

2. To design, pilot, and replicate more education offerings for both K–12 and interested adults.

2.1 Reenergize the Education Committee to work with staff on this goal.

2.2 Evaluate current resources and programs; create a plan for moving forward.

2.3 Work with Societies to encourage archaeologists and graduate students to make presentations in K–12 classrooms; assist in educating other non-traditional students.

2.4 Encourage Societies to emulate successful models for this type of outreach used by other Societies.

3. To increase membership and inspire AIA members to greater levels of engagement.

3.1 Achieve membership goals by 2020:
2,500 professional archaeologists
6,000 amateur enthusiasts
2,500 college students

Professional Archaeologists
3.2 Communicate better with archaeologists about current AIA support; reimagine the section for professionals on the AIA website.

3.3 Reach out to a broader constituency of prospective professional members.

Amateur Enthusiasts
3.4 Expand benefits and emphasize AIA’s mission successes in order to convert ARCHAEOLOGY
subscribers and travel participants into Society members.

3.5 Reach more archaeology enthusiasts for membership through innovative adult education.

3.6 Reach more archaeology enthusiasts through special interactive excavation site tours.

3.7 Expand benefits for lay members at the Annual Meeting.

Students
3.8 Increase student participation in the Annual Meeting.

3.8.1 Encourage more students to present papers and posters in regular sessions.

3.8.2 Expand opportunities for students to participate in scholarly activities.

3.8.3 Offer more professional development programs for graduate students at the Annual Meeting and during the year.
3.9 Invite students to advise on and participate in AIA initiatives.

3.10 Develop the Student Affairs Interest Group such that it assumes an active advisory role in the AIA.

3.11 Convince faculty members to introduce the benefits of AIA and local Society membership to their students.

3.12 Enhance the Societies’ emphasis on student member volunteerism and its value.

4. To increase professional services for our core constituency of professional archaeologists.

4.1 Expand and diversify professional development programs at the Annual Meeting and during the year.

A complete list of strategies may be viewed by clicking on the AIA Strategic Plan on Guidestar.

Forty-person Governing Board comprised of archaeologists, Local AIA Society leaders, and business people to help AIA staff achieve objectives. Network of 220,000+ AIA members. The AIA is the leading archaeological organization in the world. Archaeology magazine, a publication of AIA, reaches 750,000 readers with each issue. Five million people visit AIA websites (www.archaeology.org and www.archaeological.org) each year.

The new AIA mission statement and the recently completed strategic plan emphasize advocacy, outreach, education, professional services, and preservation. Below is an abbreviated report (a thorough report covering all programmatic areas at AIA was sent to Guidestar in September 2013 and is available by contacting AIA) on some of the progress made this past year.

Advocacy Programs:
Through the Site Preservation Program (SP) and the Cultural Heritage Policy Committee (CHP), the AIA has been keeping track of all the MoU requests, both new and renewing, that have been made to the State Department and the hearings that have been scheduled by CPAC. We have organized letter-writing campaigns that encouraged AIA members and others to contact the responsible officials. The CHP has sent experts to testify at the hearings

Just in FY 13 we supported the renewal of bilateral agreements with Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Guatemala, Peru, and Mali. We also supported the establishment of a new agreement with Belize.

In FY 13 the AIA released a statement expressing the importance of protecting Syrian cultural heritage during the current armed conflict. This statement follows other recent statements that the AIA has made regarding cultural heritage in Egypt, Libya and Mali. The AIA publicly expressed its support for new restrictions from the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) on acquisition of artifacts with questionable or unknown provenance. The AIA continues to work with the Cultural Resources Preservation Coalition (CRPC) and will be joining ICOM as an observer for their initiative entitled “International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods.” AIA staff presented on various cultural heritage issues including preservation and heritage tourism at various professional meetings including the EAA, SAA, WAC, UMASS, and GWS.

Outreach and Education:
Since its establishment in 2011 National Archaeology Day has grown significantly. In 2011 for the first Archaeology Day we had 14 Collaborating Organizations, 83 Local Societies, 115 events, 38 U.S. States, 3 countries, and 15,000 participants. By 2012 these numbers had increased to 125 Collaborating Organizations, 275 events, 49 U.S. States, 8 countries, and 60,000 participants. Because of the global expansion of the program we have renamed the event “International Archaeology Day.” With a month and a half to go before the 2013 event we already have 100 Collaborating Organizations, 190 events, and 10 countries. Media mentions of the event increased from 220 in 2011 to 465 in 2012. International Archaeology Day has its own website (archaeologyday.org) and can be followed on Facebook, and Twitter.

In May 2013, we organized a one-day summit during which experts in education, heritage issues, and presented their ideas and opinions on how the AIA can be a resource for K-12 education in the United States.