[Bcma-l] Inequitable Student Funding!

[bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca]

Hello,

As I said in an earlier email, we at the Fraser Heritage Society (Kilby 
Historic Site) were denied in our application for the federal Summer Student 
Program. (we too have a long history of be approved for student grants for 
many years.) I have now spent hours on the phone with other museums and 
organizations in our region as only 4 groups received any students and none of 
them were arts, heritage or culture groups.

We were told on the phone that our score was 36 then the program officer said 
no that was a mistake it was 34 - then our denial letter says it was 31. The 
program officer said our score was low because we were "just" a museum! In one 
area of scoring we received 0 on the part about providing services to seniors 
and children - of course most of our specialized programming involves children 
and seniors!

It seems that around the province (and across the country) the scoring has not 
been equitable or consistent. If we could pick up our facility and put it down 
in another region we would have been approved and scored differently.

Now we are hearing that although their denial letters are in the mail a couple 
of groups in our region have been phoned with new news that they are now 
somehow approved. One of these is esentially the same type of institution that 
we are.

I urge you all to phone your MP and to then follow up with a letter (and also 
cc the BCMA etc). We are all phoning and writing like mad here! The unfairness 
of this is driving me crazy - their decisions must at least be consistent 
across the board. I want an explanation of these inequities.

What is the BCMAs take on this Jim?

Cheers,
Bev Kennedy (aka Heritage Warrior)
Kilby Historic Site
bevken@uniserve.com
604-796-0414 

-- 
Bev Kennedy
Fraser Heritage Society