Program Overview

The Mandatory Center of Expertise (MCX) for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections (CMAC) was established in the St. Louis District in 1994 to deliver centralized policy, management, and administration for Corps-wide compliance with archeological collections management.  The MCX CMAC was tasked by the Director of Civil Works in September 2017 to manage the Corps-wide regionalization effort for archaeological collections and associated documentation to achieve compliance with federal curation standards and efficiencies in collections management.  The directive was initiated after the success of the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) pilot project, which began in 2014 that resulted in the consolidation of Corps collections into three regional centers.

Criteria for Potential Regional Centers

• Federally Compliant (36 CFR Part 79)
• Adequate Space
• Outreach and Research Support
• Database Capabilities
• Contracting Abilities
• Collections Rehabilitation
• Broad Collections Acceptance Policy
• Professional Repository Staff