[CAUT] caut Digest, Vol 1090, Issue 3

[Chris Solliday]

Paul, I couldn't have said it better myself. "Trusted advocate for the inventory." A concept worth trying to live up to. Thank you Fred. Interesting that this is a conservation project and the effect it may have on this CAUT's day to day existence.
Chris Solliday
Chris Solliday
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fred Sturm 
  To: College and University Technicians 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 10:17 AM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] caut Digest, Vol 1090, Issue 3


  Hi Paul,
  Sounds like this is a good opportunity to sit down with piano faculty and revisit the entire piano maintenance program. I wouldn't want to "pick sides," and I think you should make clear that your attitude is positive toward both (I like Chris Solliday's term: you are the "Advocate for the Inventory"). Explain the balancing act you go through even without the intrusion of a major demand on resources. Someone else needs to make the decision, in all likelihood, especially since you are new, but you definitely want to be in the middle of the decision-making process. In my department, if such a request came forward the chair would ask my advice and would almost certainly take it.
  "Special" versus regular, on-going budget? I think I'd vote for special in this case, but it depends how your on-going budget is set up. One doesn't want to use operating budget for capital expense or vice versa, at least on a regular basis. A comprehensive piano maintenance budget should have similar categories. I would want to assign this to "capital," which would include replacement and major rebuild, but I guess from your post that there is no such portion of your budget, that all you really have is on-going maintenance and tuning budget. So the real aim should be to create a capital budget, long term. From what source? Ideally from the capital budget of the university at large, or from a targeted endowment. Lacking those, a student fee might work (that's what I have). 
  Some sort of compromise position may be possible, wherein you get training to allow you do to a major portion of this rehab work without requiring quite as much money going to the outside expert. Long term, this makes you more valuable to the department, and saves them money (assuming the fortepiano remains important at your institution - faculty leave and priorities change). Who knows, maybe there is some kind of staff professional development pot that could be tapped for this.
  What kind of rehab? Recover hammers? Restring? General action and key recondition? Or is it more major than those?

  Regards,
  Fred Sturm
  University of New Mexico
  fssturm at unm.edu






  On Sep 18, 2006, at 1:34 PM, Paul T Williams wrote:



    Hi List, 

    Some of my greenish hue is starting to wear off on being a CAUT, but on budget matters with piano faculty, in particular, I shine brighter that the emerald city!! We have 105 keyboard instruments here at the university, one of them being a Belt forte-piano about 25 years old. The professor who plays it primarily is demanding a major rehabilitation to it which will require some outside help with my assisting this outside expert. The estimated cost of bringing this "expert" in will take over 28% of my yearly budget. The instrument is used in concert 6-8 times per year as compared to our 3 Steinway D's, 1 concert Baldwin and 3 Steinway B's which are used constantly. 

    Some of the other faculty are up in arms about using the piano budget and insist that this is a "special project" and should use "special funds" like grants and the like. Of course I agree strongly both ways! It is a university instrument, so it should use university funds. On the other hand it is used so infrequently, that I can't see using a huge slice of my pie. On the third hand, one of my responsibilities is to see to it that all instruments are happy. 

    Having such a limited budget as I do, if I had to replace a good quality grand, (not even concert level), I would be spending far more than one year's budget, leaving all other instruments on hold until next year whatever the need may be.INCLUDING the concert instruments. 
    So I ask for a bit of seasoned advise from you all. How have you handled such delemmas? Thanks for your help. 

    Here I am, stuck in the middle with you..... 

    Paul T. Williams RPT 
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln 


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