Very good. My supervisor knew I had good managerial skills, and still they decided to outsource my job. Ron Poire former technician U of Mn School of Music ----- Original Message ----- From: "Israel Stein " <custos3 at comcast.net> To: <caut at ptg.org> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 4:45 PM Subject: [CAUT] CAUT job description vis-a-vis salary level (was: > Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:37:56 -0500 Eric Wolfley wrote: > >>State systems don't recognize merit, they go mainly on job descriptions >>and are supposed to align job >>responsibilities with salary levels. If your job description says you are >>a mechanic that works on pianos, >>they will equate your position and salary to the state car-pool mechanic. >>If your job description says you direct >>and manage budgets and inventories, advise and consult with faculty, >>supervise student help, prepare >>instruments for visiting artists, etc, etc, they'll be comparing you to >>supervisory or managerial positions. >>In the past you've said that you are the only piano technician in the >>state system.you've got to convince >>them to look at other state institutions for comparisons. That's what they >>did here for me. In the end, they >>had to create a new position in which to put me because I didn't fit >>anywhere else. > > Eric, > > This is an interesting perspective, which perhaps has been neglected in > the current discussion, and may have broader implications. Perhaps we have > been barking up the wrong tree all along, thinking that by proving ever > higher-level piano skills - whether through testing or curriculum > certification - we may someday convince "management" that we are worthy of > a professional-level compensation. Perhaps the CAUT accreditation - > whatever form it takes - needs to stress management skills in order to > position the job description in a higher paying classification. As you > imply, the most skilled mechanic is still just a mechanic... > > There are many precedents where practitioners repositioned themselves into > higher job descriptions by augmenting the skill set associated with their > profession. The classic example would be nurses who in the early part of > the 20th century raised their job description from bedpan carriers and > bandage changers to direct deliverers of health care - by developing a > science-based curriculum. Just about any other "profession" raised itself > to its present status by a similar expansion of its skill set beyond the > craft itself. Fact is, we piano people are still working and presenting > ourselves the same way as just about all other professions did in the 19th > century... > > So perhaps the CAUT credential needs to stress ancillary skills - such as > management related to pianos - that would push us above being mere > mechanics. Because as long as we try to be only the best possible piano > technicians that we can be - well, great piano technicians are still just > very specialized mechanics... From what Eric writes above, perhaps we need > to be thinking beyond that... > > Just food for thought... > > Israel Stein > >
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