[CAUT] Job Opening, U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor

[Elwood Doss]

It all comes down to educating University Faculty and Administration.
Is the head technician at UMich an RPT?  I checked his vita on the
School of Music website and it stated he was a "craftsman in the Piano
Technicians Guild," but said nothing about being an RPT...and there's
good reason for that since he is not.  He's listed in the 2006 directory
as an Associate.  That may be why the job description does not mention
RPT status.  Here the faculty is aware of my RPT status and it garners
some respect for me.  Even if CAUT members were certified at a higher
level of competency than an RPT, who would know what that meant without
a huge amount of education on the part of PTG and CAUT?  It would be the
same as we now find with RPT.  I don't think we need more initials after
more intensive exams, we need more education about the present
designation.  We keep wanting to fix something that "aint broke."

Joy!
Elwood 

Elwood Doss, Jr., M.M.E., RPT
Piano Technician/Technical Director
Department of Music
145 Fine Arts Building
The University of Tennessee at Martin
Martin, TN  38238
731/881-1852
FAX: 731/881-7415
HOME: 731/587-5700
-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Richard Brekne
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 2:02 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] Job Opening, U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Hi Jim

I agree, the RPT title doesnt seem to carry a lot of weight in places 
like this.  I suppose its a natural result of that seemingly eternal 
quandry the PTG finds itself in regarding the whole <<certification>> 
thing.  We end up giving a test that is in the end a confirmation of 
minimal skills for a journeyman starting point at best. Could be worse I

suppose.  At least the PTG enforces the question about who gets to use 
(or imply use) of RPT status in their advertising.  Here in Europe those

who are members of the German Klavierbaur association can imply without 
any further ado that they are Klavierbaur Meisters.  They do not have to

specify their status as either Meister or Gessel (sp)  Gessel means 
"helper" or "assistant" and translates really in trade jargon to 
technician.  Yet these same get to pass themselves off as bonified piano

builders when they dont have the first clue about building concepts.  I 
think in the end they are headed for the same kinds of problems the PTG 
struggles with in keeping public respect for their titles.  The RPT 
status suffers in university situations because all too many RPT's are 
simply not up to the task of handling a university situation with 
demands of high quality work and problem solving.  I've said before that

the CAUT organization should provide its own stamp of recognition to 
techs... with testing procedures that far exceed the demands of the RPT 
testing.

If you can first show the University world that a CAUT approved 
technician will guaranteed handle any University job situation... and 
work hard to spread the word to all universities... then maybe some 
headway will be made.

As too the salary.  I admit it looks on the surface lower then it 
should.  But one should not forget the value of paid medical and dental 
insurances, along with the usual reductions in tuition for family 
members such jobs usually offer.  These are not specified in the note 
posted... but then that wasnt a readout of the job listing perhaps.

There might be one objection that one could raise about paid medical 
insurances I suppose.  Insurance companies in America seem to be so 
capable of finding clever ways of renigging on there coverage deals that

many of us out in countries like Canada and some European companies 
wonder at the continued support for the so called private health system 
over there.... but thats another question entirely and we dont need to 
get into that.  Point being I'd understand that some would more or less 
write off any value of a health care package as part of a salary deal.

Cheers
RicB



    Scott, others,

    With all the job openings nowadays I rarely see "RPT preferred",
etc.
    Below it says "technical training from a recognized school of piano
    technology, or college graduate with courses in piano technology..."

    What schools are considered "recognized"???? or, what courses
qualify
    (above)?

    When I applied here at BYU it said "RPT or equivalent preferred". A
    fellow applied as "certified" because he has his certificate from
"the
    American School of Piano Tuning", or something like that. I looked
into
    the "school" and all you needed was to pay the $250.00 or so and
    complete 10 lessons. Then, I guess you were certified".

    With the salaries listed for the last several posted openings I
guess we
    have a long way to go...


    Jim Busby RPT, BA, MPT, BMF