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

[Robert A. Murphy]

Elwood et al,

Perhaps you were looking at Bob Grijalva's region - 4 (Central East),  
as he is most certainly an RPT and a top-notch technician and teacher.   
And for anyone interested in checking out the job, the Ann Arbor region  
of MI is one of the few areas of the state that has not been devastated  
by the loss of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs (state-wide) in  
recent years.

Best,
Robert
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
---------------------------
Robert A. Murphy
Piano Technician & Curator of Fortepianos
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
cell:    517.285.3269
shop:  440.775.8275


On Oct 09, 2007, at 08:30 AM, Elwood Doss wrote:

> 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
>
>