[CAUT] Bid Process (was Re: becoming a university tech. HELP!)

[Fred Sturm]

On Jul 2, 2006, at 7:27 AM, John R. Granholm wrote:
> This sounds like a good topic for a Journal Q&A feature if we can  
> generate enough discussion.
snip
> John R. Granholm, RPT
> Registered Member, Piano Technicians Guild
> Assistant Editor, Piano Technicians Journal
> jtuner at qwest.net

	I hope a number of people will want to join this discussion. I'll  
start things off with a description of my experience. I started as a  
caut at the University of New Mexico 20 years ago via a bid process.  
The department was not satisfied with its current tech, I had been  
doing some last minute substituting in the recital hall and  
elsewhere, and I was invited to bid. The RFB (request for bids) asked  
for a per hour price for piano service, plus some kind of a bid for  
parts. I bid what I thought was fairly high at the time (over 60% of  
the going tuning rate as my per hour bid), but offered a substantial  
discount from list for parts as a sweetener. I was told later that my  
per hour was substantially higher than the competition, but they were  
able to select me based on my parts discount (rather ironic, as the  
only parts I purchased for years were things like replacement bass  
strings - a very minor part of the contract).
	I retained that contract for eleven years without a re-bid. The  
department found creative ways to avoid the bidding process. I  
operated under an open purchase order, with a budget cap.  They would  
issue it for the maximum amount allowed by state law without bid, and  
would then do a mid-year adjustment. They also split the job among  
more than one account, so that I had a general music department PO,  
one for performance account (recital hall), one for All-State  
Festival, one for the major performance venue, etc.
	At the end of those eleven years, I was hired as a half time  
employee, which meant more than doubling my hours, but that's a  
different story. My thoughts on the bid process are mostly negative.  
I guess I can imagine a circumstance where it might be beneficial to  
the institution, but only if the standards for selecting a bid were  
very well crafted. In NM, bids for professional services can be  
evaluated on criteria in addition to price (actually, this is true of  
bids for tangible goods, like pianos, as well). So if an institution  
defined qualifications well, and had a reliable way of comparing  
bidders, a good outcome might be possible.
	What qualifications might one use? Well, RPT is an obvious one as a  
base line. Beyond that, one might ask for applicants who have  
completed training courses offered by manufacturers, like Steinway,  
Yamaha, Kawai, Bosendorfer, etc.; years of experience, particularly  
in performance venues; graduates of respected training programs, like  
North Bennett and Western Ontario, might be given preference (though  
here one has to be careful in deciding which are "worthy of respect":  
how is a university administrator to know?) Some departments ask for  
a bachelor's degree, which has a certain amount of validity  
(familiarity with the academic environment, greater ability to  
communicate with faculty). All of these are rather nebulous for the  
average department selection committee to evaluate, and there may be  
nobody in the area with requested qualifications. (Or it can be  
possible to craft the qualifications to fit one and only one  
potential or likely applicant).
	So here we come to an issue the caut committee has been grappling  
with for some time: coming up with some kind of base line standard  
beyond RPT, a "credential" which represents in some way the skills  
needed to do successful work in the higher education environment.  
It's a complex problem: exactly what skills are we talking about? How  
can we measure them?
	Whether or not this discussion leads to a Journal article, the caut  
committee would welcome a wide ranging discussion of these issues as  
we work toward development of a "CAUT Credential."
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu

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