[CAUT] CAUT credential vs. academic program?

[Ed Sutton]

Was anyone in the 1989 marketplace calling for a set of guidelines for 
effective institutional piano maintenance?
Have the Guidelines been of any value since they were written, or was it all 
a wasted effort?
Even assuming no outside market for a CAUT credential, there may be an 
inside market of technicians who would like an advanced curriculum for 
professional development, and a set of exams to evaluate one's skills.
I don't think anyone attains mastery of our field in a one or two year 
school program, and I would like to see PTG develop advanced study 
guidelines for people who want to learn more than entry level skills. 
Whether this would eventually lead to some kind of advanced certification 
would be a question for the future.
Ed Sutton

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leslie Bartlett" <l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'College and University Technicians'" <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 8:00 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAUT credential vs. academic program?


> Who in the marketplace is screaming for some kind "credential"?  If the
> market doesn't care, then all this is rather pointless, it seems to me.  I
> still agree that it finally is the market where quality is established, 
> and
> "good" is good, whether someone has acredited him or not.
> les bartlett
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
> Richard Brekne
> Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 1:56 AM
> To: caut at ptg.org
> Subject: [CAUT] CAUT credential vs. academic program?
>
> Hi Jeff
>
>         > Number one who has shown one way or the other whether there
>        is any
>         > truth to this statement.
>
>
>    I think the real challenge would be to prove there is no truth to the
>    statement.  The fact is that there are many very respected techs at
>    upper echelon schools who do not have music degrees.  In my mind, it
>    would be more difficult to prove their work is inferior to that of
>    someone who has a degree than to prove that it is not.
>
> As I pointed out earlier.  All else things being equal between two 
> techs....
> it is hardly a difficult thing to imagine that a tech with the ability to
> speak and understand the language of the end user is better equipped to 
> more
> efficiently solve that users needs then one who does not.  If I had two 
> very
> highly talented CAUTs in front of me who were equal in all ways except 
> their
> ability to relate to pianists use of language and perspectives... I  have 
> no
> doubt who I would choose.
>
> The bulk of the rest of your post relies on a view about testing I have on
> several occasions pointed to as flawed.  As with piano technicans, 
> Pianists,
> doctors, teachers, plumbers... virtually everyone included...
> testing is not about guarantees.  It is wrong to assume that just because
> one has any particular certification one is the best qualified for any 
> given
> job.  The goal of certifications is to give the outside world a handle to
> hold onto... one of several evaluation tools in their bag of hiring 
> tricks.
>
> With all due respect in return... you go on to make a series of 
> assumptions
> that you have really less grounds for making then the one you accuse me of
> making. Of course there are many <<techs>> in the buisness who have no
> interest at all for music.  That is indeed at least half our problem.
> Neither do I see how you can first more or less discount the above claim,
> for then to turn around an give it some small yet insignificant
> acknowledgment.
>
> I say again.  Accreditation is simply a tool, and as such it can of course
> be misused like all other tools.  I gain a sense that you seem to take 
> issue
> with accreditation in general since you apply the same reasoning to both
> pianists and the CAUT issue.  I think its fair to say the general
> value/pitfalls of accreditations in general are well discussed in the 
> world
> and I think its equally fair to say that most, if not nearly all other
> professions in the end decide to rely on them because the pros outweigh 
> the
> cons.
>
> In our case... the problem is by far more one of ourselves coming to
> agreement on the issue of what to do then it is a matter of contriving a
> viable stamp of approval.
>
> Cheers
> RicB
>
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