[CAUT] CAUT position announcements, CAUT Academy (Fred Sturm)

[Fred Sturm]

On Aug 22, 2008, at 5:05 PM, Israel Stein wrote:

> Fred,
>
> I don't know if this bit of information is of any use, but some  
> years ago - perhaps in the late 80s or early 90s (before I came to  
> work there)  - San Francisco State University School of Music and  
> Dance was put on probation by the accrediting agency. One of the  
> factors cited was the poor condition of the practice room pianos.  
> They were old, beat up Baldwin Hamilton, Wurlitzer and Everett  
> studio uprights, dating back to the 60s and even 50s. The school had  
> to embark on an upgrade program - and at this point we have Yamaha  
> P-22s purchased over the past 12 years (plus 8 loaners) in all the  
> practice rooms and in some classrooms/teaching studios. Faculty  
> offices are still equipped with the old beaters...
>
> So, someone somewhere does pay attention to piano condition...
>
> The school is off probation, BTW...
>
> Israel Stein

	Interesting. It is certainly within the purview of the evaluation  
committee to tour the facility and view the equipment. But they aren't  
specifically asked to evaluate pianos. Pianos are listed in the manual  
as equipment (in the midst of a long list), and it states

"Facilities and equipment shall be adequate to support faculty needs,  
all curricular offerings and all students enrolled in them, and be  
appropriately specialized for advanced work."
  and
"Budget provisions shall be made for adequate maintenance of the  
physical plant and equipment."

So there is authority to look at both condition and the maintenance  
plan, but only in a very general way. Then, specifically about  
technology related equipment, the manual says:

"Music units with goals and objectives that require constant updating  
of equipment must demonstrate their capacity to remain technologically  
current."

I proposed to add a couple sentences specifically about pianos at that  
point:

"Pianos must be maintained at a level consistent with artistic needs,  
including tuning, regulation, voicing, reconditioning, and rebuilding  
and/or replacement as needed. Music units should demonstrate that they  
have competently trained staff (whether employee or contract) to  
maintain their pianos at an adequate level, and that they have in  
place a plan for regular, on-going replacement and maintenance of  
their piano inventory."

And I added a lot of supporting argument, a template for how they  
might go about evaluation, as well as an offer (on behalf of PTG and  
the CAUT committee) to help in the evaluation process. And I suppose a  
couple people read it, and decided, "nah..."

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu


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