<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; cha= rset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1505" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV> <DIV>I completely agree, the more directed energy we put into this the bette= r.   July 8....wow.  An incentive to get something done!</DIV= > <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We should keep in mind that political realities tend to reduce our chan= ces for anything we do to achieve official approval by NASM.  Of all th= e administrators I've talked with, they don't want another hurdle to jump th= rough, and prefer standards to be kept vague.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>All the more reason for us to develop a well reasoned and comprehensive= set of guidelines for NASM, which shows we've taken into consideration thei= r own methods and philosophy for evaluation, as well as their approach to ty= pes and sizes of schools.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'll never forget when one School of Music director told me that I save= d his behind by having all the pianos in tune when NASM came by....the schoo= l really looked good....I couldn't help but think how the budget was so depl= orable, and had any basic standard been used to measure the piano = inventory and piano service program, the school wouldn't have looked ho= rrific....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There's no doubt the Guidelines should be referred to, but a summary of= standards should be simple, easy to grasp quickly, and reflect NASM's dual = approach to evaluation, which, as I understand it, recognizes the type of sc= hool or program as the basis for evaluation, and also uses the school's self= -evaluation.   This self-evaluation is extremely important, becaus= e it is quite subjective.  The school can find a way to make itsel= f look quite good when we know the piano inventory condition and the se= rvice program is sinking.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here also is a strong justification for the development of a&= nbsp;CAUT credential.  If such a thing is in place, NASM=  could be looking to whether the school's lead tech has, or is ear= ning, the credential.   The committee will have to work long = and hard on this year if  we have "beta" volunteer program up and runni= ng for this coming convention, but it would be worth it.  Fred has work= ed hard on this at the convention, and I suspect he will have some things to= say about it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Bill Shull</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>  In a message dated 6/21/2005 11:03:19 AM Pacific Daylight T= ime, jtanner@mozart.sc.edu writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial>On Tuesday, June 21, 2005, at 01:55 PM, Wolfle= y, Eric (wolfleel) wrote:<BR><BR>> I certainly think it would behoove us = to look into this.<BR>><BR>> Eric Wolfley, RPT<BR>> Supervising Pia= no Technician<BR>> College-Conservatory of Music<BR>> University of Ci= ncinnati<BR>><BR><BR>The language from the handbook describing pianos as = Facilities, <BR>Equipment, and Safety is extremely vague, and leaves much to= the <BR>imagination.  Some better descriptive guidelines would seem <B= R>appropriate.  I doubt there would be a music faculty out there which = <BR>would not appreciate some help from NASM to establish better standards <= BR>in our area.<BR><BR>Jeff<BR><BR><BR>Jeff Tanner, RPT<BR>School Of Music<B= R>University of South Carolina<BR><BR>______________________________________= _________<BR>caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives</FONT>= </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>