<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: [CAUT] NASM Standards</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> Hi Dave,     Thanks for the heads up. We will definitely provide= some input. My initial thoughts are: Self-evaluation – guidelines to help in that process 1) Consult with your piano technician 2) Evaluate your inventory: age and condition of pianos, suitability of mod= els for usage 3) Pianos purchased and/or major rebuilding/remanufacturing accomplished wi= thin the past ten years; 20 years. 4) Plan for future purchase/rebuild/remanufacture 5) Maintenance plan: what is done on a regular basis to pianos in addition = to tuning and emergency repair? How much time is allocated per piano for tun= ing? For additional work? 6) The Guidelines are available as a reference. [Note that the process of answering these questions will make virtually eve= ry faculty member/administrator involved much better informed than they are = at present, and will lead them to think a little differently] NASM evaluation: The CAUT committee of the PTG would be willing to work with you in developi= ng a program whereby technicians form a part of the on-site evaluation team,= in situations where that seems to be warranted. We also volunteer to aid in= examining the portion of the written self-evaluation dealing with pianos, o= ffering suggestions as to whether programs are adequate, realistic, etc, and= how they might be improved. In general, all programs should be able to show= that they have planned for regular replacement of instruments, for rebuildi= ng where that is feasible and cost-effective, and for maintaining instrument= s at a high performance level – particularly performance, piano studio= , and piano major practice room instruments. And they should be staffed (whe= ther on an employee or contract basis) with an adequately trained technician= .     If anyone has additional suggestions (this will be = expanded and better written in any case), please chime in. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico On 6/21/05 10:43 AM, "Porritt, David" <dporritt@mail.smu.edu&g= t; wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>I just got an email from ou= r Director saying: “The National Association of Scho= ols of Music (NASM) is conducting a multi-year review of its accreditation s= tandards and your assistance is requested.  The NASM Standards have a b= road impact on music in higher education.  All of us have an interest i= n developing the best possible standards.”   There is an FAQ about this review proce= ss here <http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=FAQs%3A+NASM+Standa= rds+Review> . The entire NASM Handbook is available in .pdf format here. = <http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/site/docs/NASM%20Handbook%202003-2004%20PD= F/NASM%20HANDBOOK%202005-2006.pdf> I downloaded the handbook and searched = for the word “piano” and found that in the 216 pages of standard= s for an NASM accredited institution, the word piano appeared only 9 times. =   I know that PTG and the CAUT committee = has wanted to have more input in their standards so it would seem to me that= their request for input now would be a good opportunity for us to do just t= hat. Comments?  Ideas?? dave __________________________ David M. Porritt, RPT<BR= > Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist Unive= rsity Dallas, TX 75275 dporritt@smu.edu<= /FONT> <mailto:dporritt@smu.edu> </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>