A proposal for more staff

[Jeff Tanner]

Hi Bob and list,
We have a similar situation here at South Carolina.  We've just hired a new
dean, courtesy of Don up at Ithaca.  (Thanks Don, he really is a nice guy!)

I approached him with similar needs, budget, staffing, a raise promised by
the previous dean but not documented (thus not delivered), etc.  My
workload is similar to yours.  Thank heavens we only have 2 performing
venues, but they're both used as classrooms the majority of the day, so
tuning times, and rehearsals take back seats to "MUS101".  His instructions
to me are much like the ones you describe:  "what's everybody else doing
around here?  ask your PTG buddies what their situation is like and get
back to me.  I'll certainly take that into consideration."

But I'm wondering, since we're all underbudgeted, understaffed, and
underpaid, just how effective this method of "keeping down with the
Jones's" really is???  Seems like if you compare overworked and underpaid
with overworked and underpaid, that's what we'll continue to be. (The dean
even remarked that we're probably in line with others as it is.)

Anyone have better ideas for how to improve situations other than comparing
with how all the other underbudgeted programs do it?  More like:  who's got
a "model" situation we could compare with?  How did they get there?  Is
there an established relationship between quality of students recruited and
piano maintenance budget?  Should there be a relationship of salary to
those operating in the local self-employed market, etc...

The CAUT Guidelines Workload Formula says I need 3.4 technicians here.
Administration sort of laughs that off and acts like, with our budget,
we're just lucky to have one underpaid fool on staff to care for $3 million
worth of instruments.  Frankly, 3.4 techs couldn't keep up with these
climate swings.

I've got a copy of a newspaper article from a few years back which is a
great story about the department at Julliard (are any of those guys on the
list?).  Ammunition like that should help, I just need more of it from more
fortunate departments.  Most of our faculty and administration believe this
school is in a position to become a premier school of music in the
southeast.  Our budget needs an attitude adjustment if that is to be so.
(Perhaps Lou Holtz can work this miracle, too??)

If anyone is willing to send me similar information to what Bob requests, I
could likewise present it to our new dean for consideration.  Though
departmental budget and staffing in relation to size of inventory are also
a priority, I'm particularly interested in salary information (official
"range" as well as actual paid, including years of service).  If you don't
feel it's any of my business, I completely understand.  You can submit it
directly to my dean.  Email me directly if you're interested in helping.  I
would be most appreciative.

Thanks,
Jeff


>
>Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 14:28:58 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Robert Grijalva <pianoman@umich.edu>
>Subject: A proposal for more staff
>
>Hello List,
>
>Some of you may know that we have just hired a new Dean of the School of
>Music here at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  As one of the many
>new hopes and dreams around this place, I'm hoping to increase our staff
>of two in order to handle the continuing increases in demand for pianos
>and services here.  We've got 231 pianos now, 101 grands and the rest
>upright.  There's just Ron Torrella and myself handling eleven performance
>venues, five concert Ds, and close to four hundred concerts per year.
>
>As you might imagine, I've been asked as part of my proposal for
>additional staff to take a survey of our main competitor institutions to
>find out what they've got by way of technical staff and pianos.  So, this
>won't apply to most of you, in which case you can ignore
>this missive, but I'd like to know about the following institutions and
>find out anything that any of you can offer:
>
>Indiana University at Bloomington
>Univ. of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana
>Northwestern University
>Oberlin College
>Julliard Conservatory
>Rice University
>University of Minnesota
>
>Specifically:
>
>How many technicians and what are their titles?
>General duties for each title
>How many pianos broken down for grand and uprights
>How many performance venues
>How many concert pianos
>Approximate number of concerts per year
>
>Wish me luck, good colleagues.  This may be my best chance in years to
>come closer to that ideal tech/piano ratio we're all so fond of striving
>for...--Bob G.
>
>Robert Grijalva
>Asst. Professor and Director, Piano Technology
>School of Music
>Phone: 734-764-6207
>e-mail: pianoman@umich.edu


Jeff Tanner, Piano Technician
School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
(803)-777-4392 (phone)