---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment David Skolnik asked why we try to compare our various situations to other= schools when we have no idea if comparison is even possible. Most of the= time, the situations are not comparable. The type of students are= different, the programs, the administration, the environment, etc. A= "Workload formula" is indeed not a good way to measure ourselves. Unfortunately, the administrators want this kind of information. While it= would be nice if they would evaluate the schools needs by playing the= pianos and deciding that they are either "good enough" or "need more care"= that's not going to happen. Even the accrediting agencies are not a good= indicator. We recently had our NASM decade inspection and I was hoping= that they would urge more maintenance but it didn't happen. Frankly, one of the main reasons I keep documenting our maintenance= shortfall is "CYA". If some people decide that the pianos are not really= good enough for a music school they can come to one of two conclusions:= the technician is not doing a good job, or we're not spending enough on= maintenance. The administration would much rather blame the technician= than their management of the funds. Therefore if we haven't documented= our budget restrictions (yes, often by comparing ourselves to other music= schools) we will be blamed for the situation. As long as I've been doing this here (14 years) it is still difficult to= compare music programs. SMU would not be the first school you'd think of= as a performance institution, yet a month ago, one of our people won the= Leeds International Piano Competition, and the next week two of our= violinists were finalists in the Paganini Competition. Now, how do I= compare our budget with a comparable(?) school? Each of us has to do what= we can to improve our situation and document our budgetary shortfalls. If= a "Guide to Institutional ......" is not a good way to do this, we should= surely find some other method(s). Ideas???????? dave David M. Porritt dporritt@swbell.net Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/7a/54/7e/fd/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC