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[Avery Todd]

Greg,

One thing I forgot to mention about my particular situation (I don't know
how other schools do it) is that my salary is based on an hourly wage and
a 40-hour work week. Needless to say, in a university situation, you will
probably have to tune on weekends fairly frequently. We have a Sunday
afternoon Faculty Recital series for instance and a LOT of weekend
recitals. Especially during the last half of the semester.

I don't get overtime for that, however I do get compensatory time for
anything over 40 hours. That can be extremely useful sometimes, when there
are no recitals scheduled and there's nothing else that I absolutely HAVE
to do. :-)

In addition, because of the amount and quality of work I'm expected to do
and because the "boss" knew the salary wasn't what it should be for that,
it was agreed that I could do some outside work. I don't take advantage
of this but if I do one tuning in the morning or later afternoon, I still
put down an 8-hour work day. If I do more than that in a given day,
that's where the comp. time comes in handy.

Our school is so busy most of the time, that it's many times difficult to
get to instruments I need to, so I come in fairly early and do a fair
amount of weekend work just because I can get to things then. But because
of that, then I don't feel at all guilty when I want or need to take off
early.

There are a lot of pros and cons to university work, but if you get a
decent situation, it can be very rewarding and enjoyable, in spite of the
occasional "hassles". :-)

Another benefit you might have is, as my boss told me during my interview:
"Because of the reputation of the school, you're going to automatically be
considered one of the better tuners in town".

Just some other things to consider. And don't forget the holidays,
semester breaks, etc. If you're so inclined, you could get quite a bit of
outside work to do during those times when you don't even have to be at
the school.

Avery

>Thank you for your response! Nothing here surprises me except perhaps the low
>starting pay at some schools. In my private business I'm not sure I'd want to
>roll out of bed for that!! Thanks and if you think of anything else, I'd sure
>appreciate it!
>Greg