Hi, all,
This happened 3 times over the 30 years I was at Cal State Long Beach. I am in agreement, it can be loaded with potential problems. We were lucky I guess, all 3 situations resolved themselves pretty naturally with no ill effects. It’s true that it causes no questions when a faculty brings in a privately owned violin, so logic would seem to apply to his or her piano as well, right? (Except that she can take her violin home at night, or take it out when it needs service, hmmm..)
There are two piano teaching studios, each with a D and a B. Two of the faculty had personal, older D’s and no room to store them at times. We put the resident D’s on their sides in storage (which cut down on their wear, anyway) and they paid to move their own D’s into the two studios. Not at the same time, but they did overlap for several years. There was a simple letter to the Chair, a document of understanding, that the pianos were insured by their owners, the only work performed by the staff technician would be tunings on the usual schedule that would have occurred in that room anyway, and any further work would be the responsibility of the owner. The owners accepted the fact that their personal instruments would have additional wear while being used in a studio. Keep in mind that this was 25 years ago, and would be unlikely to happen in the same way now.
In one case, a D needed extra work and an outside technician (someone I happened to know well) did some extra work. That situation gives school officials the heebie-jeebies, if they become aware of it, since it introduces questions of access, liability and that whole universe. And of course, there was no question of me doing work in that space, taking money even if on my own hours. (In California, it is illegal to use state property, even if it’s only the room itself, for private gain.)
In another case, a person outside the school suddenly lost his private studio rental and had an emergency request to house his CFIII in a large rehearsal room, with the understanding that students could use it in more limited fashion. He was completely responsible for its care. We accepted the plan, and it was convenient for a year or two, since it provided piano majors a space for two-piano practice. The piano was locked and the head piano faculty held the key. But it got weird when the owner requested that only the “better” students use the piano. Faculty were unwilling to create a caste system of “better” students since that automatically creates “lesser” students too. We asked him to remove the piano as soon as he was able, which was about 3 months later.
I see many comments that show people are aware of the things that can go wrong. As schools get more and more aware of litigation, legal coverage becomes one of their main concerns in unusual situations.
Original Message:
Sent: 6/22/2022 9:47:00 AM
From: Wim Blees
Subject: RE: Personal Piano usage of Faculty
A thought just occurred to me that might be taken into consideration. What would happen if the faculty member doesn't like your tuning? Would she be allowed to hire her former tuner? (Hey, things like that do happen). Just asking the question.
Original Message:
Sent: 6/22/2022 9:30:00 AM
From: Kevin Stock
Subject: RE: Personal Piano usage of Faculty
Hi Dave,
Over the years, I have seen this situation repeated numerous times and for various reasons in more than one place, both private and public. Imagine for a moment an institution that would require all teachers to work only with school issue-owned violins, clarinets, flutes, socks, shoes and so on....ugh. This is an opportunity for you to build a positive and productive working relationship with this new piano faculty including his or her two pianos. As you work to set the boundaries and expectations of piano service and maintenance that will be available from your department, you should also include the presence and involvement of a third party administrator, probably the dean or chair of the piano department and the new faculty member as you map out this arrangement. Professional musicians generally carry appropriate insurance on their personal instruments as they understand the associated risk of moving or using their personal instruments, this situation should be no different.
I hope this helps.
Kevin
Original Message:
Sent: 6/21/2022 11:34:00 AM
From: Dave Foster
Subject: Personal Piano usage of Faculty
We have a new piano faculty member starting this fall and he will be bringing his own Steinways (D & B) to use in his teaching studio (for reasons of convenience).
Do any of you techs deal with a situation like this? If so, do you have a written policy for regular maintenance & tunings?
For us, we've agreed on the regular maintenance during the semester, but there might be a point where it will need more extensive work done. And since the piano is not an asset of the University, there needs to be policy written to solidify the agreement.
So I need to write one up and was hoping to find a good outline from another school to use as a blueprint.
If you can, forward me any recommendations.
Thanks.
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Dave Foster, RPT
Michigan State University
foste326@msu.edu
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