Making Marketing Part of Faculty Contracts

Your faculty members are incredible. They are experts in their field. They are mentors for the children at your school. They set an example and lead by doing. They have a calling for teaching and love what they do. They embody all that is wonderful and distinctive about your school. They exceed expectations.

One thing, though. Do they know that they are expected to be school marketers? Are they aware of the impact they have on prospective families, both in school and in their private lives? Do they partner with the school to actively reduce attrition and increase retention? Do they have the tools needed to promote the school’s brand and know how to distinguish the school from competitors? Do they know how to explain what makes your school worth the tuition it charges? Is all of this part of their responsibilities as a teacher at your school?

I downloaded about 20 faculty handbooks from independent schools around the country and not one of them included anything about faculty being marketers for the school. Should this be part of a teacher’s contract? Should it be spelled out in the faculty handbook?

You know that I think it should.

And so does Mike Connor, President of Connor Associates. He says in an InspirED podcast with Rob Norman, "If I were the head of a school, I would put in a faculty hiring contract that you are expected to help admissions enroll and retain those students you want to teach."

What does your faculty contract say about marketing?

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