Highlighting Partner Success: Effectively Communicating with Faculty

Turning any initiative into a success at a college or university often isn’t possible without faculty engagement. And in many cases, faculty engagement isn’t possible without a well-thought out communications plan.

This is true whether it be for the COACHE survey participation, implementing activities to help improve on areas identified through COACHE, or for important efforts completely outside of the COACHE process.

Partner success: Illinois State University

Illinois State University (ISU) is one example of a COACHE partner who developed a thoughtful and comprehensive communications plan—and as a result they exceeded their expectations with a strong and representative faculty response rate to the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey.

To showcase their success and the components of their plan, ISU Communication Advisory Team members were recently invited to share their strategic approach so that other COACHE members can benefit from ISU’s experience.

Building a strong communications plan

Communications was a core part of the framework of ISU’s COACHE team from the start, with the Communications Advisory Team one of three sub-teams. Before designing their communications plan, the team reviewed COACHE sample communications plans and plans of other institutions, while reflecting on the specific needs for ISU.

ISU communication plan elements:

· Clear, consistent goal (or “begin with the end in mind”): In addition to a specific goal around response rates, the team also wanted to create top-of-mind awareness about why the survey is so important. It was key for faculty to be aware that it was not “just another survey”, but rather an opportunity for their voices and perspectives to be heard to identify ways to better recruit, support, and retain outstanding scholars and teachers, and improve their own experience.

· Sharing goals widely throughout influential faculty networks: Communications Advisory Team members helped identify and engage influential networks who could encourage faculty to participate. Communication always promoted transparency and a commitment to a collaborative approach.

· Targeting additional influential audiences: In addition to the primary audiences of potential survey participants (tenured and non-tenured track faculty at ISU), the team identified overlapping audiences and influencers who would play a significant role in sharing key messages about the survey process, often directly with faculty. Influencers would also be vital to highlight the importance of the COACHE survey initiative.

These audiences included the Provost, Academic Center Deans, Chairs/Directors, Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, Interim Assistant to the President of Diversity and Inclusion, Affinity groups, and Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology. Conversations with these audiences addressed the need for partnership and linked the COACHE process back to goals driven by earlier Provost’s Office working groups.

· Developing materials for “champions”: To ensure all audiences could “champion” the efforts, the team provided specific tools to be easily utilized in a wide range of communications channels. This included an elevator speech, sample emails, frequently asked questions, and presentation slides, among others.

· Utilizing multiple communications channels throughout survey: In addition to using email, news articles, social media, and other standard communications channels, the team continued to look for additional opportunities to support their communications efforts. For example, working with the technology solutions department, a reminder to take the COACHE survey was added to the ISU faculty portal.

In addition, the ability to monitor the survey response rate and adjust messages led to the development of both a podcast shared on social media and a video message from the Provost to complement the messages he had already shared in writing.

After the survey closed, the Provost also sent a thank you message to all who participated outlining the next steps, plans to share the data, and timing—to continue the momentum around the survey process.

To watch the full Illinois State University's communications plan presentation, please click on the video below:

To learn more about COACHE partner resources and support, please reach out to coache@gse.harvard.edu.