WASC Communications & Marketing Plan

Executive Summary

I am very pleased to present our stakeholders with the first-eve , three-year Strategic Communications and Marketing Plan for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This plan was born out of the need to increase the WASC brand across the globe and to illustrate the tremendous benefits of ASC membership through effective, two-way communication. The Plan will serve as the road map for all internal and external communication and marketing efforts, including communication strategic objectives, messaging, target audiences, media, responsibility assignments, budget, measurements and evaluation. The plan will guide our work going forward, but it is not static – it is a dynamic document that will adapt to the changing landscape of accreditation and ongoing school improvement.

I welcome your feedback and look forward to working with all our stakeholders to ensure that WASC continues to expand its services and its reputation as a worldwide leader in accreditation school improvement.

Barry R. Groves, President

The Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Introduction/Overview

The purpose of this Communications and Marketing Plan is to provide an annual strategy and action outline for organizational communication at The Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The Communications and Marketing Plan (“The Plan”) serves as the guiding map for all internal and external communication, including strategic communication and marketing objectives, key messages, audiences, media and media relations, staffing decisions, budget, measurements and evaluation.

The overall purpose of organizational communication is to support the organization’s mission and vision through communication. This primarily means providing, in a credible, compelling, and consistent way, the vital information and two-way communication people need to play their role effectively in support of the organization’s strategic objectives. The Plan is a blueprint for achieving the specific communication goals deemed to be critical for expanding the WASC brand and the organization’s success.

What is a Communications Plan?

Definition: Organizational communication is a continuous, circular process of knowledge transfer and influence exchange between the organization s various stakeholders. As a management process, it seeks to advance WASC’s interests and achieve its strategic objectives.

The WASC Mission

WASC advances and validates quality ongoing school improvement by supporting its private and public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary member institutions to engage in a rigorous and relevant self-evaluation and peer review process that focuses on student learning.

Guiding Principles

The Plan is based on the following key guiding principles of effective organizational communication:

• Organizational Communication is a management process with specific purposes and disciplined methods of development implementation, and measurements. It is accomplished through a strategic communication plan reviewed and approved by senior management.

• Organizational Communication is a change agent. Its purpose is not just to convey information, but to change behavior. It changes behavior by persuading people to take action toward WASC’s objectives.

• The responsibility for organizational communication lies with all. WASC Leadership (and Communications team or department) is responsible for designing and delivering the system and tools that enable employees and stakeholders to play their role as communicators and ambassadors for the organization.

• Communication is a two-way process. Listening and encouraging feedback must be as emphasized and practiced as speaking and providing information and directions. Two-way is the only way for communication to actually exist in the organization.

• To be effective, communication must be grounded in the interests and language of the receiver. While it seeks to achieve the organization’s strategic objectives, it cannot do so effectively unless it uses a receiver-focused approach in both content and context.

• To be noticed, communication must be compelling, yet professional. As it must compete for the receiver’s attention, communication must use highly compelling and creative ways to deliver its message.

• To be influential, communication must be credibl . Without a high degree of credibility, the integrity and believability of the message will be lost, and the whole communication process will be a waste of resources.

• To be remembered and internalized, communication needs to be continuous and consistent. We cannot afford not to communicate.

Goal/Results

Goal: WASC becomes the gold standard for an accrediting body worldwide. This will happen by increasing visibility and brand awareness of WASC through a comprehensive process of engaging internal and external stakeholders in effective two-way communication.

Results:

• The importance of communications throughout the agency will be elevated.

• All employees, commissioners, committee members and volunteers will understand that effective communication is everyone’s business.

• Effective systems and methods of timely communication of information will be established and maintained to enhance interaction among stakeholders. Increased presence on social media platforms will be a key objective to achieve this result.

• A change in perception of WASC and its services among school members as an important self-study process and school improvement tool to assist schools in identifying gaps and challenges.

• WASC will, within its current capacity, increase international school membership by three percent annually

• WASC will, within its current capacity, increase U.S. school membership by three percent annually

Key Messages

1

2

WASC is student-centered, with an emphasis on equity and equitable access for all students.

WASC accreditation is an important, valuable and ongoing process that leads to quality school improvement. Our process can be used outside of the accreditation journey as a valuable tool and be used as part of other processes such as LCAP and SARC.

3

WASC services are effective, efficit and economical. WASC is a true non-profit oganization that exists to serve schools and students with the lowest fee structure available.

4

WASC believes that relationship building is the key to success. People must know, like and trust us for WASC to maintain and grow its reputation and services.

5

6

7

WASC is a leader in bringing educators together in the spirit of collaboration and best practices.

WASC prides itself on hiring the best and brightest employees.

WASC provides top-level training and resources so that volunteers and site visitation teams can fully understand and engage in the school improvement process.

Objectives

The following objectives provide a more granular look at the “Results” and were extracted mainly from interviews conducted, WASC’s principal survey/ study, as well as general observation. These are not in priority order.

• Create greater visibility and impact of WASC among its member schools and the broader education communities in which they reside and have influene.

• Actively promote and expand the WASC brand while maintaining its reputation as a professional, dignified oganization.

• Sustain the current high school California market by showing the value of being a WASC member beyond just the accreditation process.

• Explore ways to grow the California market at the middle and elementary school level.

• Maintain and grow the Hawaii, Pacific Islands and sia markets.

• Maintain and grow the greater international market through direct outreach.

• Maintain and grow the domestic market through direct outreach.

• Extend visibility and value with California statewide organizations like ACSA, CSBA, CAPTA, CDE, etc.

Target Audiences/Stakeholders

Organizational communication occurs between, and is intended to respond to and influence, the organizations stakeholders. Each of these groups might have different needs, issues, and interests which require special communication strategies, messages and media from the organization.

Internal Stakeholder Groups may include:

directors,

External Stakeholder Groups may include: Government agencies

Supporters, donors, friends…

The Public (i.e. local education communities)

Community organizations

Vendors and suppliers

The media

Situational Analysis of current methods and strategies

Interviews with key internal stakeholders were conducted with the purpose of getting their views, needs, and endorsement of the entire communication process. Many of these stakeholders will set the strategic priorities with which the communication goals will be aligned. Their thoughts and ideas help clarify and inform the objectives and strategies, upon which the communication objectives and strategies will be built. The interviews will also help clarify the role of communication staff in meeting those goals. Interviewees included:

• Barry Groves, EdD, President

• Marilyn George, EdD, Executive Vice President

• Dr. Margaret Alvarez, Vice President, International Accreditation

• David Ottaviano, Former Director of International Accreditation

• Cynthia Newton, Director of Communications

In addition, the executive summary from the study; “An Initial Evaluation of the ACS WASC Accreditation Cycle of Quality for Schools” was used to help inform this process. While the study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between WASC accreditation and ongoing school improvement, the information and key findings (based on responses of 710 high school principals) provide some valuable insights into WASC’s communication needs and challenges going forward. For example, “survey respondents reported high levels of engagement with implementing a schoolwide action plan (83%)” as part of the accreditation process which could indicate opportunities to leverage communication that are embedded within the accreditation process itself.

Core Recommendations (new and existing - with timelines) to achieve desired results

Strategies

Newly accomplished and existing strategies:

• Accreditation Process Documentation: Creating and updating accreditation process documentation and supporting school and visiting committee materials

➢ Ongoing

• Branding and Marketing Efforts: Create a collection of branded promotional graphics, handouts, and PowerPoint presentations. Continue use of Adobe Creative Suite and Canva Pro in order to enhance the quality of WASC’s collateral. In the 2023-24 school year focus on boosting our domestic and international communication and marketing efforts.

➢ Ongoing

• Domestic, International, and Hawaii Newsletters: The creation of three regionally branded newsletters. Each newsletter is tailored to our different audiences. The WASC newsletter structure was updated by shortening articles, adding a “read more” button, and publishing topical articles from WASC leadership. All WASC newsletters and articles are archived on the WASC website.

➢ Ongoing

Strategies continued…

• International Communications Tool: Implementation of the networking and communication tool, Basecamp, to all our international member schools. This process required hours of planning, multiple communications between the team and heads of school, and strategic design to ensure a successful launch. This tool provides an added benefit o our international member institutions with resources that will allow them to network, collaborate and share best practices with colleagues and like-minded professionals in the virtual space, and in ways that lead to organizational improvement.

➢ Ongoing

• Press Releases

➢ Ongoing

➢ Recommendation(s): Create an updated media contact list for press releases. Establish a timeline for creation/distribution to ensure the timing of these are spread throughout the academic year.

• Social Media: WASC is continuing its use of the social media platforms to champion issues, promote good news of members schools/institutions, and create/share original content. Strategies include following WASC member schools, using branded hashtags, and creating original graphics and content. Over the last two years, page likes and followers have increased by the following percentages:

 Twitter-106% follower increase

 Facebook-112% page like increase

 Instagram-201% follower increase

 LinkedIn-206% follower increase

➢ Ongoing

• WASC 60th Campaign: The campaign launched in January 2022 with the slogan “Honoring the Past — Embracing the Future.” It included a WASC 60th logo, social media posts (#WASC60), a webpage, member school testimonials, and a timeline of educational milestones WASC has experienced over the last 60 years. In addition, we have collected stories from our original international schools on the impact and history of WASC within their school communities.

 Completed: January, 2023

• WASCateer Newsletter: The monthly e-newsletter remains a strong, consistent means of communication to WASC staff, Commissioners, and others.

➢ Ongoing

Strategies Moving Forward

Suggested strategies moving forward…

• Create a social media calendar and press release calendar to maintain consistency and frequency of key messages across social media platforms.

• Explore options to enhance the existing email database.

• Assign point person within international team who will post frequently on discussion boards within Basecamp for international member schools.

• Encourage members to pose questions/challenges to the Basecamp discussion board (on topics related to accreditation, school improvement, etc.) and for others to offer suggestions based on their experiences and best practices – in real time.

• Continue to provide tools and resources for member schools and institutions to promote their successes (thereby expanding WASC’s reach and brand).

• In order to extend visibility and value with California statewide organizations, extend an offer for WASC to provide a sitting board member or liaison (voting or ex-offic) on key organizations like ACSA, CSBA, CASBO, CAPTA, CDE and CTA.

• See also “Delivery Channel Recommendations” below

Delivery Channels (including social media platforms, tools and frequency)

Social Media: Utilize the platforms of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to champion issues, promote good news of members schools/ institutions, and create/share original content. ** It is important to attach WASC’s name and brand to QUALITY content (this applies to all delivery channels and strategies).

Recommendation(s):

• Research and consider the use of Social Media platforms that are more popular in other countries, including Weeble, We Chat and Lime.

• Create trends and track on-line conversations about WASC with the following (and other) hashtags (#s): #WASC #schoolaccreditation #schoolimprovement

#studentcentered

Website: The new website is both attractive, functional and more interactive. Great strides have gone into making it this way.

Recommendation(s):

• Utilize the site as a one-stop source for WASC information, and use other communication platforms to drive people to the site. Archive newsletters and other WASC-related information on the site, and make them easily accessible.

• Maintain and regularly update the WASC website.

• Encourage all WASC employees to enable “www.acswasc.org” as their default start-up page in each browser.

School Portal: Provides customized information delivery to member schools and institutions.

Member Portal: The member portal provides customized information delivery to visiting committee chairs and members.

Recommendation(s):

• Continue to maintain and update the portals to make it valuable to schools and members beyond the accreditation process.

• Use the portal to communicate to members and drive traffico the website.

Email: WASC extracts customized mailing lists from it’s database using reports. Reports have the ability to segment into sub-lists to suit the organization’s communication needs.

Recommendation(s):

• Research a new mass email communication system.

• Ensure that the reports are accessible in the database to select WASC employees.

• Continue use of a standard (WASC branded) email signature graphic and encourage all employees to use this as their email signature for all businessrelated email exchanges.

Print/Digital Newsletters: Through the use of the Smore platform, WASC has the ability to continue to brand itself through email campaigns. The WASCateer monthly and WASC Words Domestic, International, and Hawaii seasonal newsletters provide consistent information and brand opportunities to member schools and institutions.

Recommendation(s):

• Place archived issues of both newsletters in a standard and more prominent place on the WASC website.

• Publish articles, updates and opinion pieces from WASC leadership (as were typically presented in the WASC Words publication) sporadically (or strategically) throughout the year. Continue using social media to promote these pieces and place/archive them on the website. This drives readers to the website while also providing opportunities to distribute valuable and timely WASC content more frequently.

• Continue posting all WASC publications and communications to online/virtual format.

Video: The informational/promotional WASC video is a useful communication tool for the organization, and provides an entry into the valuable medium of quality video.

Recommendation(s):

• Expand use of the video into existing WASC workshops and seminars, presentations and as part of committee visitation processes.

• Allow access to member schools/institutions for their own purposes when promoting their involvement in the accreditation process.

• Produce and distribute high-quality professional videos.Use platforms like Doodly and Toonly for the creation of high-quality yet affordable “how-to” and hand-sketched videos.

Video Webinars/Live Web conferences: The series of six webinar topics (presented by Dr. Marilyn George) were professionally created, and designed to be used and embedded into existing on-site and virtual presentations.

Recommendation(s):

• Consider utilizing the videos to complement articles, updates and opinion pieces by WASC leadership that coincide with the topic areas of the videos. This necessitates the videos be accessible on the website.

On-site/In-person school visitations, trainings, presentations: WASC accreditation visits provide organic opportunities to build relationships and expand outreach efforts. WASC trainings and presentations do the same, while also empowering educators to give back to the education community and observe successful programs and best practices in action.

Recommendation(s):

• Assign the role of “public relations liaison” to WASC employees attending conferences, visits, and trainings. As part of this role, employees will take and send photos of the event to the WASC communications team for marketing materials, social media, website, and other promotional purposes.

Other existing or potential media or vehicles for organizational communication could include:

• Print/Digital Flyers

• Trade shows/Education conferences (including presenting at conferences)

• Posters, banners, certifictes and similar media using the WASC logo/brand

• Intranet for employees

• Press releases

• Media appearances by WASC leadership

• PowerPoint/multimedia presentations

• Town Meetings

• Lunch and Learn and other lunch-centered events

• Face-to-Face small meetings

• Virtual meetings

• Off-sie meetings, retreats, and events

*It is important to note that too many vehicles can be counter-productive by diminishing quality (based on limited capacity) and/or oversaturating audiences resulting in information fatigue.

Measurement Tools

While it is a good idea to include measurements in our communication work, be sure that what you are measuring is related to communication and not to other factors not related to communication. While the simple measurement of “increase number of new member schools/institutions during- and postcommunication plan implementation” should be an effective gauge in reaching our primary objectives, utilizing a few other data-focused (and free) measurement tools is also recommended. These include but are not limited to:

• Communications Plan Matrix

• Website analytics (Google Analytics)

• Social Media measurement tools (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn Analytics tools)

Conclusion

WASC has built and continues to maintain an extremely positive and professional reputation within the education sector and beyond. The desire to construct this plan and make it a living document is testimony to the organization’s (and its leadership’s) commitment to remain focused on enhancing an already-established reputation through effective communication.

Utilizing this document to move the organization forward should be looked upon as a great opportunity to make a positive impact on the organization and the communities it serves.

The challenge going forward will be to use this document as a creative, thoughtful and strategic tool, but with the ability to pivot in a moment’s notice.

Flexibility is critical as there may be a need to change tactics and tools midstream. The key is to stay true to the overall strategy. The key communication objectives should remain constant throughout the communication campaign, so that results can be measured. There will be obstacles the team will tackle and overcome. And there will be incremental successes on the way. Celebrate them.

Take the opportunity of working on this challenging communication effort to create a culture of accomplishment, teamwork, and celebration at work. Celebrating success creates the appetite for more of it. Celebrations are the lubricant for good performance.

“It is a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”

—Somerset Maugham

Rather than include a stagnant appendix here, we will continue to provide WASC with valuable tools and resources to assist with implementation of this plan as well as with its general communication efforts. These will include but not be limited to:

• Communications Plan Matrix (to assist with plan implementation and timelines)

• Communications Action Plan: Tasks/Media, Schedule and Cost

• Social Media Assessment Form to gauge social media needs

• Social Media Calendar

• Editorial Content Calendar for Social Media

• Enhancements/new content for “Communications Toolkit for Accredited Schools”