Standards Committee: Rankings Media

The Executive Director is the primary manager of all media relationships, including rankings media. The committee assists in the following ways:

• If possible, a Committee Chair (or another appointee) attends the annual media meetings in NY and DC (or via phone) each year, along with the President and Executive Director. Additional meetings and phone calls with media institutions may be added to the schedule as feasible.
• Assists the Executive Director with responding to media inquiries regarding the standards, if needed.
• Assists with interpretation of surveys requested by rankings publications and dissemination of information to the membership. Reviews surveys in advance (if provided by the rankings media) and creates advisories to be distributed to the membership. The process for rankings survey review and advisories is as follows:
  • A rankings survey is received, either from the media, or from a committee member who has received the survey from their Marketing Department. Committee members should be asked to serve as a primary contact to make sure surveys are received by the committed as quickly as possible once they are disseminated by the rankings media.
  • The survey is sent to the committee members who have indicated that they want to be a part of the rankings review team. The group reviews the survey and compares it with the Standards, making note of any discrepancies. Be sure to pay attention to all survey questions, not just the ones that are designated as being about careers or outcomes. Ideally, a quick turnaround would be used for this (i.e. 2 – 3 days).
  • A full list of discrepancies, including specific references to the survey and the Standards and recommendations for the advisory, is sent to the Standards Chair and the Executive Director for final review/comment.
  • An advisory is written by the Executive Director and first sent to the rankings media for review/comment. The advisory is then sent to the membership.