Stanford
TeachingWriting

Preparing Marketing Materials

The marketing of advanced PWR courses involves a close collaboration between the instructor and the Associate Director and, for Science Communication track courses, the Notation coordinator.

Timing

Development of marketing materials (course descriptions and posters) for advanced PWR courses takes place the summer before the start of the academic year so that when the academic year course offerings become visible on explorecourses in mid-summer, students can see all our electives at that time.  When choosing electives -- from whatever department/program -- students tend to look for courses of interest across the year and then will arrange their schedule to accommodate them.  This means that it's important to have all our elective offerings visible to students prior to when Axess opens for fall.

Actual marketing for courses begins when Axess opens for registration:

  • Fall quarter courses: September 1
  • Winter quarter courses: December 1
  • Spring quarter courses: March 1

As mentioned above, course posters, course descriptions, and marketing blurbs need to be ready for distribution by the time that Axess opens, meaning that these materials will need to be completed well in advance of the start of the quarter in which the class will be taught.

Instructor's Responsibilities

The instructor is responsible for:

  1. Producing up to three versions of a course description, that may need to be revised based on feedback from the Associate Director, Notation coordinator, and/or student focus groups.
    1. A description for the Advanced PWR webpage
    2. A brief descriptive blurb for Explorecourses
    3. A brief marketing blurb for email distribution
  2. Consulting with the Associate Director and/or Notation coordinator on the design and development of a poster
  3. Applying for WAYS accreditation as appropriate for the course focus to broaden the appeal of the course
  4. Sending information about the course to their former student networks and any other individual campus connections they might have

Associate Director / Coordinator Responsibilities

The Associate Director and/or Notation Coordinator are responsible for

  1. Creating course posters (in consultation with the instructor) and then hanging them in targeted locations
  2. Advertising the course through email to former PWR students, Student Services staff across campus, residence staff, and cultural centers
  3. Asking PWR instructors to promote the course