Communications and Marketing

Communications and marketing continues to be a rock-solid area of advancement. As in 2002 and 2005, professionals from this group comprise the second-largest segment of respondents; only development professionals outnumber them. Their average-salary ranking slipped to number 3, however, placing them behind development and advancement services (see fig. 7). Profes­sionals in this field saw an increase of about 6 percent in average salary between 2005 and 2008.

Survey results in 2005 listed eight top areas of responsibility in communications and marketing; this time, we list five. Figure 19 shows the average salary of these top areas of responsibility identified by respondents. Those whose top area of responsibility is overall management remain the highest paid in the discipline. Those who chose publications/periodicals writing and editing as their top area have seen average salaries increase by 15 percent since 2005. For those who selected media relations as their top area of responsibility, average salaries rose by 15 percent. Average salaries in the public relations category rose by 8 percent since 2005; in marketing, by 1 percent.

Communications and marketing managers also report a big change. In this survey, the category "I head an institutionally related foundation or alumni association" is included in the mix-not the case in 2005. The average salary for managers who head a major department and report directly to the CEO or board increased dramatically, from $77,800 in 2005 to $102,525, a difference of more than $24,000 (fig. 20).

Although the average salary for communications and marketing managers with fewer than 3 years in the field ranks second among the disciplines (to advancement services), managers in the field with more than 20 years' experience are the lowest paid across all four disciplines (fig. 21).