Farming the Faculty: Building a dance student assistant to dance studio faculty pipeline

There are a million hard things about owning a studio, but one of the hardest things might be finding the right faculty for your studio. Verifying applicants are qualified beyond a reasonable doubt is near impossible, if you even have applicants to verify at all. Then, there’s all the follow up involved in ensuring your new hires show up on time, are prepared, knowledgeable and are a good fit for your program. Sometimes you might feel like it would be easier to just do it all yourself, but you know you are stretched thin as it is. Your livelihood is directly tied to your staff being effective or at the very least there for their classes, but the work involved in managing your staff is A LOT sometimes. You may be wondering if there is another way? If you are, this post is for you!

Since I took over ownership of my studio, all our new faculty members have been products of our studio. We “farmed” them, so to speak. We planted, nourished and grew them within the walls of our dance home and there are some BIG advantages to this student assistant to studio faculty “pipeline.”

One major advantage is that your students already understand your culture, mission and vision. They’ve lived it for many years and know how important it is to you and their dance family. Building this in new faculty members can be difficult at no fault of anyone. This deep care and understanding just takes time to build! But, if your studio culture is clear and strong, its probably ALMOST as second nature to your students as it is to you! If you just read that and thought to yourself, “I’m not so sure our studio culture is quite as clear, positive and strong as I wish it was,” you are not alone! Building and maintaining culture when large groups of people are involved is no easy feat. Stay tuned to for a blog post about improving studio culture!

Providing instruction rooted in studio culture is obviously just part of being an instructor. There are also policies and procedures that are automatic for you that are sometimes difficult to keep track of and explain to new staff. BUT your students ALREADY know how things are done, again because they’ve lived it! They know you always start Christmas choreography the first week of October. They know that you always reveal recital costumes and music the week after the Christmas show. They know dress rehearsal begins at 5 pm, but get there at 3 pm to help. They just know! And though I am sure everyone does their absolute best to communicate these expectations to new staff every year, keeping track of who knows what is tough.

Another advantage is that your parents and students probably already know and have experience with your students turned faculty. The little dancers at your studio have watched the “big girls” in awe and, in my experience, this builds excitement when their dance teacher is one of the “big girls“ they loved watching perform!

If I haven’t won you over yet, this last one may do the trick. YOU KNOW YOUR STUDENTS! You’ve probably known them for years. You know how they dance, you know their strengths and you know whether or not they would be a good fit for your faculty.

You probably also know their families. Every single student I have hired had a family that was constantly in my studio painting, constructing props, helping at dress rehearsal, running fundraisers, and rhinestoning costumes. Now that their “student” is a faculty member, guess what; THEIR FAMILY IS STILL DOING ALL THOSE THINGS! I realize that this little consultation prize is not going to always be the case at every studio, and maybe not even at mine in the years to come, BUT it is possible and achievable.

Want to give it a go? The first thing you need to do is ask yourself a few questions to give you some direction.

What does my current student assistant/assistant teacher program look like?

The first step in this faculty farming process is having a healthy student assistant/assistant teacher program. As mentioned above, I have two different programs. My student assistant program is a less intensive, volunteer based program. My assistant teacher program has the opportunity to be paid for sub hours and provides further training and evaluation. A few things you may want to do to help your program(s) along are:

1. Make it “exclusive” and offer advantages to assistants. This might be a free item from your merchandise order, a faculty headshot and bio on your website or even just a special “student assistant” bag tag for their dance bag.

2. Specifically invite students to be part of the program, especially if you think they would be great. This makes them feel special and more likely to commit to the program!

3. Give everyone a chance in your lower level assistant program. Even if you think they may not have what it takes, pair them up with another assistant and give them a shot. I can think of a couple kids I was initially unsure about that ended up being some of the best assistants I ever had.

4. Train them! Have student assistant trainings that specifically focus on student support, class routines, other responsibilities (sweeping before class, taking attendance, etc.)

5. Have a clear attendance policy and expectations and give them some responsibility/accountability. For example, my assistants are responsible for finding a substitute assistant when they will be absent.

6. Give them instant feedback (both positive and consecutive) during class. The feedback they get will help them improve their skills, which will make them more confident which will make them more effective!

7. For those dancers that are part of our assistant teacher program, I evaluate them each semester. Maybe even have them set a goal for the semester and check in on it at their evaluation. If they don’t want to be part of a process like this, then they probably aren’t a good fit for your faculty.

How do I determine who may be interested in being a faculty member?

Many dancers have no idea what life after high school will look like, even if it is right around the corner. This makes it kind of hard to determine who will be sticking around to even be available for a teaching job. Instead of stressing about what the future may hold for each dancer, I ask ALL dancers applying for the student assistant program whether or not they are interested in working toward a job as a faculty member after they graduate. This, at least, gets them thinking about it when they are 13 and 14 years old. At 15, the are eligible for the assistant teacher program that is a direct pipeline to a faculty interview. Some kids go though the assistant teacher program and become faculty. Some kids go through the assistant teacher program and move away to college with the ability to apply at a local studio wherever they end up. Other kiddos go through the program and decide teaching dance isn’t for them. At the end of the day, you are not a fortune teller (at least, I don’t think you are). As they enter new adulthood, kids change their plans often. It’s out of your control, so let that go. Your goal is to give yourself the best chance at hiring the kind of faculty you want, even if you’re not converting students every year.

Do I need to have both a student assistant program AND an assistant teacher program?

The short answer is no. You know what your studio needs and doesn’t need and having two different programs may be too many moving parts. For me, I like to involve as many kids as possible in my programs. This means that I have a lot of student assistants who LOVE assisting classes but never see themselves as a full fledged faculty member. I also want to provide the kids that do see themselves teaching dance in the future with further training and opportunities to grow their skills in theory and practice. This not only potentially makes my life easier if I hire them, but it also builds skills they can use for years to come, even if those years are not with me.

Ok, I am clear on what my programs are going to be, what now? How do I provide the training and expectations needed?

This is the hardest part of this whole process and the answer to this question will be different for everyone. An outline of my process is below. For me, the work I put into these programs has been 100% worth it, so just keep that in mind as we continue.

1. Applications open in June with company dance placements. Invitations are sent at the same time. Applications close in late July.

2. Program acceptance and class assignments come out in late July or early August.

3. All assistants participate in a one day workshop in the Summer where we discuss important dates, expectations, and a few basic student support strategies. I get assistants set up with assistant accounts on our portal so they can take attendance and we do some team building. I work really hard to empower them and let them know I believe in their skills. I remind them that we will all grow together! Assistant teachers join the faculty for our first faculty meeting that typically follows the workshop.

4. Assistant teachers continue to attend quarterly faculty meetings throughout the year, and will sometimes have a “break out” session where assistants learn about choreography theory, pedagogy or kinesiology. There are some great resources out there to provide some basic, 20 or so minute training in these areas!

5. All assistants receive feedback in class when needed. ”On the job” training is definitely the bulk of the training we provide. Additionally, assistant teachers are evaluated each semester. For us, this looks like a few expectations listed out for which an assistant teacher is rated. Its quick to do and we typically discuss results before or after classes one day.

6. At their evaluation, assistant teachers are either invited back to the program or are dismissed from the program (in extreme cases). All student assistant reapply each year.

7. Then we start all over!

Remember, your program DOES NOT have to look like mine! This is just what works for me. You don’t have to create evaluations, provide trainings or anything like that to have a successful program! What you provide should feel GOOD to you and should not be more stressful that just hiring whoever applies.

What should the process of going from assistant teacher to studio faculty member look like?

Again, this will likely look different for everyone. I don't hire anyone under the age of 18 which means the interview process for assistant teachers comes in May as members of the program are graduating high school. My interview process includes 2 30 minute trial classes of different styles and age groups followed by a sit down interview. Potential hires bring their resume and planners to the interview. By the time my assistant teachers make it to this point, I already have a pretty good idea of what classes I will be offering them and I try to schedule the trial classes accordingly.

Then, VOILA! You have a new teacher who you know and love ALREADY!

TROUBLESHOOTING

Inevitably there are going to be some ”what ifs” or outlier type situations that come up. I can anticipate some of those, but remember, there is NO universal right answer to anything involving owning a dance studio! We are all different!!

What if one of my students really wants to teach dance, but wouldn’t be a good fit?

There is no easy way to handle this one. If a kid has expressed that they want to be a faculty member and I don’t think they would be a good fit, we have probably already had a few discussions about it and they likely wouldn’t have been selected for the assistant teacher program. Another reason why having two programs is helpful. However, this is where clear expectations come into play and why having honest evaluations and conversations with them is so important. If they are determined, they will work on the areas they need to work on in order to be successful at your studio. If they just aren’t a good fit for your studio, that doesn’t stop them from applying other places equipped with the knowledge and training you provided them. Just be sure to refer to your past evaluations if you get called for a reference check!

What if I don’t have an open faculty spot but have an assistant that wants to interview and I really want to hire?

If you have made it this far, you likely have enough students to have some flexibility in scheduling classes. If I really wanted to hire someone, I would find a way to hire them for even just a couple classes. For me, I am working toward teaching less. If there is an assistant that I really want to hire, I will offload a couple of my classes to another more experienced faculty member and offload their classes to a new teacher. If you can’t make it work, then maybe it's not meant to be. However, if that’s the case, be sure you’re clear that your program doesn’t automatically end in an interview or a job!

Numbers do somewhat come into play when considering what kind of programs you are offering. In the interest of transparency and so you can visualize, I‘ll clue you in on some of my numbers. I typically have between 6 and 10 student assistants and only accept 3 assistant teachers to the program at any given time. From my assistant teacher program, I typically have an interview every 4 or so years, which have all resulted in a hire. I have also had former assistants apply years later after they move back form college! I count myself lucky that this has all worked out in my favor, but this is in large part due to my own efforts and knowledge of faculty spots I may need to fill and when they may need filled.

Sound like a lot of work? I’m not going to lie, it is. BUT waiting, biting your fingernails hoping you get the right hire is no walk in the park either! The work you do on the front end may save you a lot of lost revenue on the back end. Now, go out there and grow those fledgling teachers!

Want more information on training resources or evaluations for assistant teachers? Comment “RESOURCES” below!