Intern - Communications

Primary Work Location:

One Beacon Street, Boston, MA

Normal Work Schedule:

Up to 20 hours weekly M-F from 8:30 am-5:00 pm.

Job Summary:

The UMass President's Office (PO) is seeking a part-time intern to work with a fast-moving, energetic communications team over the Fall 2024 semester, with the potential to extend into the Winter. The internship is available to current UMass students and pays $17 per hour; academic credit may also be available.

The PO Communications department oversees the UMass system's marketing and communications efforts. As a PO Communications intern, you will work closely with the team across digital marketing, social media, public relations, content marketing, and more to compellingly and purposefully convey the university's achievements and narratives to critical audiences and stakeholders across the Commonwealth and the United States.

In addition, the PO Communications team works closely with the five-system campus communications teams (UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, and UMass Chan Medical School).

The communications intern will be integral to the department's daily activities and gain valuable experience and exposure to established and emerging internal and external marketing and communications practices. The communications intern will report to the Chief Communications Officer.

Essential Functions:

Social Media Marketing:

• Draft and edit copy for UMass System channels, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
• Utilize BrandWatch to submit drafted social content for review/approval.
• Ideate organic social campaigns to generate net new followers and engagement.
• Ideate and create social graphics and assets using Canva and/or Adobe software.
• Film and edit short form videos for social media
• Support and maintain an ongoing editorial calendar with planned messaging opportunities, events, and university milestones, supplemented with observations of holidays and other dates of significance.

Public Relations:

• Assist with drafting and editing various materials, including press releases, reports, student and alum testimonials, public remarks/speeches, email campaigns, and website content.
• Conduct research on key priorities and provide background to executives and communications leaders.
• Assist with posting press releases to the www.massachusetts.edu website.

Website support:

• Responsible for posting the best stories from across the UMass system onto the system's website: www.massachusetts.edu.
• Make routine content edits to various pages on the university website.
• Work with the team to identify and implement improvements to content, design, and user experience of the university's web properties.

Supporting Assets/Collateral:

• Assist with designing, developing, and managing university marketing materials, including, but not limited to, brochures, print ads, and other assets.
• Assist with team projects, including
  
  
  
  • Digital Asset Management (DAM) System: organize imagery by correctly categorizing, tagging, dating, and labeling images.
  • Competitive research: Conduct brand research based on competitors similar to UMass as needed.
  
  
  
  

Provide general administrative support to the department.

Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience):

The candidate must be a current UMass undergraduate or graduate student interested in any combination of the following fields:

• Marketing
• Communications
• Public Relations
• Journalism/English/Writing
• Political Science/Government
• Public Policy

The right candidate will have social media experience, strong writing skills, an eye for detail, and a real-world application and knowledge of social media best practices and content creation practices. Experience with creating social media graphics or short-form videos with tools such as Canva and/or Adoba is a plus.

Working Conditions:

Any offers of an internship within the President's Office is expressly conditioned upon the potential candidate consenting to and successfully completing a background review.

Additional Details:

The candidate is expected to contribute up to 20 hours weekly from 8:30 am-5:00 pm. The Boston office is open from 8:30 am-5:00 pm Monday through Friday. This internship is open to remote candidates for the Fall and Spring semesters to encourage applicants from all campuses.