Graduate Assistant Communications

Position Summary:The Graduate Assistant (GA) for the Community News Lab supports the growth and day-to-day operations of the lab through editorial leadership community engagement partnership coordination and audience development. This position plays a key role in advancing the labs mission to produce meaningful community-centered journalism while strengthening collaborations among students faculty media partners and community organizations.

Primary Responsibilities

Editorial Support & Story Development

• Assist in overseeing story development by helping generate refine and track story ideas aligned with the mission of the Community News Lab.
• Work with student journalists on pitching developing and advancing multimedia reporting projects.
• Provide editorial support through content review feedback and copyediting to help prepare stories for publication.
• Support quality control and editorial workflows for written audio video and digital content.

Media Partnership Liaison

• Serve as a liaison between the Community News Lab and media partners particularly BCTV and The Alvernian.
• Coordinate processes for placing student-produced content on The Alvernian and other partner platforms.
• Help maintain communication with partners regarding story opportunities publishing timelines and collaborative initiatives.
• Support development of expanded media partnerships and cross-platform content opportunities.

Community Partnerships & Engagement

• Assist with cultivating and maintaining relationships with community partners especially organizations in the arts and culture sector.
• Help communicate with community partners to identify story opportunities collaborative projects and engagement initiatives.
• Support partnerships with nonprofits local organizations media outlets and university departments that advance the labs mission.
• Represent the Community News Lab as appropriate at community events public programs and partnership meetings.

Professional Development & Field Engagement

• May have opportunities to attend community events journalism workshops conferences and professional development programs related to reporting engagement and media innovation.
• Support bringing insights from these experiences back to strengthen student learning and lab initiatives.

Promotion Social Media & Strategic Initiatives

• Assist with promoting the Community News Lab through social media newsletters events and outreach.
• Help build and strengthen the Community News Labs social media presence across digital platforms.
• Support the sharing and amplification of student journalism by helping feature student-produced stories multimedia work and reporting projects on CNL social channels and partner platforms.
• Contribute ideas for growing audience engagement and showcasing the impact of student work to campus and community audiences.
• Assist with content planning and promotional strategies that elevate the labs visibility and support its long-term growth.
• Support additional initiatives related to university-community collaborations special projects and emerging opportunities.

Program Support & Administration

• Assist with organizing meetings maintaining editorial calendars and supporting lab operations.
• Help track project progress partnerships and outcomes.
• Support additional projects and emerging priorities related to the strategic development of the Community News Lab.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate student in Communication Journalism Digital Media Public Relations or related field.
• Strong writing editing organizational and digital communication skills.
• Interest in community journalism audience engagement arts and culture reporting and partnership building.
• Experience with multimedia storytelling digital publishing or social media content creation preferred.
• Ability to work collaboratively with students faculty community partners and media organizations.