Public Health Department Social Media and Promotion Intern
Job Description
Public Health Communications is a growing and very much in demand field. Students in this role will gain experience and knowledge in how to communicate what can be complicated, scientific concepts in a manner accessible to the average layperson. They will gain experience in marketing and the process of understanding consumer wants and needs in order to generate content that is relevant to their needs. FIT Interns will also learn to work with a variety of individuals, holding a variety of different roles in order to do this job effectively.
In addition to the specific content focus of the work, students will also gain experience in professional outreach and communication. Problem solving, creative thinking and professional communication are all very important skills for college students to develop and practice as they matriculate through their college experience.
There are a number of job openings now available in Public Health seeking applicants who can do this very type of work, establishing and maintaining a strong social media presence (especially among nonprofit institutions). Thus, this experience will be providing directly marketable skills that will help them find jobs after graduation.
Year 1
Responsibility/Function
- In the first year of the PH Department’s Social Media FIT Intern’s responsibilities, the work would primarily consist of assisting the Chair of the department with designing social media web posts to highlight events in the PH department. In this first semester pilot program of the Policy Lab, the FIT intern will research other schools’ social media outreach efforts and make recommendations and content for how to establish a PH social media presence.
- The FIT intern will also assist in compiling a list of events from the department (Speaker Series, talks, symposia, etc.), class research projects, faculty research efforts, and events from PH Club (Club events, initiatives and activities).
- The FIT intern will work to highlight current students, alumni and internship experiences to give a sense of the strengths of RWUPH.
- The FIT intern will work closely with the chair to get a sense of the types of media posts that are appropriate and effective at highlighting departmental initiatives.
- The FIT intern will also work with the chair to update the Public Health webpage.
- Design social media content for a variety of platforms.
- Update RWUPH’s Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram account and a Twitter feed to increase department presence and visibility in the community.
- Create content multiple times a week for social media posts. Social media to include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others that the candidate may suggest.
- Conduct brief interviews with faculty, students and alums for posting online
Year 2
Responsibility/Function
- In addition to the tasks outlined above, which will be need to be done every year/semester, the second year of participation will expand the student’s responsibilities to include potential development of social media post content pertaining to contemporary Public Health issues, under the supervision of the department chair. In doing so they will have the opportunity to understand the PH perspective on current events, and have the opportunity to learn how to create effective Public Health communications.
- This /updating of the website for the Policy Lab. They will also begin to take on more responsibilities pertaining to dissemination and outreach activities, including outreach to local stakeholders, policymakers and change agents. This outreach will require the intern to be able to articulate not only what is happing in the world, but also what Public Health could contribute to the problem/issue.
- The student will work closely with PH department members to generate this new content and may include interviews with departmental faculty.
- In their work updating and maintaining department socials, they also will work closely with faculty on student outreach activities including answering questions in social media and proposing content they feel is especially relevant to a student considering attending RWU.
- The FIT Intern will be tasked with conducting research on the types of questions students ask and the types of programs they are interested in, to help with departmental programming activities.
- Research and stay current with social media trends.
- Research and stay current with trends in PH Undergraduate applicants.
- Submit and update event calendar events on website and social media.
Year 3
Responsibility/Function
Year 3 will see the FIT Intern’s role expand to include may expand to include answering student questions about the department in admissions events, and working with the department in a more consulting type of role to generate outreach materials for admissions events. They will be able to suggest things we aren’t doing or haven’t thought of before in an effort to bring RWUPH out into the world. Because of the student’s growing expertise on what students that are applying NOW are looking for, they will be able to utilize and apply this expertise in helping us to design new outreach initiatives that articulate departmental strengths. They will also help find and train the new FIT intern who would be taking over their roles and responsibilities after they graduate, to ensure that the progress we have made is not lost.
*Students are prohibited from driving during work-study employment with the limited exception of authorized work-study driver positions.