Summary

Job Summary

The College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder is accepting applications for a Temporary Reporter-Writer Intern. The Intern will assist with the publication, Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine.

Background on the publication: Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine was launched in 2008 with two primary purposes in mind:

to increase the visibility of the teaching, research, scholarly work, student accomplishments and other news of the college, particularly in the under-publicized areas of social sciences and the arts and humanities, and,
to assist with donor-development, which is becoming increasingly important to the university’s well-being.
Content choices: We try to publish stories that highlight novel or important research and scholarly work, best practices in teaching and human-interest stories about faculty or students. Our readership is assumed to be a general audience, not specialists in the field, but knowledgeable enough to be interested in and understand a wide range of disciplinary topics.

Story ideas are generated in several ways, including taking suggestions from faculty members or students, reviewing the abstracts of published journal articles written by our faculty or proposing ideas based on other observations.

CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder is the intellectual core of the university, conducting research, scholarship, creative work and education in more than 60 fields. Our research generates new knowledge, solving some of the world’s most critical problems!

The college leads nationally in undergraduate and graduate education in the natural sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities, bringing world-class research and scholarship to our students, both in and out of the classroom.

Responsibilities

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Range of tasks assigned during English Department internship:

Research
Reading published journal articles or book chapters
Reviewing abstracts of published journal article in an attempt to identify story ideas that might be pursued
Attending lectures, presentations or exhibitions
Preparing questions for interviews
Interviewing subjects and taking notes
Reviewing relevant documents in the public sphere as appropriate
Identifying books recently published by CU faculty for inclusion in the magazine’s “books” section
Writing
Crafting shorter articles in “inverted pyramid” style
Writing longer, more in-depth articles, using literary devices where appropriate.

Incorporating more than one “voice” into longer stories especially

Paying attention to need for longer piece to form a coherent whole

Reviewing and revising each piece of writing before submission and discussing and incorporating feedback from the editor
Editing
Reviewing and making suggested changes to text written by editor and free-lance writers.
Updates
Writing short pieces about academic awards, student accomplishments, noteworthy events etc.
Editing book blurbs to conform with AP style
Posting
Posting text from multiple sources on magazine’s web site using WordPress CMS
Assignments: Stories and other tasks (e.g., posting book notices, will be assigned by the editor. Each assignment will include a deadline. The expectation is that the deadline will be met; if circumstances, such as delays in interviews or unforeseen obstacles in background research, prevent a deadline’s being met, the expectation is that the writer will discuss this with the editor before deadline.

Regular meetings: Each intern will meet with the editor once a week at a mutually agreed-upon time to discuss story progress, new assignments, suggestions on written submissions etc.

Background research: Most stories assignments will require that the writer conduct background research. Pre-interview research is important for several reasons, including the fact that faculty are busy and should not be called upon to review information easily obtained before an interview, that each writer at the magazine represents the dean’s office, and that background research helps the writer produce a better story. Background research might include at least one and probably more than one of the following: reading and highlighting a journal article, reviewing the public record (via Google etc.) to determine other public documents or statements made by the subject of the article, searching for articles or other material in the public realm that relate to the subject of the story.

Interview requests: Interview requests should be made with minimum standards of professional decorum. In practice, this means that an interview request should be made in formal, not informal language. Faculty members should be addressed as “professor” or “doctor” until the faculty member signals that it’s OK to address them less formally.

Each interview request should clearly state your affiliation with the magazine, the topic you want to discuss and the length of time you anticipate the interview will last. If you do not know if the faculty member is familiar with Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine (some are not), it is advisable to include a sentence summarizing the publication (see above).

Each interview request should begin with a formal salutation (e.g., “Dear Professor Smith”) and end with a respectful closing, such as “Sincerely.”

Remember that, while most faculty members and students are happy to discuss their work or accomplishments, some do not like publicity, have had an unpleasant experience with another reporter and/or are simply too busy to meet with you. It’s a good practice to thank the prospective interviewee for considering your request.

Interviews: Preparation for an interview is critical to a successful interview. You do not want to ask basic questions that could be easily answered by a cursory review of an abstract or published biographical sketch. Prior to an interview, the interviewer should have a list of questions based on the background research the interviewer has done.

While having a list of questions is important, it is equally important to be willing and able to depart from a pre-set list of questions mid-interview. Remember that you are not the expert in the field; the interviewee is, and she is best able to steer the interview in the direction she feels is most relevant.

Also remember that the quality of an interview is often affected by the rapport between interviewer and interviewee. It’s a good idea to begin an interview by thanking the interview subject for her time and to make some brief small talk, which can be as simple as, “How are you today?”

Writing and editing: The form of writing you will use most often is called “inverted pyramid” style writing. This is newspaper writing, and it is called “inverted pyramid” because the most important facts are placed at the top of the story. In theory, each subsequent paragraph contains either less-important information or elaboration on the summary on the top of the story.

In some cases, as in long feature stories, we will choose not to adhere to inverted-pyramid writing, instead opting for narrative or other means of introducing the story. Regardless of how a story is begun, the reader should have a clear idea of the topic of the story within the first two sentences.

Editing is part of the writing process. Before submitting a story, a writer is expected to review, hone, polish and try to perfect a story as much as possible. This means, among other things, asking oneself if the story is clear, if it contains unanswered questions, if there are undefined terms, if it is tightly focused, if it contains no surprises for the reader and if its grammar and punctuation are correct.

Once the story is submitted to the editor, the editor will review the piece, generally making any suggested changes in track-changes mode in Word, then sending the piece back to the writer for discussion, revision and review. At that point, the writer will submit the piece to the subject or subjects of the story for review. This is done to help ensure that each piece is accurate and free from critical omissions.

Photos or other graphic illustrations: The writer will be expected to ask subjects of stories if they have any photographs or other illustrations that would help readers understand the material in the story. Additionally, the writer will be expected to ask for “mug shots” of each subject. If a subject has no photos, we can arrange for photos to be taken.

Resizing and posting images and streaming video as appropriate.

What You Should Know

This is a temporary internship.

What We Can Offer

The hourly rate for this temporary position is $19.

Benefits

Temporary positions at the University of Colorado are not benefits-eligible, however, all positions are eligible for paid sick leave .

Be Statements

Be impactful. Be creative. Be Boulder.

What We Require

A student in the College of Arts and Sciences who has been recommended by their advisor.

What You Will Need

Mastery of grammar, punctuation and modern external-relations style.
Ability to write clearly and succinctly.
Competence in fact-checking and research.
Competence in interviewing sources.

Special Instructions

To Apply, Please Submit The Following Materials

A current resume.
A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.

We may request references at a later time.

Please apply by May 11, 2026 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs.

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

University of Colorado Boulder

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