Call for Applications: Humanities EXCEL Fellowship with Lookout Santa Cruz, Community Engagement Fellow — 2024-2025

We encourage work-study and non-work-study students to apply. This role requires work authorization.

Application Deadline: September 12, 2024

The Humanities Division and The Humanities Institute are excited to announce an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz to work with Lookout Santa Cruz.

The Humanities Experiential Career Exploration and Learning (EXCEL) Program connects Humanities majors and minors to organizations in the community for paid internships. In this cohort program, EXCEL Fellows gain practical experience and professional training while learning about positions outside of the university that build on their studies in the humanities. At the same time, community partner organizations benefit from students’ assistance and academic expertise. EXCEL Fellowships carry on the success of THI’s Public Fellows program, and they foster positive collaborations between the campus and community, demonstrating the value of a Humanities degree for a range of careers.

About Lookout Santa Cruz

Lookout Santa Cruz is the region’s largest news company and is quickly becoming the go-to news source for thousands of readers in Santa Cruz County. Our newsroom of 10 counts 140 years of collective experience, providing excellent mentoring opportunities for the fellowship applicant.

Founded by news analyst Ken Doctor, Lookout’s innovation is being watched around the country — both for its mobile-first local news product and service and for its business model, borrowed from the New York Times and scaled down.

Our digital-only, mobile-first modern media products — including across social media, newsletters, email, text alerts, forums, and events — drive our fundamental mission: to serve Santa Cruz County with a new and higher standard of news, information and community engagement.

Position Description:

Lookout Santa Cruz is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive and accurate local news and information to our community. As part of our commitment, we're looking for a passionate and detail-oriented individual to join our team as Community Engagement Fellow. This role is integral to ensuring that our free public events calendar remains the go-to entertainment guide in Santa Cruz County, while also supporting a variety of initiatives aimed at expanding community engagement and bringing our online publication in-person.

The Community Engagement Fellow will work closely with Lookout’s Community and Commerce team, contributing to our mission-driven, community-centered approach to local news. The assistant will play a key role in growing our online entertainment guide, supporting our Lookout in the Classroom initiatives, and creating engaging social media and email marketing content. This position also offers opportunities to assist with in-person events, web design, and special projects that align with your skills and interests. We’re looking for a motivated, digital-savvy individual eager to contribute to the future of local news in Santa Cruz County.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPECTATIONS

• 30% — Lead on the maintenance, development, and marketing of our free public events calendar to ensure it is the most complete and accurate entertainment guide in the area.
• 20% –Support on Lookout in the Classroom initiatives led by our Humanities EXCEL Educational Program Assistant Fellow. This includes joining classroom visits and supporting in-person engagement at local high schools, supporting the marketing and implementation of the Lookout Journalism Scholarship initiative, and developing lesson plans based off of recent stories.
• 15% –Creating social media and email newsletter marketing for Lookout events, collaborations, and various projects designed to grow Lookout’s online following.
• 15% –Facilitating in-person Lookout events and assisting with check-in, set up, clean up, and any administrative tasks.
• 10% –Supporting on web design and production of Lookout’s internal, advertising, and civic partner content (training provided).
• 10% –Specific audience development projects that match your skills and interest and support Lookout various community engagement and marketing partnership programs.

What we’re looking for in a candidate:

• You are a declared major or minor in a department in the Humanities Division and are in good academic standing. If you are currently proposed, you can declare by the end of the academic year in June. [required]
• You have work authorization. [required]
• A passion for local news and willingness to learn, try new things, and give and receive feedback.
• Strong communication skills, including written and public speaking.
• Digital and social media experience or a willingness to learn.
• Experience event planning or working with community members in an event setting.
• A strong design eye and attention to detail.
• A self-starter who appreciates an in-office work environment and can work independently, collaboratively, and proactively to identify new ways of reaching digital readers and topics of interest to a local audience.

Bonus points for:

• Published journalism experience, including online or student publications or freelance.
• Interest in or experience with planning or managing in-person events.
• Interest in finding local stories and engaging with readers online, including platforms like TikTok and Threads

Internship Term: September 2024–June 2025

Hours: 10-20 hours/week

Compensation: $20/hour

Location: In person at Lookout’s office 1523 Pacific Ave. in downtown Santa Cruz

Mentorship: You will report to Lookout’s Senior Director of Partnerships & Audience. The partner supervisor will delegate tasks and review your work, provide coaching, and help you understand what working in this field is like. You will meet to check in at least once per week

Apply By Submitting

1. Your resume
2. A short cover letter (no more than one page), answering these questions: Why are you interested in this position? How does your academic expertise and skillset prepare you for this role? What are you hoping to gain from this opportunity?

REVIEW these resume and cover letter resources to ensure you are a strong candidate!

Once the application window closes on September 12th at 11:59pm, there will be an interview process with top candidates. This job is expected to start as soon as possible in September.

APPLY NOW

Note that there are two different Fellowships at Lookout Santa Cruz this year. Information about the Editorial Fellow, Audience Engagement position is available here.

Please contact Assistant Director of Experiential Learning Kylie Rachwalski at hum-experiential-learning@ucsc.edu with any questions.

The Mellon Foundation, The Helen and Will Webster Foundation, The Humanities Institute, and the Humanities Division generously support the Humanities EXCEL Program.