Internships
Internship Opportunities at the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC)
The IMC seeks interns and volunteers in a variety of areas throughout the year. As an all-volunteer organization, it is a great place for students and community members to get hands-on experience in grassroots organizing, non-profit management, and community building. There are many ways to get involved, and we are happy to work with professors and students to craft internships that can meet both course needs and IMC resources and opportunities. Applications are rolling, and those who are interested may contact the email address listed for each opportunity.
Internships are available in the following areas:
Community Outreach & Public Relations
Multiple-Media News Production
Community Technology & Computer Engineering
The complete list of available positions includes:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
As an all-ages venue, the IMC hosts local musicians, artists, and cultural events on a regular basis. The Live Events Intern will help the IMC build a strong base of community members who are aware of the IMC as a venue for arts and culture. Interns will:
· Help IMC staff and volunteers plan and promote upcoming events
· Operate stage lighting and sound equipment
· Staff a wide variety of events
· Coordinate with WRFU to provide live simulcast broadcasting from the stage
· Develop audio and video documentation for later rebroadcast on WRFU and UPTV
Motivated interns have the opportunity to reach out to artists and groups in the community to develop new cultural programs and events (for example, a themed lecture series, poetry slam series, or audio installation series).
For more information email shows@ucimc.org or call 217-344-8820
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
IMC Film Festival Interns
The IMC Film Festival Intern will assist the Production Group and other IMC working groups in the planning and facilitation of the annual IMC Film Fest event in February. The intern will:
· Research and contact local and regional filmmakers, find films to screen
· Develop the festival program
· Work with local graphic designers to create a promotional poster
· Publicize the event to the local community and the independent filmmaking network
For more information email production@ucimc.org or call 217-344-8820
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
IMC Fundraising and Grant Writing Interns
As a 501c3, the UCIMC is eligible for grants from foundations and state and federal granting agencies. Learn about the
different types of foundations, grants, and grant‐seeking mechanisms. Then, learn to write, edit and submit grants with the
UCIMC’s successful team of grantwriters.
Most non‐profit organizations rely upon individual support for up to 40% of their operating budget. An important
component of non‐profit sustainability comes from individual supporters. The UCIMC is currently celebrating our 10th
year as an organization. Join the 10 Year Anniversary campaign effort and learn the valuable skill of fundraising.
For more information email nicole@ucimc.org or call 217‐344‐8820
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
WRFU Fundraising Interns
The WRFU Finance Intern will work closely with the WRFU working group in the management of WRFU finances and PR. Opportunities include:
· Coordinate fund raising initiatives
· Develop PR materials
· Acquire underwriters to help cover the station’s annual operating costs
· Research and contact local businesses and organizations and establish relationships with WRFU
For more information email rfu@lists.chambana.net or call 217-344-8820
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The IMC Outreach interns will maintain the UC-IMC Visitor Center and work with Community Connections to:
· Recruit and coordinate volunteer staff to welcome visitors to the IMC
· Give tours of the space to visitors
· Maintain a display case of work by local artists and manage the sale of these items
· Develop outreach and PR material
· Develop and maintain alliances with campus and community groups with similar missions
· Assist with Membership Drive in the Spring
· Organize booths and Urbana Farmer’s Market, U of I Quad Day, and other local events
For more information email community@lists.chambana.net or call 217-344-8820
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
WRFU Outreach Interns
The WRFU Outreach Intern will research C-U communities that are currently underrepresented at WRFU and in mainstream media and develop relationships with organizations in those communities. He/she will report back to WRFU with suggestions from the community on how they could be better represented, including:
· Creation of new programming
· Inclusion of syndicated programming from other stations
For more information email rfu@lists.chambana.net or call 217-344-8820
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The IMC Media Archives Intern will work with the Public I, WRFU, Shows and Librarians working groups to develop and maintain a multimedia archive of material produced at the IMC and by IMC members. This will include:
· Digitizing materials and making them available on the web
· Archiving recordings of live performances, lectures, interviews, press conferences, radio shows, oral histories, and print publications
· Assisting the Librarians group with storage and organization of these archives
For more information email imc-librarians@ucimc.org or call 217-344-8820
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Library & Archives Interns
The Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center maintains a small collection of books, zines, and periodicals. ( http://library.ucimc.org ) Our volunteer library working group uses an open-source online catalog for these materials as well as for our institutional archives and special collections.
Internship opportunities exist for students interested in working with community/non-profit organizations, archives, special collections, cataloging, and open source library technologies and library systems.
Cataloging intern: Cataloging books, zines and other materials.
Literacy Programming intern: Develop and implement youth and young adult literacy programming such as zine readings, zine making workshops, electronic publishing.
Archives intern: Work directly with print materials in the UCIMC Archive or Barbara Vogl Collection and Archive. Activities would include inventorying and cataloging materials, storage, indexing and digitizing. Archives include audio, video and computer media as well as paper documents.
Digital library intern: work directly with open source software to improve access to all collections.
Individuals interested in this opportunity would work closely with lead members of several IMC working groups, including Tech, Production, and the Librarians group.
For more information email imc-librarians@ucimc.org or call 217-344-8820
________________________________________________________________________________________________
News Media Interns will assist with the production of news for multiple media - video, radio, print, and web. The IMC will provide training, equipment and distribution outlets. Specific opportunities will include:
· Conducting local research and interviews for stories that affect the local community
· Filming, recording, editing, and publishing these stories (on-air, online, and over public-access TV)
· Outreach to bring new volunteers into the groups
· Develop media contacts and community contacts with government, non-profit, and civic organizations to develop the news teams’ ability to be notified of breaking stories and upcoming events
For more information email production@ucimc.org or call 217-344-8820
________________________________________________________________________________________________
WRFU Production Intern: Automation
The WRFU Automation and Public Service Announcements Intern will assist the WRFU working group with the operation of the WRFU automation system. This will include:
· Scheduling syndicated and automated shows
· Adding new music and PSAs to automation
· Reaching out to local organizations to elicit PSAs to produce for air on WRFU
For more information email rfu@lists.chambana.net or call 217-344-8820
________________________________________________________________________________________________
WRFU Production Intern: The Show
The Show Intern will assist the host and producer of The Show with all aspects of producing a weekly show for radio and television broadcast (The Show is broadcast on WRFU, UPTV, UI Channel 7). This will include:
· Recording and editing video and audio
· Contacting and scheduling performers and guests
· Assisting with other aspects of production
For more information email rfu@lists.chambana.net or call 217-344-8820
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
WRFU Production Intern: IMC Podcasts
The IMC Podcast Intern will work with the various working groups of the IMC to create a weekly 5-15 minute podcast on the events, working group projects, and goings-on at the IMC. This will include:
· Regular communication with IMC working groups
· Recording and producing audio
· Making the podcast available on the IMC website and on other podcast directories
For more information email rfu@lists.chambana.net or call 217-344-8820
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Information Technology Interns
The IMC receives many donations of usable computer hardware. However, as a volunteer organization, the extent to which
IMC can use this hardware is limited by volunteer skill, time and determination. Information Technology Interns will:
· Install, configure and maintain critical networked office components such as laser printers, scanners and AV equipment
· Provide tier 1 desktop support to IMC staff
· Find new, creative uses for older, underutilized computers and peripherals
For more information email tech@ucimc.org or call 217-344-8820
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Electronic Hardware Maintenance Interns
The IMC receives many donations of electronic hardware that almost work, but not quite. Few volunteers possess the skill
necessary to analyze and repair such hardware, or even determine whether the hardware can be fixed within a reasonable
amount of time with few resources. Electronic Hardware Maintenance Interns will:
· Determine which pieces of hardware can be repaired within given time and budget constraints
· Attempt to repair hardware that could work again
· Find new, creative uses for older, underutilized pieces of electronic equipment
For more information email tech@ucimc.org or call 217-344-8820
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Above all, student interns at the IMC have the ability to be creative in their approaches to addressing community needs through IMC resources.
