Humanities for Life Summer 2022: 5 Internship Choices! (Collections, Curriculum, Marketing & 2 in Exhibits)
**IMPORTANT** - This is a Humanities for Life Internship offered by a grant-funded program through the Humanities Center. It pays a $5000 stipend for each cohort intern. Find application deadlines, information, updates & details on this Informational link here. Also through the HFL website here.
About Rochester Museum & Science Center
The mission of the Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) is to inspire a better future for all through curiosity, exploration, and participation in science, culture, and the natural world. RMSC includes the Science Museum, Strasenburgh Planetarium, Cumming Nature Center, and RMSC Preschool. Offering experiences at the Museum with more than 200 interactive exhibits, the Planetarium with a 65-foot dome, and the Nature Center on 900 acres, the RMSC stimulates community interest in exploration. In addition, the more than 1.2 million RMSC collection items tell the story of the Rochester Region's past and present, including its rich history of social and technological innovation.
FIVE Internship Options:
**When applying please detail your preferred internship opportunity on your Handshake application.
- Storage Renovation Intern - Collections Department
- Education Curriculum Intern
- Summer Marketing & Communication Intern
- Changemakers Intern - Exhibits Department
- Inventor Center Development Intern - Exhibits Department
**Important! - Please submit your applications for these positions through Handshake only, not on the RMSC site.
To Apply - A resume and cover letter describing the background of applicant and how this internship will be of benefit in your current studies and career goals.
Intern Job Description for: Storage Renovation Intern - Collections Department
The Storage Renovation Project Intern will work closely with the Collections Manager and Collections Assistant to facilitate the completion of IMLS Storage Renovation Project grant deliverables by cleaning, re-housing, moving, and documenting a wide range of collections objects including household textiles, paintings, industrial technologies, and ethnographic collections. Interns will need to use Microsoft Excel and Word, access the Mimsy XG collections management database, and complete general research on objects as needed. The Storage Renovation Project Intern will gain skills in collections management practices through onsite training with staff and hands-on object handling, research, and processing.
Responsibilities
- Handle, research, and process collections objects from various collection types
- Assist in the movement of large scale collections objects across the museum building and offsite storage
- Complete inventories and documentation providing the museum with better intellectual control of the collections
Requirements and Qualifications
- The Storage Renovation Project Intern will be self-motivated, hard-working, detail-oriented, and excited about history and collections stewardship.
- Dependable, responsible, honest, and able to work independently with instruction
- Strong communication skills, organizational skills with great attention to detail
- Comfortable lifting and moving heavy objects
- Familiar with Microsoft Word, Excel, and some historical research skills
Details
- 30 hours per week; schedule must fit within M-F 8:00am - 5:00pm
- This internship position is on-site at the RMSC
Intern Job Description for: Education Curriculum Intern
The Education Curriculum Intern will be a member of the RMSC’s Education Department. The intern will work directly under the School & Teacher Programs Coordinator to assist in the development and writing of RMSC educational curriculum. The intern will become familiar with NYS Next Generation Science Standards for P-12 education, and assist in the development of educational lessons and participatory activities that supplement the classroom instruction of school groups visiting the Museum on field trips.
In addition, there will be some opportunity to work directly with children through RMSC’s Summer Curiosity Camps. This may include assisting with lesson planning, working as a Classroom Assistant, and/or filling in as a Lead Instructor as needed.
Responsibilities
- Assist in the development of educational curriculum for RMSC that meets NYS Science Learning Standards
- Development of educational content includes preparing lesson plans, researching and planning new lessons and activities, organizing materials into usable kits for lessons, writing/proofreading/editing written lesson plans as needed
- Help maintain an organized database of lesson and activity plan files in Google Drive
- Other duties as assigned by internship supervisor
Requirements & Qualifications
- Eager, open-minded, self-motivated individual with an interest in working in the education field
- Ideal candidate has at least some interest in the Museum/Cultural Institution field
- Ability to work independently or as part of a team
- Quality research and writing ability
- Interested and excited to work with kids ages 6-15
- Familiar with the Google Suite of applications (Drive, Gmail, Sheets, Docs, etc.)
Details
- 30 hours per week
- Hours will mostly fall within the M-F 9:00-5:00 window, but may include some evening, weekend, and/or holiday hours
- This internship will largely be in-person but there may be some opportunity for remote work
Intern Job Description for: Summer Marketing & Communications Intern
The Marketing department at the Rochester Museum & Science Center is looking for a talented and
ambitious marketing intern to join our team for the summer as part of a for-credit internship through
their college (we are also open to discussing non-credit internships as well). Interns will work hand in hand with the Director of Marketing and Communications Coordinator, assisting with projects and
processes that provide them exposure to all facets of marketing for the RMSC.
Throughout the summer, the intern will help develop and implement marketing campaigns, develop
content for social media and monitor engagement, support website management, develop analytics reports, write press releases, design marketing materials using Canva, and research potential audiences. Interns will attend all internal marketing meetings and some meetings with other departments or partners. Please note that exact duties may change and develop according to the interest and competencies of the intern.
Our goal is to offer a well-rounded intern experience, thus beyond the day to day responsibilities,
interns will have discovery meetings with our President & CEO, VP of Advancement, Director of
Finance, and Ad Agency Account Director. Each meeting will offer a fresh perspective on the inner
workings of the organization. Additionally, interns will have experiences at each RMSC facility
including, the Museum & Science Center (and the RMSC Collection), the Strasenburgh Planetarium,
and the Cumming Nature Center. At the end of the internship, each intern will have acquired
marketing skills that will prepare them for any marketing-related work environment.
Responsibilities:
- Monitor social media platforms and manage comments/messages as needed.
- Develop/implement social media content that entertains and educates the community and drives engagement. Development of content includes writing social post copy, capturing or pulling photography or video, and/or developing graphics using Canva.
- Primary social media outlets include Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
- Make timely website updates and maintain RMSC events/programs webpages (no experience with website management needed).
- Create and schedule emails via mailchimp, writing emails, pulling graphics, managing contact lists.
- Learn to use Social Pilot content manager, Joomla content management system, and Mailchimp.
- Assist in regular analytics reporting, including user and reach data for social media email, and website.
- Assist in writing press releases and other editorial content.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
- Marketing major, or related field, and a passion for marketing and communications
- Strong writing skills - correct grammar and spelling is key
- Basic understanding of marketing principles and strategies
- Interest/passion for sciences,technology, and/or history
- Familiarity with social media and developing content to engage and clearly communicate the RMSC offering to our community
- Knowledge and interest in digital marketing trends
- Interest and understanding of website user experience and desire to learn more
- Avid/eager learner and self-starter - able to meet deadlines
- Familiarity with Canva a plus
- Good sense of humor
- Video filming and editing ability a plus
- Google analytics knowledge a plus
- Experience with writing marketing content is a plus
Hours
Hours and schedule are subject to the availability of the intern, but a time commitment of 15 – 20
hours per week for the duration of the internship is preferred. After the time commitment is
determined, the Marketing team and intern will find a suitable schedule. Work schedules may include daily hours (i.e. Daily 9am to 1pm OR 1pm to 5pm) or include select days of the week (i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9am to 2pm. OR Noon to 5pm.) depending on what the intern and team feel is best to provide the best internship experience during the intern’s available time.
Start Date - May 15 (start date could be flexible depending on intern’s availability)
Intern Job Description for: Inventor Center Development Intern - Exhibits Department
The Inventor Center Development Intern will work closely with the Director of Featured Content and to support the creation of a new challenge for the RMSC’s Inventor Center gallery by working with staff and other volunteers to create new hands-on activities centered on the work of Lollypop Farms, testing the activities with RMSC audiences, documenting audience feedback about the activities, and iterating experiences based on the audience feedback. Interns will need to use Microsoft Excel and Word, and be comfortable interacting with public audiences. The Inventor Center Development intern will gain skills in facilitation, public engagement, audience research, and engineering design.
Responsibilities
- Test activity ideas for proof of concept and creatively problem-solve, as needed
- Experiment with the use of different materials/methods to determine recommended needed supplies list
- Conduct formative evaluation with RMSC audiences by test successful activities and documenting feedback.
- Provide updates on progress and make recommendations for next steps
- Requirements and Qualifications
- The Inventor Center Development Intern will be self-motivated, hard-working, detail-oriented, and excited about engaging others in learning.
- Dependable, responsible, honest, and able to work independently with instruction
- Strong communication skills, customer service, and organizational skills with great attention to detail.
- Comfortable with speaking to RMSC visitors
- Familiar with Microsoft Word and Excel
Details
- 30 hours per week; schedule must fit within M-F 8:00am - 5:00pm
- This internship position is on-site at the RMSC
Intern Job Description for: Changemakers Intern – Exhibits Department
Changemakers Intern will work closely with the Director of Featured Content to create video files that will be used with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the Changemakers exhibition.. Interns will need to use Microsoft Word, and be comfortable learning audio/video editing software. The Changemaker Development intern will gain skills in museum exhibit development through the use of audio/video editing and interpretive technologies.
Responsibilities
- Assemble various audio, video and image files into organized video files with closed-captioning.
- Optimize files for public viewing.
- Work with RMSC volunteers to implement completed video files into RFID-triggered objects.
- Requirements and Qualifications
- The Changemakers Intern will be self-motivated, hard-working, detail-oriented, and excited about regional history and informal learning.
- Dependable, responsible, honest, and able to work independently with instruction
- Strong communication skills, organizational skills with great attention to detail
- Familiar with Microsoft Word and various media files (video, image, audio)
Details
- 30 hours per week; schedule must fit within M-F 8:00am - 5:00pm
- This internship position can be remote (using their own computer), or on-site at the RMSC