Communications Intern with the Center for Transfer and Adult Students
I worked as a Student Administrative Assistant and then a Communications Intern in the Center for Transfer and Adult Students (CTAS). CTAS is an advising office at Indiana University Indianpolis (IUI) that serves transfer and adult students to help their transition to academic life at IUI. CTAS also serves as the academic advising office for the General Studies major.
Projects & Experience
Mass Communication
Over the course of my internship with The Center for Transfer and Adult Students, I managed various projects around mass communication with the student population served by the center. Below are some of the communication projects I worked on.
Canvas
Page
Newsletter
(click me to make me bigger)
Instagram
(a place to find itall)
Handouts
(click me too!)
One of the first projects I worked on was creating a Canvas page that all General Studies students could join. This acted as an online hub of information. It included things like how-to guides, appointment schedulers, information about campus resources, and more. Advisors were able to automatically invite students to join the page and include a join link in their emails. I suggested this as one of our main communication lines because student continually access Canvas for their coursework.
Another communication channel I created during this internship was a newsletter that could be sent out at the beginning of each semester. I worked with the CTAS staff to come up with sections and relevant information. I then researched, interviewed staff and students, designed, and wrote the newsletter. I created a template in Adobe so that the format could be continued after I left the internship position, but also so that it could be updated and changed over time.
The last communication channel we created was an Instagram page, with a linktree to all the above channels. This way, students had options in choosing which kind of communication best suited them for receiving information about events surrounding their education. I made sure that if you were on one channel, you would be able to find and access the others. All of this was created to be as accessible as possible to the entirety of the diverse student body of the General Studies major.
While not a communication channel, another form of communication I created was various types of handouts and flyers that could be sent digitally, but also posted around campus. This way, students had documents they could refer back to quickly for general questions.
Social Media
During my internship, I created and managed an Instagram account for The Center for Transfer and Adult Students, where I posted about the General Studies major, which was advised in the office.
I used the Instagram page to support the information that was being sent out through the Canvas page. I also used the page to engage with other departments/clubs on campus, so that General Studies students could be connected to other areas of campus life beyond their degree. I designed and captioned most posts, but would sometimes share posts from other departments to further help share information
Project Managment
Along with my own work and projects, during my internship, I assisted with a variety of projects that required me to manage data, dates, and continued communication
[ADVISOR]
Bridge To Your Future 2025: Transfer Student Enrollment
Hi, [ADVISOR]
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My name is Emily Shipman, and I am a current student intern for the Center for Transfer and Adult Students (CTAS). I am working with Janice Bankert-Countryman, Assistant Director of Student Services at CTAS, assisting with student communications and correspondence regarding Bridge to Your Future 2025: Transfer Bridge.
I am reaching out to you today to update you on students who have signed up for Bridge to Your Future 2025: Transfer Bridge. I am attaching a list below of students that you advise who have registered for this program:
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Throughout my internship, I supported various projects in the office while also working on my own. I often managed mass email campaigns to students and advisors, utilizing email templating and bulk mailing tools to effectively and efficiently send out 100+ emails at a time.
These projects often involved personal student data. In this position, I had to be FERPA certified in order to handle this information. I had to remain diligent in my tasks to make sure all communications aligned with FERPA, while also following all the proper steps when releasing or discussing information that is protected by FERPA.
Alongside email campaigns, I ran multiple call campaigns to engage with students and gain knowledge of data points that the office was working on collecting. I would script call campaigns, then record the information I learned. Often calling 20+ students a day.
The data and information collected for these projects were kept in Excel documents. As multiple people were accessing and editing these documents, I utilized Excel equations and various organizational methods, like color coding, to better organize the information for all parties invovled. I also