Internships and English 495
So you want to earn some credits? Great! Here’s what you need to know:
- All internships are graded as “regular” courses with letter grades
- You must have completed at least 30 credit hours in order to be eligible
- Many positions can be held by more than one student
- Each position is worth 3 credits, with the exception of the Senior Managing Editor, which is worth 4 credits.
Note:
You can work with Bartleby without doing it for internship credit. But if you want to earn some credits at Bartleby, that’s certainly an option!
English majors and writing minors can count the ENGL 495 internship credit toward their elective requirement. All UMBC students can count it towards their upper-level credit requirement.
There are five types of internship opportunities:
- Staff Internship
- Copy Editing Internship
- Editorial Internship
- Management Internship
- Marketing & Public Relations Internship
Positions Available:
Staff Internship, 3 credits, available fall semester only, multiple positions available
This position is for students of any major with an interest in creative writing or art, who want to be involved in building the student creative community at UMBC and its annual journal, Bartleby.
The intern is responsible for:
- serving on a primary staff section (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or art), reviewing at least 90% of submissions there, and following the guidelines posted by the section editor
- serving on a secondary section, if needed, and reviewing 50% of submissions (or less, at the discretion of the section editor)
- attending all scheduled staff meetings, which are twice a month on Mondays during free hour (if a schedule conflict prevents this, the intern is responsible for communicating with the managing editor)
- assisting with promotion of the journal by:
- Completing at least 2 class visits
- Hanging flyers around campus at several-week intervals
- Participating in social media efforts to spread Bartleby news and updates
- assisting with planning and implementing events, such as the annual Big Prize Poetry Slam (co-sponsored with English and Homecoming Weekend), and Bartleby events such as open-mic readings and drop-in creative writing workshops.
- assisting with distributing the journal, by taking 20 or more copies of the most recent issue to locations around campus for students to take and read, completing this at several-week intervals.
- responding promptly and effectively to communications from editors and other staff
- adhering at all times to the Bartleby Statement of Philosophy, which defines staff members’ ethical responsibilities to each other and to those who submit their work to the journal.
- submitting a short written self-assessment to the faculty advisor at the end of the semester.
Although the internship credit applies only to fall semester, staff members are encouraged to continue their involvement in spring semester; journal production is finished by this time and there is less service needed, although Bartleby remains active, especially when the new issue arrives and Bartleby plans its release event.
Copy Editing Internship, 3 credits in fall semester and repeatable in spring, multiple positions available.
This position is for students who want to serve as staff members but also want to be involved in the copy editing, in which the selections for the journal are checked for errors and clarity issues. Copy editors need strong writing skills, including grammar and punctuation skills. Since much of the copy editing occurs in January, interns must have online availability to work during winter break.
The intern is responsible for:
- all of the requirements detailed above for the staff internship
- proof-reading and copy editing of a portion of the final selections for the journal, beginning in early January and typically finishing mid-to-late January; all work done online. Although each intern does not edit all the selections, interns can expect to work with a majority of the pieces
- communicating with authors regarding any proposed changes (all copy editors may need to do this, but in practice it may be handled by just one or two of the copy editors)
- assisting with further copy editing, as needed, when the book design and layout is complete in early-to-mid-February
Editorial Internship, 3 credits in fall semester and repeatable in spring, multiple positions available
This position is for students who want to serve as staff members but also take on a greater leadership role. It is recommended that editorial interns serve first as staff members for at least one semester.
The intern is responsible for:
- all of the requirements detailed above for the staff internship
- coordinating the activities of the staff for a specific section (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or art) as described above under the staff internship position, or serving as junior managing editor in a support role to the managing editor
- creating and posting guidelines at the online forum for the staff to follow in reviewing submissions
- communicating effectively with the section staff, and with the managing editor, in order to foster a healthy community and create a strong final product
- participating in final editorial decisions, as needed, with the managing editor
- taking a lead role in spring semester, with distribution of the journal, promotion, and event planning
Management Internship, 4 credits in fall and 3 credits in spring, one position available
This position is for students who want to serve as staff members but also take on the key leadership role of managing editor. It is open to students who have worked with Bartleby for at least one year.
The intern is responsible for:
- all of the requirements detailed above for the staff internship
- coordinating the work of the Bartleby staff, including:
- overseeing the journal’s production and distribution
- planning events and projects; recruiting staff
- managing budget and fund-raising
- hosting staff meetings
- performing outreach to the UMBC community and beyond, to share and promote the journal
- delegating/coordinating with editors and other staff members regarding their roles and responsibilities
- mentoring Bartleby’s future leaders, such as the junior managing editor
- communicating effectively with the staff, editors, designer, and faculty advisor in order to foster a healthy community and create a strong final product.
Design your own position: Contact our faculty advisor, Tanya Olson, with a proposal for a position you want to hold!
In order to receive internship credit for their work completed at Bartleby, the student must sign and submit the internship agreement form prior to beginning their tenure with Bartleby. A copy of the internship agreement form is attached below.