Communication Specialist, Mapping Prejudice

Working Title: Communications Specialist for Mapping Prejudice
Job Classification: M&C Pro 1 Public Relations 8341PR
Department : Social Sciences Department, University of Minnesota Libraries
Supervisor: Kirsten Delegard, Project Director, Mapping Prejudice
Appointment: 75 time, two-year Civil Service position
Flexible work arrangements

Salary Minimum: $46,800

â‹Mapping Prejudice is seeking a Communications Specialist who can collaborate with our transdisciplinary team to craft and implement a consistent multi-platform media strategy that reaches a range of audiences, from community members to researchers to policy makers.

Mapping Prejudice is an award-winning research project based at the University of Minnesota Libraries. While the project builds on the strengths of one of the top research libraries in the country, it is not a conventional scholarly initiative. The team mobilizes community members to transcribe racial covenants, which were clauses that were embedded in property records to keep people who were not White from buying or occupying parcels of land. Since the team is dependent on community volunteers to document racially-restrictive deeds, storytelling has always been central to all aspects of the project. We bring community co-creators into the work by sharing maps and narratives during presentations, on our website, and through artistic and media collaborations. We use these stories to communicate our findings, which push people to think in new ways about the history of their communities and affirm the lived experiences of people who have faced structural racism.

This Communications Specialist will coordinate our myriad storytelling initiatives, devising effective strategies for conveying the importance of this work with nuance, sensitivity, and attention to detail. This will entail the creation of a wide range of narrative products on a variety of platforms (website, social media, digital e-book, print handouts, audio, video, ArcGIS Storymaps, blog posts, graphics and more). The University Libraries prioritize inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility as our guiding principles. These guiding principles should inform all parts of the Communications role. This is an ideal position for an early career professional with opportunities for mentorship and further training, although we welcome applicants with any range of experience. Mapping Prejudice welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds, especially those who have lived experience with structural racism.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Website Management (30 percent):
⢠Act as the main editor of the Mapping Prejudice website
⢠Write, edit, and produce materials for the website that communicate the research findings and methodologies of Mapping Prejudice, in collaboration with the Mapping Prejudice team.

Newsletter and social media (30 percent):
⢠Assemble, write, and disseminate the monthly Mapping Prejudice newsletter. This work includes:
⢠Supervising the work of undergraduate interns who contribute to the newsletter
⢠Identifying and writing newsletter content
⢠Assembling and editing newsletter each month
⢠Disseminating newsletter using various communications platforms (i.e., Mailchimp)
⢠Create content for social media
⢠Direct the work of undergraduate interns who are tasked with building project presence on social media platforms

Toolkit and resources (20 percent):
⢠Develop a toolkit that will serve as a comprehensive guide for groups that would like to map racial covenants in their communities. This work includes:
⢠Write narrative explanations of Mapping Prejudice methodologies for toolkit
⢠Design toolkit and package materials
⢠Produce and assemble disparate elements of toolkit. These will include: methodological overviews of technical processes and community crowdsourcing; a logic model/theory of social change; model project agreements and contracts; best practices for engaging with local governments and community members; guidelines for coordinating a co-creative covenants project; and guidance for working with community members to crowdsource racial covenants in a way that is sensitive to racial trauma; a short history and timeline of racial covenants.
⢠Gather feedback from potential users on utility of toolkit and make appropriate edits.

Community Engagement (20 percent):
⢠Document project events and community engagement work (through photographs, note taking, and conversations with participants)
⢠Assist team with tracking and responding to media inquiries
⢠Participate in community engagement activities to develop understanding of Mapping Prejudice mission and approach.
⢠Work with Mapping Prejudice team to amplify community narratives and tell stories from the map
⢠Create visual assets for presentations and resources

Collaboration, strategy, and administration (10 percent):
⢠Participate in weekly team meetings
⢠Learn project methodologies by watching and assisting project director and associate directors
⢠Ascertain best strategies for conveying project methodologies to research groups around the country and potential collaborators
⢠Make content that is accessible to a broad variety of audiences in diverse formats and on a range of platforms (website, pressbooks, visual, print handouts, posters, and more).
⢠Other duties as assigned and as appropriate to the individualâTMs background and experience.

Salary & Benefits: This is a .75 time, two-year civil service position, with the possibility of extension pending funding and other criteria. The minimal salary for this position starts at $46,800, with compensation aligned to experience. Excellent benefits including health insurance, funded retirement plans, ample vacation and sick time, tuition reimbursements, and more. This position has a primarily onsite work location designation during regular working hours, but includes opportunities for flexible and remote work.

Required Qualifications:

⢠BA/BS degree or a combination or related education and work experience to equal at least four (4) years.
⢠Experience coordinating social media content and digit media projects
⢠Demonstrate experience writing and editing organizational communications (i.e., social media, web content, print content, etc.)
⢠Excellent copywriting, editing, and proofreading skills
⢠Demonstrate ability to work effect within a team environment
⢠Excellent time management and project management skills
⢠Proven experience exercising initiative, decision-making, and self-discipline
⢠Demonstrate cultural competency and commitment to community service, social justice, or racial equality work.

Preferred Qualifications:

⢠Visual, graphic, and photographic design skills
⢠Video creation skills or the willingness to learn
⢠Interest in the history of structural racism, public history practices, and co-creative/community engaged research methodologies
⢠Familiarity with the work of Mapping Prejudice
⢠Experience with Google Analytics, search engine optimization, email marketing, video production, website content management systems
⢠Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (i.e., InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat)
⢠Ability to create graphic assets and handouts for public programming