posted Nov. 8, 2021

The Montana Science Olympiad office seeks a student intern for the upcoming season. Applicants must be a currently enrolled MSU student.

Job overview

The Montana Science Olympiad is one of Montana’s premiere STEM competitions for middle and high school students. It is hosted each year by the MSU Science Math Resource Center (SMRC) and serves more than 1,200 Montana student participants and teacher-coaches.

We seek a student intern who will help maintain, grow and streamline the infrastructure of Montana Science Olympiad in order to support MTSO participants at all levels. This position will also have lots of opportunities to add your own ideas! Past experience with Science Olympiad (competitor, volunteer, coach, etc.) is essential. 

Details

Hours: 5-10+ hours per week (timing is flexible, based on your schedule. Hours per week may vary but will be less in fall; more in spring, and busiest in the two months prior to the state tournament on April 15, 2022.)  

Schedule: Academic year (October through May). Projects over holiday breaks are possible if the intern is interested.

Office: Science Math Resource Center, 4th floor Reid Hall (but most work is virtual)

Salary: $12/hour

Tasks

Tasks may include (but are not limited to):

  • study Science Olympiad rules to support event supervisors
  • help answer questions from Science Olympiad coaches
  • maintain databases and list-servs of participants and coaches
  • work with SMRC to investigate starting a Science Olympiad Alumni Network (student club) at MSU
  • gather content for electronic newsletter
  • offer ideas for recruiting new teams
  • learn and assist with the Scilympiad tournament management software
  • inventory and organize supplies, t-shirts, medals, etc.
  • help recruit MSU student volunteers

Opportunities

While the majority of the intern’s tasks are administrative, this position also offers flexibility for a student who may have interest in growing a specialty area, such as 

  • Support schools in hosting invitational tournaments (Montana currently has only a state tournament)
  • Research best practices and ideas from other state Science Olympiad programs
  • Write profiles about teams, coaches and participants
  • Recommend trial events to consider
  • Build a mentoring program that pairs experienced and new coaches
  • What are your ideas??

Required skills/experiences

  • Experience with Science Olympiad as a competitor, volunteer, etc.
  • Excellent organizational and time management skills
  • Ability to work with minimal supervision in a mostly virtual environment
  • Good written and oral communications skills
  • Basic office software such as Word, Powerpoint, Google Docs and forms, etc.

How to apply

Please send an email to [email protected] and describe what excites you about this opportunity and why you are a good fit for the position.

Be sure to address as many of the Required Skills as you can, including how you have been involved in Science Olympiad in Montana or another state.

Please also send the contact info for at least two people who can serve as a reference for you. 

If you have questions about this project, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

Deadline

The deadline to apply is Nov. 23, 2021 or until the position is filled.