As a Student Titan Employment Program (STEP) intern in UW Oshkosh’s athletic department, senior journalism major Jordan Clark-Mand is learning the intricacies of sports promotion and making meaningful contributions through writing scripts, designing posters and covering events.
Name: Jordan Clark-Mand
Role: Marketing intern
Department: Athletics
Major: Journalism — Public Relations
Minor: English — Creative Writing
Year: Senior
Hometown: Waupun, Wis.
What do you do in your internship?
“My position is a catch-all for UW Oshkosh athletics marketing. I create a lot of the materials used to advertise home athletic events, such as posters, Campus Vision messages, fan competitions during the games, matches, etc. I also help write scripts for announcing sponsors and other University functions during games. Depending on what time of year it is, I help make sure the promotional schedule is set up for home football and basketball games.”
What are you currently working on?
“I am working on creating a catalog-like program that the department can use to show prospective sponsors exactly what they can sponsor, how it will look and the cost of sponsorship.”
How will the internship benefit your education?
“This internship has helped me learn more about my biggest interest, sports promotion. Journalism and public relations are competitive fields. Having successfully worked in a sports setting should help me contend for other sports-oriented positions.”
What has been your favorite part of the internship?
“I love the tasks I am given because I feel like I’m contributing. They actually serve a purpose, and it’s easy for me to see exactly how the tasks affect other promotional efforts.”
Supervisor Darryl Sims, assistant director of athletics, says …
“Jordan and other interns in the department created a corporate ‘proof of performance’ document that was completed so professionally that one of the corporations felt compelled to write letters of recommendation for the interns.”
The Student Titan Employment Program (STEP) offers students quality educational experiences while providing faculty and staff members with needed assistance in areas such as media services, student-faculty research, supplemental instruction, library assistance, instructional technology and academic computing support, and Web page development and maintenance. The program is funded through a one-time investment of $500,000. More than 110 students are funded through STEP.
Photo by See Xiong.