Staff Applications

Students in good standing in the University Honors Program are invited to apply for the staff during the Spring semester prior to the year in which they wish to serve on the staff. Normally, those students accepted for Scribendi serve as staff members for two semesters beginning in the Fall. Students are not generally accepted for the Scribendi staff in the middle of the academic year. All staff members are required to commit to a two-semester sequence of classes associated with the Scribendi process offered through UNM's Honors Program.

The Application Process
1. Fill out the necessary Staff Application Form and submit either electronically or in person to Dr. Leslie Donovan in the University Honors Program.

2. After you have submitted your application, Dr. Donovan will contact you to set up an in-person interview.

3. Your application will be reviewed and your interview taken into consideration.

4. After your interview, you will be notified within two weeks of your interview whether or not you have been accepted into the class.

Application Deadlines
Applications are accepted until the class is full. There is no deadline, except that which is imposed by the University of New Mexico enrollment process. Applications are considered in the order in which they are received.

Staff Selection

What you should know about how staff members are chosen
Dr. Donovan and the editor for the upcoming year look at every application. They take into consideration year in school, majors, extra-curricular activities, time commitments, personalities and reasons for wanting to take the class. Preference is given to students who will be juniors or seniors during the time they wish to serve on the staff, because these students have less time to work the Scribendi experience into their college careers. In addition, Dr. Donovan and the upcoming editor do their best to select a staff composed of students from as many different majors as possible. The goal is not to have a staff of all English and Art majors, but to have a staff as diverse as possible. They also take into consideration the responsibilities and prior commitments each student maintains. Scribendi is a huge undertaking and each student must be prepared for the amount of time and energy required of this class. Last, but certainly not least, Dr. Donovan always tries to put together a staff whose personalities will mesh. Since the staff will spend a lot of time working with each other throughout the year, it is important for the staff to get along and be cohesive. Staff members may not always agree, but Dr. Donovan does her best to choose students who will learn quickly to negotiate the ups and downs of the Scribendi process.

What to expect if you decide to apply
The application process can sometimes seem like a lot of work for one class, but as explained above, it is important that the right students are chosen for the year-long process. Make sure you take your time to consider carefully your answers to each of the questions on the application. When you get to the interview Dr. Donovan will explain to the best of her ability the expectations of each staff member.

Before applying there are some important things you should know
1. This is a two-semester class. If accepted into the class you must commit to both semesters. While you will earn college credit for both semesters, be aware that only ONE semester of Scribendi will count toward the minimum number of credit hours required to graduate from the University Honors Program. The second semester will still count toward your GPA, but it will not count toward the required 24 credits of honors classes. However, the class may be petitioned to count toward major requirements or minor requirements, as well as some college requirements. Talk to your undergraduate advisor in your major and minor as well as your college advisor for more information.

2. During both semesters, each staff member will be required to work a minimum of eight hours most weeks on Scribendi-related tasks. To this end, staff members are required to fill out weekly work reports cataloguing what tasks they have completed for that week. The completion of this requirement is a significant portion of the grade for this class.

3. The first semester of Scribendi is spent learning about design concepts, both in layout, color usage, and font, how to copy-edit, and reading submissions. At the end of the first semester, students must complete a “Mini-Magazine,” which is essentially their proposal for what the magazine should look like. In addition, every staff member will read and consider every submission and compile a short-list of the best pieces. The short-lists are collated and every piece that makes the cut is discussed in class by the staff. By the end of the semester, a tentative list of pieces to be published in the magazine will undergo further discussion and refinement.

4. Over winter break, a portion of the staff is assigned to come up with a design concept for the magazine. They take into consideration the proposals of each staff member and develop two or more design possibilities to present to the rest of the staff by the first or second week of the spring semester. The staff then discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each design and eventually agrees on a final design for the magazine. During this time, some staff members are also assigned to work on cover design.

5. The second semester is absorbed with editing every literature piece chosen for publication, typesetting each piece into the design, making changes as necessary, and proofreading the entire magazine multiple times.

6. This only a small portion of what is required of the Scribendi staff. Some of the tasks not named above include extensive fundraising, planning for and attending conferences, advertising and promotion, and the list goes on.

7. In addition to all the work that goes into Scribendi, each staff also has a lot of fun. Because of the unique nature of this class, students often develop close relationships with each other and wind up making lifelong friends.

We encourage you to carefully consider all of the information offered here and on the rest of this website. If you are still interested in becoming a staff member (and we sincerely hope you are!), please fill out the Staff Application and submit it either electronically or in person to Dr. Leslie Donovan or to the Scribendi office. Dr. Donovan’s office can be found on the first floor of the Student Health Center Building, Room 20. The Scribendi office can also be found on the first floor of the SHC building, Room 11C.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Scribendi at scribend@unm.edu or 505-277-7407. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you soon!