By Xinhui Xu

Hey ECT students! The DMPA (Digital Media Program Assistant) role is an exciting paid part-time opportunity for you to get some hands-on experience as a graduate student. As a DMPA, you'll support faculty, organize events and comms, and help make sure everything runs smoothly in the department. It’s all about supporting your community while gaining practical skills that will set you up for success, whether you're interested in careers in higher education or the industry.

This role opens for applications every semester, so there's always a chance for you to get involved. In this article, we’ll share stories from past DMPAs to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what the role is really like. You'll get an insider’s perspective on the challenges, growth, and rewards that come with being a DMPA.

The Digital Media Program Assistant (DMPA) is responsible for supporting the Educational Communication and Technology (ECT) program through a variety of key tasks, including:

• Promotional Materials:

  • Creating and managing promotional content for internal ECT events and ECT-related activities

  • This includes digital promotions via Slack, printed materials, whiteboard updates, and the digital signage outside the ECT space

• Wireframe Newsletter:

  • Leading the development and publication of the Wireframe newsletter

  • Responsibilities include content editing, collaborating with team members, and designing the website layout

• Thesis Archiving:

  • Maintaining an archive of past and current ECT graduate theses

• ECT Student Site Maitenance:

  • Managing updates to the ECT student site, including Zoom links, event schedules, calendars, resource links, and ensuring information remains accurate and relevant

• ECT Thesis Expo Planning:

  • Organizing the annual Thesis Expo in collaboration with faculty

  • Tasks include designing promotional materials, preparing brochures, coordinating the master slide deck, and overseeing day-of logistics

• Additional Responsibilities:

  • Assisting students with questions

  • Managing shared spaces

  • Providing event support for internal ECT activities when available

We had the opportunity to conduct two interviews, one with Selene (current DMPA) and Viola (past DMPA), and another with Addie (past DMPA), to give you a clearer idea of what the role is really like. Without further ado, let's dive into the real talk...

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Selene: Hi! I'm Selene. I'm a 1st-year LTXD student, I go by she/they pronouns. I'm in the program because I'm into design and language learning, so I'm hoping to find the means to merge it.

Viola: I'm Viola, and I'm currently a 2nd-year LTXD student. I'm a UI/UX designer. I chose to come to NYU because it aligns perfectly with my professional objectives, and I think it's a great opportunity to combine design, technology, and education in an innovative way.

Addie: My name is Addison Boucher. I'm an LTXD alumni, and I am currently the program administrator for the ECT program, working on the student services team where I help with pretty much the whole student experience from start to finish.

What made you decide to apply for the DMPA role?

Viola: I applied for this position not only to connect with faculty, the program stakeholders, and the students, but also for, of course, the money. I had previous experience in a similar program, and I feel like it's a great chance to expand my skill set in project management, event planning, and design within an academic setting.

Selene: The DMPA role seemed like a good fit for me since I have experience working in higher education in previous roles. Since this is my first time outside of California (where I grew up), I think this would be a really great way to make friends. I've been pretty fortunate that I got to connect with faculty as well as someone like Addie pretty early on. 

As a DMPA, I’m in a position where people can ask me for help, and I'm able to guide them, and we can foster friendships pretty naturally. And I think it's nice to understand the behind-the-scenes of the program and get extra insight. As Viola mentioned, the pay is pretty nice due to the Graduate Student Union (not specific to NYU).

Addie: Second year of LTXD, I had just finished an internship, but I was looking for a paid internship or working on campus, because, you know, grad school is expensive. I saw this job pop up. And I was like, Oh, that's perfect. That's on campus. And it's within the program. I applied and got in, and I was in the position for about a year (June 2022 to June 2023).

I come from an education background. So I was working in classrooms working in preschools. And then before I did the DMPA job, I did an internship at this place called Penpower Beauty, which was like an EdTech beauty company. I was doing more user research and things like social media management.

What made you decide to apply for the DMPA role?

Viola: Although it's not a formal onboarding process, I think it's really structured and smooth. First, Maaike provided me with a detailed master plan a week before I officially started. It outlined all the key tasks and the projects I would be responsible for. They gave me a week or 2 to familiarize myself with necessary documents and the tools, such as Notion for project management, Canva for visuals, and also Google sites for the websites.

Throughout my time as a DMPA, we would have weekly check-in meetings which made sure everyone was aligned and allowed me to regularly update them on progress and receive feedback.

Selene: One of the things that was different for my onboarding is that not only was it my first day getting onboarded but also the day of the orientation for the semester. I'm new here, but I'm also new to this job. But I'm very fortunate that a lot of the faculty are very good about reassuring me, and they're super open to questions.

I think the onboarding process was a bit informal. There were things moving around constantly, but whatever documentation did exist, they would share with me. And I have been slowly asking questions as time progresses, like "Is this the account for this?" But again, I finally got my master key. I finally got more familiarized with certain tasks. So, for me, onboarding wasn't a linear process.

Addie: There was some stuff that we needed to work out, like the thesis archive, and the website that needed cleaning up, but overall, I felt supported. I wouldn’t say there was like a lot of documentation, like an onboarding packet. But Maaike (Professor Maaike Bouwmeester) onboarded me, and she was very hands on.

What was your favorite project or event you worked on as a DMPA?

Selene: I feel like Viola probably has a better answer than me (given that I started my role recently).

Viola: My favorite project as a DMPA was organizing the graduation EXPO. It was the opportunity for me to take a leadership position and manage the event from start to finish. I think I really enjoy being able to propose ideas. For example, I proposed a photo booth and I think someone from the past years proposed a disco night. I had to make sure all the students’ projects were ready for display, coordinate with faculty on site setup, and manage any last minute challenges such as students backing out or technical issues with the displays. It’s a rewarding experience that will improve your multitasking abilities and communication skills.

Addie: The thesis expo is really the biggest project, and probably the one I had the most fun with, especially the holiday one, because we got to decorate for the holidays. I still get excited every year when it's thesis season.

What is something about the role you wish you had known before taking it?

Selene: Something that would be nice to know prior to this role, I think, is understanding not only the workload, but the diversity in the workload. And I'm speaking on the fact that, like, I have had experience wearing multiple hats before, but I think there's a difference, at least in this particular role that I did not face in my previous role.

The faculty run on their own schedule and have their own priorities. It's important to recognize how different communication styles work in this kind of system, especially as a student in the program, like being clear with when you have to prioritize things like your homework.

Viola: Some weeks, we're extremely busy with multiple deadlines and events happening at once, while others other weeks are quieter. It's important to balance the DMPA position’s part-time workload and my academic responsibilities. I really resonate with what Selene just said.

Addie: Preparing myself for time management. 

What is one challenge you experienced as a DMPA and how did you deal with it?

Viola: Like I mentioned before, one of the big challenges is balancing the part-time responsibilities and my academics. Another thing is that you need to take the initiative. Need to like being proactive for all the projects like the projects. For example, with the Wireframe, you as an DMPA need to take the initiative to schedule meetings, and also make sure everyone involved are on track and aware of their deadlines. 

The work required me to really stay organized, flexible, and constantly communicate with stakeholders to keep everyone aligned. I think it was really helpful for improving my time management and multitasking abilities.

Selene: Time management is a big thing that you learn in this role, at least in my case. As you're explicit in sharing like, “Hey, I really don't have the capacity to do this”, the faculty are really receptive and they appreciate it when you share. The point of those weekly one on one meetings is to align, like I can't do that this week, but I will do so and so this week.

Addie: Make sure that you are very vocal about when you need time. This job comes second to academics. Academics is always number one, and always remember, that's why you're here.

When something's not working, or if you need help, don’t struggle in silence, like, if something doesn't make sense, at least with my team, I really try to communicate and be honest and be like, “Hi, I'm really struggling with this,” or, “Can you explain this to me? What's supposed to go on here?”

Please share your top tip for someone applying to be a DMPA and also the person who is going to be the next DMPA.

Viola: Be familiar with tools like Notion, Google drive, Google sites, and Canva. Take initiative in reaching out to team members and faculties. Be clear with project objectives and timelines.

Selene: Don’t be afraid to speak up if you have an idea.

Addie: If you're the type of person who can handle multiple projects at the same time, and also self-guide your work–  staying on top of tasks without getting a check-in every day– the tip I would have for people is to make sure you're that type of person. 

This job is very social. There's a lot of talking to people and working with people. So if you don't like that, or you're not the most extroverted, this might not be the position for you. Be ready for time management.

How did the DMPA role help you grow personally or professionally? 

Selene: Knowing how people work, understanding how time management works.

Viola: It helped me build stronger leadership, networking, time management, and project management skills. It pushed me to develop a proactive working style to problem solving, so that I can handle the unexpected challenges.

Addie: I would say this role helped me the most with time management. I think this role helped me learn how to make relationships with faculty and coworkers in a way that I hadn't done in a job before, because I was working in a classroom environment. As an educator in a classroom. You're the only person there, you know, teaching your 3rd grade class. It's not so much a team effort as this position was for me, and learning how to like work with all the different roles, the staff and the faculty/

The team you work with as DMPA is great. They're truly wonderful people. Because I worked with Darren, the event coordinator, so closely, when a job opened up at the ALT department for the ECT Program Administrator, he recommended me for this job. So I had a great relationship with faculty and staff. The DMPA position directly correlated with me getting this job. it wasn't officially an internship, but it's sort of like the best way to describe this.

Follow-up for Addie – now that you’ve transition to formally working in Higher-Ed administration in ECT, what are your thoughts on your current role and the space in general?

Addie: I really like the people I work with, and I like the work we do. It has meaning to me. I can see, you know, students enrolling in classes, going to classes, talking about their experience, and knowing that I was just like a small part of making the student experience better or helping students have. This experience is very rewarding to me.

The DMPA role offers a unique opportunity to build practical skills, connect with faculty and peers, and make a meaningful impact on the ECT community. If you’re interested, keep an eye out for Slack announcements, and reach out to Selene Chang (shc7973@nyu.edu) or Maaike Bouwmeester (mb262@nyu.edu) for more details on the application process and requirements. 

Don’t miss out—apply and become a part of the team that keeps ECT running smoothly behind the scenes!