Legislative Fellow
Transparency
Produce evidence-based analysis about legislation
Advanced position
Legislative Fellows oversee analysis of proposed/previous legislation, handle legislative requests summitted by students, assist on research requests connected to the Legislative Branch, serve as in-house experts of the Student Senate, and manage complex analysis of ongoing Student Senate activities to make them transparent to the student body. Applicants must have a demonstrated expertise in Student Government, most likely through previous roles within the Student Government Association or the Torchlight Campus Policy Center. Applicants can expect to increase research skills through assisting on Research Branch projects, improve team and project management experience through reviewing projects from Legislative Analysts and Database Editors, and influence Torchlight content with their expertise, interests, and suggestions.
Primary Responsibilities
Compose in-depth Legislative Branch evaluations and impact assessments
Deliver Torchlight updates to Student Senate, either orally or written
Work with internal leadership to identify and inform campus issues
Assist the Director of Legislative Affairs in overseeing branch projects
Necessary Characteristics
Strong writing and critical thinking skills
Commitment to evidence-based analysis
Ability to work independently and oversee teams
Knowledgeable of current campus issues and student government procedure
Legislative Analyst
Transparency
Produce policy briefs for proposed legislation
Legislative Analysts oversee and check the Legislation Tracker maintained by Legislative Database Editors. They manage internal detailed records of legislation and supply fact-based analysis on proposed legislation to the Student Senate and general public. Legislative Analysts may be asked to evaluate conversation on legislation, either through attending Senate meetings or reading meeting minutes. They write and present Torchlight updates to the Legislative Branch, often with the guidance of a Fellow. Applicants can expect to further increase their knowledge of SGA and gain skills in project management and legislative analysis.
Primary Responsibilities
Oversee updates to the Legislative Database
Maintain internal records of pieces of legislation
Provide in-depth legislative briefs when required
Assist Legislative Fellows in any additional projects as needed
Necessary Characteristics
Familiarity with Student Senate structure
Effective written and oral communication skills
High-level analysis and critical thinking skills
Ability to perform multiple tasks accurately and efficiently under time constraints
Legislative Database Editor
Transparency
Maintain the Legislation Database with bill progress and voting records
Legislative Database Editors maintain the administrative records that comprise the Senate Legislation Tracker. The position provides first hand experience of the Student Senate legislative process and experience maintaining an accurate database of legislative records. Week to week, Database Editors update the Senate voting logs to reflect the current status of legislation. Applicants can expect to gain baseline knowledge of Student Government, develop an understanding of the Legislative Branch, and build up their excel, website management, and database entry skills.
Primary Responsibilities
Create data entries for new legislation and Senators
Update the existing Legislative Tracker
Fact-check various documents and legislation from the Legislative Branch
Provide a second set of eyes to any ongoing projects or applications
Necessary Characteristics
Accuracy and attention to detail
Willingness to become familiar with basic Senate procedure
Eager to learn and comfortable making mistakes
Policy Analyst
Accountability
Objectively evaluate and recommend policies
Policy Analysts are responsible for gathering information about proposed, ongoing, and completed campus policies and composing fact-based analyses on those policies. The incumbent will communicate with Executive Branch officials to gather up-to-date information. They will work as part of a team to reach the highest standard possible of evidence-based policy analysis. Critical thinking and decision making skills are necessary in the subjective aspects of the position, namely, authoring constructive criticism of policy execution.
Primary Responsibilities
Providing accurate, timely analysis of proposed and completed campus policy
Communicating with Executive Branch officials regarding specific policies
Monitor and analyze evolving campus issues
Furnishing the Initiative Tracker Database in these specific ways:
Metrics - Assigning objective metrics to which policy execution will be evaluated
Grade - Assigning a letter grade to the execution of a policy
Grade Explanation - Justifying why a specific grade was given for an initiative
Recommended Improvements - Steps that the administration should take to achieve an “A” grade, or other further recommended improvements
Necessary Characteristics
Strong writing and critical thinking abilities
Commitment to fact-based evaluation, even in areas of subjective judgement
Fact-Checker
Accountability
Investigate claims and produce fact-based background on issues
Fact-checkers are persistent, resourceful individuals who aren’t afraid to ask tough questions to Student Government officials. They initiate contact with elected and appointed officials and follow-up on those contacts in search of the truth. They value integrity of data and uphold the Center’s mission in seeking out strong evidence to base analysis on. The ideal candidate keeps careful notes of conversations with government members and reports to Program Analysts or other researchers who are depending on the fact-checker’s information.
Primary Responsibilities
Working collaboratively with Program Analysts to ensure all published materials are accurate and up to date
Frequent communication with Student Government officers, both written and face-to-face
Conducting background research for reports being written by Analysts and Fellows
Necessary Characteristics
Strong fact-finding and research skills
Ability to act in a professional and polite manner while seeking information that may be difficult to obtain
Research Fellow
Research
Author original research reports
Writing sample required
Research Fellows are the primary producers of research at Torchlight. They are responsible for one project at a time, overseen from start to finish. Projects may be requested by interest groups, or proactively initatied at the request of the Director of Research. Projects must contain a quantitative portion, so experience in writing for policy is recommended. Projects can be as complex or simple as the Fellow decides, ranging from simple data gathering and interpretation to advanced statistical methods.
An example of a research project is the Policy Brief authored for the FSU chapter of the NAACP on trends in enrollment by racial group.
Primary Responsibilities
Authoring an original research project pertinent to a current campus issue
Communicating with student interest groups about their requested research
Necessary Characteristics
A strong writing ability, evidenced by a writing sample
Ability to abide by deadlines set by the Director of Research or interest groups
Research Assistant
Research
Help Research Fellows conduct their duties
Research Assistants are assigned to Research Fellows and assist them in their work. They may be asked to find data online in databases, journals, and other sources, and download and process that data. They communicate with interest groups about their research requests and asist Fellows in presenting research to them.
Primary Responsibilities
Assist Research Fellows in their work
Searching for data online
Performing data cleaning and entry
Necessary Characteristics
Ability to complete work as part of a team, adhering to deadlines set by the Fellow and Director of Research
Media Content Producer
Operations
Media Content Producers work under the Media Content Coodinator to create and publish output for publication on our Instagram, Facebook, and website. Content should be an accurate representation of the original output, condensed down into bite-sized social media posts for our customer base.
Primary Responsibilities
At the direction of the Media Content Coordinator, creating social media posts based on any of our outputs
Necessary Characteristics
Proficiency with Canva, Adobe Illustrator, or any content creator of choice
Ability to accurately condense short and long outputs into eye-catching posts
Ability to complete projects in a rapid turnaround time, due to the time-sensitive nature of some outputs
Resident Senator
Consulting
As a sitting Senator, provide first-hand accounts of legislative actions
Open to sitting Senators only
Resident Senators currently serve as Student Senators and support Torchlight as consultants. They may review the content of Legislative Fellows, Analysts, and Database Editors to provide the nuanced perspective of a sitting Senator. They may also be asked to provide historical insight and recommendations to the Transparency Branch. They report directly to the Director of Legislative Affairs to ensure impartiality and may also be called upon to provide content recommendations to the Director using their internal knowledge of the Student Senate. Applicants can be expected to develop their critical thinking skills, editing capabilities, and help shape the student body’s understanding of the Student Government Association.
Primary Responsibilities
Providing advisory opinions to Legislative Fellows, Analysts, and Database Editors for on-going projects
Communicating vital details of on-going legislation and projects within the Student Senate to the Director of Legislative Affairs
Necessary Characteristics
Commitment to abide by Torchlight’s Conflict-of-Interest policy
High-level of commitment to and knowledge of the Student Senate and a desire to increase participation of the student body within the Student Government Association
Copy Editor
Operations
Uphold our editorial standards
Copy Editors uphold Torchlight's standards of style and grammar in our written output. They work with all members to proof and edit their content before final publication. These will be from short-form blurbs to full policy analyses. Experience or interest in student government is a plus, but not required. The outside perspective without student government experience is also a plus for this position. A demonstrated competency and passion for good, accurate writing is needed.
Primary Responsibilities
Proofread text and correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
Ensure verification of factual correctness of information, such as dates and statistics
Check text for style, readability, and adherence to editorial policies
Necessary Characteristics
Writing skills: Copy editors must be able to help staff write clearly and with good logic, and ensure that content has correct punctuation, grammar, and syntax
Detail-orientation: A main task of the job is to make written work error-free, and to ensure that it matches the publication's required style
Detail-orientation: A main task of the job is to make written work error-free, and to ensure that it matches the publication's required style
Interpersonal skills: Good communication and interpersonal skills help editors communicate with tact and encouragement to writers
Logistics Coordinator
Operations
Provide administrative support
The Logistics Coordinator provides vital administrative support to the Branch Directors by setting up meetings after gathering availabilities, facilitating the recruitment & onboarding process, and keeping accurate records of team information. SGA experience is not required, but communication skills and timeliness is. The Logistics Coordinator will leave the position with extensive experience in managing a 20+ person team and overseeing onboardings and trainings.
Primary Responsibilities
Facilitating and keeping accurate, up-to-date records on peoples' progress through the interview, onboarding, and training process
Setting up properly-detailed Outlook Calendar meetings
Accepting applications and communicating with potential members to coordinate their interviews and onboarding process
Maintaining the roster of active members and their responsibilities
Necessary Characteristics
Attention to detail and the ability to juggle several tasks at once while maintaining the ability to follow-up on communication
Communication skills, maintaining professionalism while communicating with potential members