Student Multimedia Assistant

The Student Multimedia Assistant is a part-time student employee position within the Marketing and Communications department at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI). The primary role of this position is to directly assist the Video and Media Coordinator on production workflows involving professional photography and videography.

This hands-on role is structured to provide institutional studio and field experience. The assistant will be responsible for learning and utilizing the department's professional editing, asset tagging, and file organization systems. Operating as a core collaborative support member, the student will edit campus-wide footage, participate in creative shoots, gather social media assets, and help maintain KCAI's central Digital Asset Management system to ensure all public-facing media meets institutional quality standards.

Essential Functional Responsibilities:

• Media Production Assistance: Work directly with the Video and Media Coordinator and the Digital Content Coordinator to provide on-location support during photography and video shoots across campus, including studio environments, student lifestyle features, and formal portraits.
• Post-Production & Editing: Edit raw video footage and photographic assets captured from various projects, campus events, and studio sessions. Apply color correction, narrative pacing, and technical adjustments in accordance with KCAI brand guidelines.
• Quality Control & Alignment: Actively collaborate with the Video and Media Coordinator during post-production reviews, implementing creative feedback to ensure all imagery and video assets meet the aesthetic and technical standards of the college.
• Digital Asset Management (DAM): Learn, adopt, and execute KCAI’s filing, metadata-tagging, and organizational frameworks, including uploading, categorizing, and archiving digital files to ensure the central KCAI photo and media library remains updated and easily accessible.
• Social Media Content Gathering: Assist the Digital Content Coordinator in identifying, capturing, and compiling dynamic on-campus visual material designed specifically for high-engagement social platforms (including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube).
• Social Content Creation: Assist the Digital Content Coordinator with rapid-turnaround video editing, formatting, and optimization tailored specifically for social media campaign timelines.
• Logistics & Operations Support: Help coordinate film and photography gear transport, staging, and storage. Assist in maintaining project schedules to ensure production workflows cause minimal disruption to regular classroom functions and college activities.
• Other Duties: Perform other related creative and organizational duties as assigned by the Design Director or multimedia staff.

Knowledge, Skills, and Qualifications:

• Student Status: Must be a currently enrolled student at the Kansas City Art Institute in good academic standing.
• Technical Foundations: Basic to intermediate proficiency in video production, videography, and digital editing workflows.
• Photography Aptitude: Familiarity with lifestyle and/or studio photography, camera operation, and digital photo editing methods.
• Software Knowledge: Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite (specifically Premiere Pro, Lightroom, and Photoshop) is highly preferred, along with an eagerness to master advanced professional asset management software.
• Organizational Skills: Exceptional attention to detail and an appreciation for organization, file structures, and library maintenance.
• Collaboration & Communication: Ability to operate effectively as an active, communicative member of a fast-paced creative team; capable of managing time to balance academic deadlines with production shifts.
• Feedback Integration: Demonstrates openness to creative direction and institutional feedback, translating critiques constructively into refined, finished media assets.

Experience/Education:

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree at KCAI.
• Demonstrated experience capturing or editing video/photo content (academic or personal projects are acceptable).

Preferred Experience/Education:

• A foundational background or major emphasis in Filmmaking, Photography
• Prior experience producing short-form video assets specifically optimized for modern social media platforms.