Institute of Politics

  • Get Involved
  • Student Opportunities

Student Opportunities

The IOP aims to inspire in students an active interest in public service. Through student-led leadership development programs and workshops, young people develop the tools to become leaders, public servants and advocates.

Applications for all student leadership positions for the 2024 - 2025 academic-year are open! Apply by April 15.

Sign up for one of our upcoming info sessions!

Become a Student Leader

Student Advisory Board

The Student Advisory Board is responsible for bringing new students into the IOP, building an IOP community, and advising IOP staff and senior leadership. The time commitment is 5-10 hours a week. IOP experience and leadership preferred.

IOP House Internships

IOP house interns and grad assistants work closely with IOP staff to facilitate programming and gain experience in event production, data management, communications, facilitating civil discourse and more. Paid opportunity. 10-15 hours a week. No IOP experience necessary.

Identity-Based Leadership Cohorts

Leaders of Color organizes a yearly leadership development cohort, events focused on public service and politics, and provides community-building opportunities for students of color.

W+ organizes a yearly leadership development cohort, a yearly service cohort, events focused on public service and politics, and provides community-building opportunities for women and gender minorities.

Spectrum organizes a yearly leadership development cohort of LGBTQ+ students, hosts events focused on public service and politics, and runs several community service projects.

3-5 hours a week time commitment. No IOP experience necessary.

The Gate

The Gate, UChicago’s political newspaper, publishes long-form articles on university, local, national, and world politics.

Section Editors come up with a weekly pitch for their section, edit staff writer articles for their sections, and attend our weekly meetings.

Senior Reporters pursue long-form articles on topics of interest. Columnists (a new program at The Gate!) will write regular opinion articles on a topic of interest.

The Gate Axelrod Reporting Grant provides a student up to $1,000 to pursue a long-form reporting project over the summer of 2024.

UChiVotes Core Team

UChiVotes is UChicago’s student-run voter engagement group. If you’re interested in making sure UChicago students turn out to vote in this year’s election, apply to be on the board! 3-10 hours a week time commitment. No IOP experience necessary (a passion for voting required).

Bridge

Bridge brings volunteers into Cook County Jail and Illinois Youth Center to provide creative writing workshops and voter education for incarcerated individuals. Bridge also puts on events focused on criminal justice. 5-10 hours a week time commitment. No IOP experience necessary.

TechTeam

TechTeam works to create websites, build apps, and create digital tools for community organizations and local government. Tech Team also puts on events focused on civic tech, and provides tech workshops and opportunities to grow skills. 3-5 hours a week time commitment. No IOP or tech experience necessary.

Fellows Ambassadors

Fellows Ambassadors function as the chief liaisons for Fellows, assisting with their IOP engagements and serving as their guide to student life. In addition, it is a unique opportunity for students to benefit from mentorship from some of the most successful practitioners in politics and public service. 3-5 hours a week time commitment. No IOP experience necessary (must have attended IOP fellows seminars).

Career Ambassadors

CD Ambassadors assist with programming around professional opportunities for the student body. Ambassadors will lead career roundtables with visiting speakers and fellows and assist the CD team with putting on career workshops. Ambassadors will share their expertise with students through peer office hours. 3-5 hour a week time commitment. IOP experience (particularly with IOP internships) is preferred but not required.

IOP 24

Young people will play a pivotal role in shaping the country’s direction in the 2024 elections and beyond. The IOP 24 campaign is a unique set of opportunities to help UChicago students get involved in the months leading up to the 2024 elections.

Have Questions?

Name
Newsletter Form

Stay Informed

Our emails are the best way to keep up-to-date on all of our events and programming.

Subscribe