Publications Editor 26/27

Publication Editor Application 2026/2027

To apply for an editorship of the Bagpipe, Tartan, or Thorn, you must complete this application and have two people (a faculty/staff member and a Covenant student leader) complete reference forms for you. Please review the purpose statement (provided below) of your respective publication before applying.

All Editor-in-Chief positions will officially be a part of The Planted Student Leadership program.

Publication Purpose Statements:

The Bagpipe:

The purpose of The Bagpipe is to serve as the student newspaper of Covenant College and an outlet for the staff of The Bagpipe to engage in learning. As such, it should always work for the greater good of the Covenant community, broadly defined, and to support the motto of the college, "In all things Christ preeminent." The Bagpipe is obliged to serve its constituency by providing information, stimulating thought, encouraging debate, and advocating the improvement of the Covenant community. The Bagpipe can provide an experience where its staff can learn responsible Christian behavior and attempt to achieve journalistic excellence.

The Tartan:

The Tartan, the official yearbook of the Student Association of Covenant College, is an avenue for creative visual production of photography and journalism. Its publication should reveal the many faces of Covenant in order to provide an accurate accounting of each year's uniqueness. Additionally, it should seek to represent the positive aspects of the Covenant body and exemplify the purpose statement of the college: "In all things, Christ preeminent", in the manner that it is produced.

The Thorn:

The purpose of the Thorn is to give students an opportunity to use their God-given creativity through the medium of art and participate in the work of building the kingdom of God by reforming their culture. We, at Covenant College, believe that art is an important arena for Christian activity; we fully support the existence of a student magazine publishing poems, stories, essays, drawings, photographs, and other artistic works of students and of other members of the community. We believe students should learn to develop their abilities as critics and editors and support the relative autonomy of the editing and publishing of literary magazines within structures established by the student government.

Expected hours of work per week: 10-15

Work Location & Hours: usually on campus, hours vary

Expected Duties include:

• Hiring a staff of other students to produce the publication.
• Managing the staff of your publication.
• Collaborating with Student Development staff in determining publication budget and deadlines.
• Adhering to the set budget and deadlines.
• Meeting regularly with the Senate Communications Director and the Coordinator of Student Leadership.

Qualifications for Position:

• Demonstrated willingness to learn and tackle new challenges
• Demonstrated ability to work well with a team
• Experience in 2D design, writing, editing, and/or literary analysis
• Commitment to excellence

Resume skills (NACE Competencies required by employers) to be developed

• Career & Self-Development including.... The opportunity to learn good leadership habits, time management, and build your professional network.
• Communication in the form of .... Leading staff meetings, interacting with Covenant and other organizations' professional staff, and advertising the publication to the Covenant student body.
• Critical Thinking in the form of .... Setting publication budgets and deadlines, determining the theme(s) and content of the publication, and responding to different audiences and opinions.
• Global Literacy displayed by .... Consideration of a variety of viewpoints and how those perspectives impact the content of the publication.
• Leadership through... Managing the publication's staff and setting a vision for the publication.
• Professionalism by .... Being responsible for your own work and that of your staff; ultimately, being responsible for the quality of the publication.
• Teamwork, including .... Leading publication staff meetings and working with the staff to determine publication content and deadlines; participating as an active member in the Publications Committee.
• Technology .... Google Workspace, Adobe Creative Suite.

Work Habits (with alignment of Core Values)The College asks its staff members the following fundamental work habits:

• Do good work. (Service, Diligence, Faithfulness)
• Take ownership of your job. (Selflessness, Diligence, Resourcefulness, Enterprising, Creative)
• Be punctual. (Service, Diligence, Integrity, Faithfulness)
• Dress professionally and appropriately for your job. (Humility)
• Make suggestions when appropriate. (Resourcefulness, Enterprising, and Creative)
• Communicate openly and honestly. Seek to resolve differences in accordance with the scriptural patterns summarized in the Staff Manual policy on Fair Treatment as well as the Grievance and Appeals Procedure. (Integrity, Faithfulness)
• Attend chapel services at least once per week, on average. (Integrity, Faithfulness)

Competencies: Must be a Covenant student.

Work Environment: This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers and phones.

Physical Demands

Sitting: Remaining in the seated position

Lifting: Raising or lowering an object from one level to another (includes upward pulling) 25-50 lbs.

Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word to impart oral information to clients or to the public and to convey detailed spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly