Student involvement in the operations of the CBPA is essential to successful programming. Each year, a student intern(s) is hired to produce and publicize student programs and assist with clerical duties in the office. This job offers the student the opportunity to develop their organizational and community-building skills. Other employment opportunities arise with special project needs, such as hiring students as archivists and oral history recorders for the East Palo Alto Project. A student also serves as the editor for the Black Arts Quarterly.