Quinnipiac alumna finds her place at Polling Institute

In order to keep a highly regarded poll like the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute running, you need dedicated people to conduct the polls. To get these people to remain dedicated, you need a good manager. This is where Quinnipiac alumna Maria Quintin comes in.
Quintin, 24, a resident of North Haven, is the manager of interview operations at the Polling Institute. She is a 2000 graduate of Quinnipiac, who double majored in mass communications and English. She has been in her current position since July 2002.
At the Polling Institute, Quintin manages a staff of 140 interviewers, including students from both Quinnipiac and other schools in the area, people who work at the institute as a second job and retired people. Students are not required to have work-study as part of their financial aid package to work at the institute.
In addition to managing the staff, Quintin is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the poll.
“I’m not on the glamorous side of the poll,” she said, meaning that she is not involved with the writing of press releases that publicize the results of the polls.
However, Quintin does feel she benefits greatly from her position.
“I get to see the process of producing a poll, from the initial computer questioning to the final press release,” she said.
Prior to working for the poll, Quintin was a writer and editor for Wire Journal International, a trade magazine located in Guilford, Conn. She worked there for a year, but left in June 2002.
“I got tired of writing about the wires all the time. I needed something different,” she said.
Before her job at the magazine, Quintin worked at the Shoreline Times in Guilford.
She said she is happy in her current position and has specific hopes for the future.
“I want to become more familiar with how the actual questions are asked and why they are asked,” she said.

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