How to Apply
- A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and must be attached as the first page of your resume. The letter should address your specific interest in and fit with this GSRA position. Please include your University Department/Program affiliation and year in graduate studies.
- Submit your resume and cover letter to [email protected] by February 23, 2024
Job Summary
The Rackham Graduate School Professional Development and Engagement team is seeking a Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA) to contribute to a doctoral internship research project. Applied duties include conducting extensive research on the doctoral internship landscape, evaluating data on experiential learning benefits for diverse groups, investigating career trends for doctoral students, detailing the evolution of the Rackham Doctoral Intern Fellowship Program (RDIFP), generating detailed internship participation reports, designing and executing faculty perception surveys, coding and analyzing data, and developing recommendations.
Appointment Period
Fall 2024 (This position is for one term with renewal contingent upon completion of performance expectations and available funding).
Estimated FTE
50% (20 hours per week)
Compensation
This appointment provides tuition, required fees, stipend (at the University monthly stipend rate for a 50% GSRA appointment), GradCare health insurance, and dental insurance (Option 1).
Responsibilities
- Conduct comprehensive research to provide a historical and present-day overview of the doctoral internship landscape.
- Analyze and interpret data on experiential learning and its relation to individuals of different social identities including race, gender, first-generation status, and international students.
- Conduct research on career landscape trends for doctoral students, emphasizing differences in Hum/SS versus STEM internships nationally.
- Detail the evolution, structure, and processes of the Rackham Doctoral Intern Fellowship Program (RDIFP).
- Collaborate with Rackham Institutional Research to generate detailed reports on student participation in internships, including demographic information, departments, subsequent employment, and publication records.
- Design and implement a survey to gather data on faculty perceptions and experiences with student participation in internship programs.
- Analyze the collected data.
- Develop well-researched recommendations for adapting or replicating the RDIFP based on research findings.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work to be performed and are not an exhaustive list of all associated responsibilities.
Required Qualifications
Applicants must be currently registered in a Rackham graduate program. Preference will be given to doctoral students who have reached candidacy. Students who are unsure if they are in a Rackham graduate program should check their graduate program listing at https://live-rack-rackham-cms.pantheonsite.io/programs-of-study.
- Experience with qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
- Interest in higher education, experiential learning, and career diversity.
- Ability to work collaboratively and independently.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Excellent organization skills.
- Demonstrates good attention to detail.
- Ability to handle multiple overlapping projects and tasks.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with data visualization.
- Experience working and communicating with faculty.
- Familiarity with research survey design methodology.
Expected Outcomes
The GSRA position will strengthen professional competencies in the following areas:
- It is anticipated that this project could result in 1-2 publications: an opinion piece in Inside Higher Ed and a research paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Depending on the selected student’s research interests, we are also open to the work contributing to a dissertation chapter.
- Research project design for a study examining faculty perceptions of Doctoral internships within graduate education at U-M.
- Data collection and analysis of faculty perception study.
- Written executive summary of findings for Rackham leadership.
- Best practices in graduate student success.
- Community-building in higher education environments.
- Student should be able to present a proposal/paper regarding their experience at a local/regional conference in their field.
Contact Information
Questions regarding this position may be emailed to [email protected]. Applicants may request the status of their application from the appointing unit.
Decision-Making Process
Applications will be reviewed following the posting deadline and selected candidates will be contacted for an interview. References will be contacted for finalists.
Maggie Gardner, Sr. Academic Program Manager is leading this search.
Every effort will be made to have a hiring decision by March 10, 2024.
The University of Michigan agrees to abide by the protections afforded employees with disabilities as outlined in the rules and regulations which implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Information for the Office of Institutional Equity may be found at http://hr.umich.edu/oie/contact.html and for the University Ombuds at http://www.umich.edu/~ombuds/.
U-M EEO/AA Statement
The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.