As part of the development of a National Center on Prison Education Research & Leadership, the Senior Research Associate (SRA) will provide leadership and support for a national mixed methods longitudinal study on prison higher education. In partnership with institutional and program leaders, the SRA will support the development and planning of the study, including the development of new data collection tools, methods, and protocols for tracking the participation and outcomes of incarcerated students.

The Senior Research Associate will work under the supervision of Principal Investigators Dr.'s Erin L. Castro and Jason Taylor at the University of Utah. We strongly encourage applications from individuals directly impacted by incarceration and punishment systems.

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Salary

$70,000/yr. - $80,000

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Responsibilities

• Provide leadership for all phases of research design and planning of qualitative and quantitative research projects. This includes reviewing literature and existing research designs, developing data collection instruments and tools, piloting and validating data collection mechanisms, and grant report writing.
• Facilitate data collection instrument development, including assessing the feasibility of using existing data institutional and state data collection mechanisms, and survey development.
• Facilitate research-practice partnerships with campus administrators in institutional research, admissions, registrar units, and prison education program leadership among a group of higher education institutions.
• Support and provide leadership for project management activities, including developing and maintaining research procedures and timelines, supporting data management, communicating with stakeholders, supporting technology needs, ensuring IRB compliance and supporting technical assistance throughout the project.
• Identify high-impact practices and key student engagement metrics for the field of higher education in prison.

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Minimum Qualifications

• Knowledge of postsecondary education research and data infrastructure;
• Demonstrated commitment to and knowledge about educational equity and justice;
• Experience working on and/or managing a multi-site research project;
• Experience conducting applied social science and/or educational research, including research methodology, research design, survey techniques, program evaluation, quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis;
• Terminal degree in education, social sciences, or related field or comparable professional experience;
• Proficiency with NVivo software and experience with at least one other quantitative analysis program (e.g., STATA, SPSS);
• Expertise with Microsoft Excel;
• Strong written communication, verbal communication, and organizational skills;
• Experience coordinating communications and associated logistics on a multi-site research project.

Preferences

• Experience managing data and evaluation tools and developing data management tools;
• Advanced experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative data analysis;
• Advanced knowledge of the field of higher education.