General Summary:
The Post-Doctoral Research Fellow will join the UMass Boston team of a Goal Two, Institute of Education Sciences-funded study, which is a two-site study located at UMass Boston (UMB site PI: Abbey Eisenhower, UMB Collaborators: Mel Collier-Meek and Alice Carter) and the University of California Riverside (Study PI: Jan Blacher). The study’s goal is to partner with early elementary teachers to develop, implement, and test a teacher-focused program to improve general education teachers’ readiness to work with students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The resulting professional development and intervention program is aimed at improving student-teacher relationship quality and social and academic outcomes for young children with ASD.
The Post-Doctoral Research Fellow will be responsible for program management responsibilities, including but not limited to, collaborating with teachers and schools, implementing the teacher-focused program and disseminating aspects of the program. This is a one-year, grant-funded position with the possibility of renewal for an additional one-two years. Preferred start date May-Aug 2019.
Examples of Duties:
- Under the supervision of a PI and in collaboration with the other identified PIs and Co-PIs, oversee all phases of the study; assist in conducting focus groups and interviews with teachers; assist in creation of program materials and deliver the program to teachers, including providing training and performance feedback;
- Collaborate with staff across the two study sites and assist the site Principal Investigators (PIs) in supervising undergraduate and doctoral students (primarily Clinical Psychology Ph.D. students) on the program;
- Participate in weekly research team meetings and work with other staff to deliver the program;
- Engage in analysis and writing of findings, as author or co-author when substantively involved, and in sharing results with stakeholder audiences;
- The post-doc will also have the opportunity to write and publish on existing datasets;
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
PhD in School Psychology, Clinical Psychology, or Special Education, with training in developmental disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and school-based interventions, including extensive experience working closely with teachers or direct classroom experience, is required.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with focus groups or interview-based data collection, intervention development, intervention implementation, or program dissemination is preferred;
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office suite;
- Familiarity with statistical packages (e.g., SPSS, STATA)
- Ability to work as a member of a team;
- Ability to protect confidentiality of participant information;
- Ability to provide leadership to others through example and sharing of knowledge and skills;
- Ability to establish effective relationships with internal team members, teacher and parent research participants, and community members;
- Strong oral and written communication skills;
- Strong attention to detail;
- Strong organizational skills;
- Strong commitment to research ethics;
- Strong commitment to customer service.
Application Instructions:
Please apply online at https://hr.umb.edu/prospective with your resume, cover letter and list of three references.
Prospective Employees Our faculty and staff are committed to the university’s mission to serve both traditional and non-traditional student populations on our urban, public campus, located on the scenic waterfront with easy access to downtown Boston.
Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date.
Salary Range: $48,000.00 – $53,000.00
This is a non-union position.
Applications close: 15 Feb 2019 Eastern Daylight Time
Please contact Abbey Eisenhower (abbey.eisenhower@umb.edu) with any questions.