King County, WA, is soliciting proposals for the services summarized below and described in detail in the RFP below.

External Validator to Support the Evaluation of the King County Pay for Success Outpatient Behavioral Health Treatment on Demand Initiative

The King County Pay for Success Outpatient Behavioral Health Treatment on Demand Initiative aims to improve timely access to outpatient behavioral health care in the publicly-funded mental health and substance abuse treatment system in King County. King County will conduct the evaluation of Treatment on Demand internally.

To support the delivery of a rigorous evaluation, the County seeks an independent, external validator to ensure that:

• The evaluation plan developed by the internal evaluator includes appropriate methodology to assess the Treatment on Demand initiative;
• The internal evaluation is adhering to the evaluation plan; and
• The results of the Treatment on Demand evaluation are reported in an unbiased way.

The external validation is expected to start in August 2017 and end in March 2019. The amount of effort expended by the external validator is not to exceed $50,000.

Please submit questions regarding this proposal, in writing only, to:
Jutta M. Joesch, PhD
King County Office of Performance, Strategy & Budget
jutta.joesch@kingcounty.gov

To read the full text of this proposal, click here.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Global Studies and Languages (GSL) section invites applications for a position in contemporary Latin American Cultural Anthropology at the tenured professor level, to start in Fall 2018 (employment begins July 1, 2018). Applicants must hold a Ph.D. and have five-years minimum of academic teaching experience at the college or university level. Preference given to candidates with greater teaching experience and clear evidence of publication and scholarly development. The teaching load is three courses per year, specifically, mid-tier and upper-level undergraduate courses in GSL (generally, two subjects per year conducted in Spanish, one in English). Native or near-native fluency in Spanish and English is required. Portuguese also desirable. Applicants should be trained in cultural anthropology with a specialization in contemporary Latin American Studies, and prepared to work in a multidisciplinary environment. Applicants must have significant scholarly work that is already published. MIT expects a highly productive and innovative research program as part of the requirements for tenure.

More information is available below.

The Center on Race and Social Problems at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work is accepting applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research and support projects emphasizing school-based psychosocial phenomena and associated interventions that promote academic achievement and mental health among adolescents of color. The initial appointment will be one year with the possibility of renewal for a second year. Scholars with interest in race and school-based phenomena with a doctorate in education, social work, psychology, sociology, or a related field are encouraged to apply.

The ideal applicant will have robust substantive knowledge of psychosocial phenomena related to African American youth development across social contexts, and a track record of publication in psychology, education, social work, or sociology journals. Applicants with advanced methodological skills in either qualitative (observations and interviewing, grounded and theory-driven analyses) or quantitative skills (HLM, SEM, growth modeling) will be considered. Experience with teaching, counseling, or student support services in schools or in youth programming is also preferred.

The fellow will receive strong mentoring with well-established scholars focused on producing high quality scholarship that lead to rigorous intervention designs. The fellow will also be supported in developing an independent research program that produces grants, conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and public dissemination of work.

More information is available below.

Rutgers University’s John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development (HCWD) and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy are recruiting a Research Professor and Director of Research and Evaluation.

We invite applications from individuals who wish to substantially contribute to state and national workforce development policy and practice through research, evaluation, data analysis and policy analysis.  The  Bloustein School and the Heldrich Center are seeking an individual who will assume senior leadership responsibilities for the development and management of sponsored research studies, designing and supervising program evaluations using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, supervising professional research and evaluation staff, and overseeing the management and governance of the New Jersey Education to Earnings Data System (NJJEEDS, including conducting and supervising research using NJEEDS data.)  NJEEDS is the state’s centralized longitudinal data system, which links administrative data from the state’s K-12 education, post-secondary, workforce development, and human service programs.

The Research Professor/Director will also to teach data analytics and data management to masters and Ph.D.-level students who are enrolled in the Bloustein School’s academic programs in planning, public policy, and public health. He or she would also serve on the dissertation committees for students who are using large data sets and advanced quantitative analytic methods.

Located in the Bloustein School, the Heldrich Center conducts research and analysis on workforce development, education, and higher education policies and programs and provides independent research-based information and technical assistance designed to inform state and national policy and practice. The Heldrich Center has a 20 year track record in evaluating workforce, education and social services programs using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods.

More information is available below.

Esteemed as the Green Heart of Pittsburgh and one of the world’s greenest public gardens, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is empowered by its mission to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants; to advance sustainability and promote human and environmental well-being through action and research; and to celebrate its historic glasshouse.

Phipps is seeking applications for a 2-year Postdoctoral Scholar in Population Biology to join the growing Research Institute at Phipps, which is focused on interdisciplinary research in the fields of ecology, human health and wellness, environmental education, science communication and outreach, and social justice.

Phipps Research Institute focuses on an integrative and multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the impact of the connections between people and their environment on human and ecological health and wellness. Phipps seeks a postdoctoral scholar to take a theoretical and empirical approach to questions at the intersection of pressing ecological issues such as air and water quality, natural resource preservation, disease transmission, and wildlife conservation and the demography of human systems. The researcher should be committed to using quantitative and/or qualitative research to address these questions. The postdoctoral scholar will be responsible for conducting original research, securing research equipment, leading data collection, analyzing data, grant writing, and assisting in presentations of the innovative studies being conducted.

Qualified candidates must have a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution, computational biology, systems biology, human ecology, public health, health policy or closely-related disciplines. Focal areas of expertise might include using multi-disciplinary approaches to address human population-oriented questions. The successful candidate must have a passion for interdisciplinary research with a demonstrated ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary research team, as well as working with children and the general public in a pleasant and courteous manner. The candidate must be proficient with computer software and data management (use of R, Python, Matlab, STATA, etc., preferred), a publication and presentation record that is commensurate with the candidate’s experience, and success obtaining extramural grants and research contracts. Teaching experience in formal and informal education is preferred.

More information is available below.