Undergraduate Research Labs

In our clinical/community psychology lab, we conduct research projects related to social-emotional learning and character development (SECD), primarily (but not only) with urban school districts in New Jersey. We aim to engage young people in schools to take action and make positive changes in their communities. The Rutgers students who join our team will have the opportunity to  help out with three different projects (listed below), and receive course credit for their work. Please check out our website for more information about each project.

Requirements
-Fluency in English required; second language skills, especially Spanish, a plus
-Prior experience growing a social media presence on Twitter and/or Pinterest and/or Facebook (required for the Social Media Team, an asset for other teams)
-Ability to work independently and collaboratively
-Excellent writing skills
-Professionalism and attention to detail
-Must be an enrolled Rutgers student
-Commit 9 hours/ week for at least 2 semesters

Academy for SEL in Schools Evaluation Team:  Key Tasks

Purpose of the Team:  Provide support to the Academy, which provides online certificate programs for teachers and school leaders to build their competence in social-emotional learning (SEL), character development, and positive classroom and school culture and climate.
https://selinschools.org/
-Transcribe audio recordings of Focus groups/Interviews
-Proof-read transcription completed by other RAs on transcription software
-Organize data collected from surveys
-Help code interviews and focus groups
 

Social Media Team:  Key Tasks
Purpose:  Disseminate research, practice, policy, training opportunities in the areas of social-emotional and character development and school culture and climate and overall improvement, especially with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and equity, from our Lab and our collaborating partners worldwide.

-Coordinate our Lab’s social media accounts (Twitter, Pinterest, and the Lab’s newsletter, possibly Facebook)
- Assist the Lab’s partners, such as SEL4NJ, with social media outreach
-Work with Prof. Elias and the research team to brainstorm new content for social media
-Reach out to relevant organizations and schools who can help us expand our social media following

Youth Nation Team: Key Tasks
Purpose of the Team:  Youth Nation is a web site that fosters youth empowerment, civil expression, debate, and disagreement, and social action, particularly among disadvantaged youth
https://www.secdlab.org/youthnation
-Brainstorm ideas/themes for blog posts for middle schoolers in facilitating youth voice
-Write articles/blog posts
-Proofread other RAs posts
-Collaborate with the team in organizing the Youth Nation forum

Field RA Team:  Key Tasks
Purpose of the Team: Field RA’s work directly in the schools, particularly in New Brunswick, to assist their work in promoting students’ social-emotional and character development (SECD); access to a car is very important, otherwise opportunities may be limited

-Review of literature and video examples of SECD and school climate and team functioning
-Attend regular School Culture and Climate Committee (SCCC) Team meetings in assigned schools
-Take and share notes from SCCC meetings with SCCC Team meetings and Rutgers Team members
-Observe and record SECD practices and programs that occur in schools
-Assist with implementations of SECD programs in schools
-Work directly with students individually or small groups
-Evaluation of parameters of RA team functioning
-Attend supervision with graduate students as appropriate

If you are interested in applying for these positions, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., copying Prof.  Maurice Elias (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and May Yuan (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), with a resume, a description of why you are interested in the position, and the name and email address of one reference. Please list the teams in order of your preference with ‘1’ being the project you are most interested in.