Type of Position: Unpaid Intern
Unit: Data, Research and Advanced Analytics
Description
The Data, Research and Advanced Analytics team at Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) streamlines data collection processes for Kentucky postsecondary campuses, provides information and action research to promote student success for KY residents, and supports policy analysis and research in the state of Kentucky.
This unpaid research internship program is designed to provide graduate level (masters and Ph.D.) students with an opportunity to work on evaluation and research projects focused on educational policy. The internship also provides valuable experience working for a Kentucky state government agency.
The research internship program goals are as follows:
- Provide research opportunities for graduate students who are pursuing a masters or Ph.D. degree from a Kentucky postsecondary institution;
- Train future policy analysts in a relevant workplace;
- Strengthen the research capacities at the KY CPE.
Benefits
The research interns are able to:
- Work with unique large-scale administrative data;
- Interact with policy and agency partners;
- Earn credits towards their graduate degree, if needed;
- Present and publish related research work.
Qualifications
- Graduate students in educational measurement, statistics, program evaluation, research methods, policy analysis, sociology, psychology, economics, computer science, or other related fields;
- Strong written and verbal communication skills;
- Ability to work collaboratively with other researchers and policy stakeholder;
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, etc.);
- Experience with applying statistical methods;
- Knowledge of using statistical software packages such as Stata, R, Python;
- Experience analyzing data from large-scale datasets with quasi-experimental research methods is a plus.
Length and Timeline for Internship
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but it’s recommended that students apply several months prior to their desired start date. Although interns may start at any time of the year as negotiated between supervisor and intern, semester start dates are preferable (summer, fall, and spring). The minimum timeframe is one semester (10 hours per week). Remote work is available for this position.
Selection Process
Viable applicants will be selected for a first (phone) and second round (via zoom) of interviews prior to being notified of their acceptance into the program. Applicants who are selected then have one week to either accept or decline the internship offer.
Application Instructions
All interested applicants must submit the following application materials in one email to cpe.news@ky.gov with the subject line, "Response to Intern Announcement":
- A cover letter describing your interest in the position, how you satisfy the desired qualification and how the position can help with your graduate program;
- A CV or resume;
- A support letter of your program advisor or the director of graduate studies from your department.
You will receive a confirmation of receipt from cpe.news@ky.gov within one to three days of sending. However, follow-up communication to set up interview will be from Grace Dai, intern coordinator for the data unit. Please make sure to check your junk email or voice mail for communications from the Council during this process.