Research Professional - Research Coordination Generalist

Position Overview

The University of Minnesota's (UMN) Universal Inference Galaxy project seeks a candidate to fill a Research Professional 4 - Research Coordination Generalist position.

The purpose of this 5-year project is to enhance the Inference Galaxy – a web-based platform designed to improve reading comprehension of elementary students – to be fully accessible to students with disabilities and Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students. Our aim is to (a) fully integrate UDL principles and accessibility guidelines into a "Universal Inference Galaxy," and (b) develop accessible products and resources that will help educators and families effectively implement it with students.

The goal is to provide evidence that is usable and feasible to implement, improves student comprehension outcomes, and is scalable and sustainable for implementation in a variety of school‑based settings.

The research coordinator will be a 50% time, 12‑month employee of the University of Minnesota. The research coordinator will work closely with and be primarily supervised by Dr. Kristen McMaster in the Department of Educational Psychology. The appointment is an annually renewable position.

Primary duties will involve working closely with project staff to support the implementation of school-based research, including working with the project leadership, student research assistants, research staff (i.e., technology and design team), school collaborators, and experts in the field to adapt technology-based language instruction to be accessible to diverse learners in elementary schools.

Primary duties will include coordinating the needs assessments and design of Universal Inference Galaxy, site recruitment, data collection and management, data analysis, and writing of technical reports as well as peer‑reviewed articles, conference presentations, and professional development for teachers. The individual in this position will support management of the project including assisting with directing and supervising the work of multiple investigators, student research assistants, research staff, and school collaborators.

The individual will also be expected to prepare Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications and local school district applications for review of planned research. This individual will also facilitate weekly meetings for the project team for logistical planning and management, as well as help set priorities for each team to ensure task completion.

Other duties:

• Supporting the creation and management of large‑scale data sets;
• Leading and/or assisting with the preparation of research articles, reports, and grants;
• Disseminating research findings at academic conferences and journals.

This position is based on campus. Per UMN policy, work may be done remotely when appropriate and approved by your manager.

• Assist with project management, including the development and management of work plans, timelines, and resources to meet project goals;
• Participate in developing and managing intervention materials and implementation procedures;
• Ensure IRB policies are followed for all research involving human subjects. Prepare IRB applications;
• Work with school partners and schedule assessments and intervention sessions conducted in schools;
• Organize and oversee data coding and entry;
• Assist in designing, developing, implementing and monitoring effective data management systems, in order to provide reports and datasets to investigators. Ensure data integrity and quality;
• Assist the investigators with data collection and analysis and interpretation of findings;
• Problem‑solve issues that arise with respect to project management and data collection;
• Prepare progress reports to the federal agency;
• Co‑lead or lead project team meetings and events, as requested;
• Make daily operational decisions to ensure the best data collection and implementation practices are used in each participating site;
• Complete other tasks as assigned.

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of detailed research data collection and intervention implementation plans for each project goal;
• Assist in design and planning of…