Careers Job Description
General Description
The Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice:
The Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice is being launched at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The goal of the Research Network is to use the power of data analytics to inform policy conversations and reform regarding the enforcement of low level offenses.
The Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice is part of the Misdemeanor Justice Project (MJP). The MJP has produced a series of reports examining trends in the enforcement of low-level offenses in New York City (and to a lesser extent New York State) including misdemeanor arrests, criminal summonses, and pedestrian stops. We have analyzed data by demographics (i.e., gender, race, and age), charges, dispositions, and sentences. These works have substantially informed criminal justice reform in New York City. The Research Network will identify six additional cities to create a network focused on similar analyses to determine local trends in the enforcement of low-level offenses and understand multi-site differences.
The Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice will strive to provide an empirical framework to inform data-driven policy initiatives at local, state, and national levels. The Research Network is fully committed to working with criminal justice practitioners to obtain accurate data, provide objective analyses, and disseminate our findings to key stakeholders in the community, renowned scholars, and policy-makers to spur a national discourse on the enforcement of low-level offenses.
The Research Network will provide funding to research partners, academic institutions, and/or not-for-profit institutes in these cities to build infrastructure that will allow them to collect and monitor local criminal justice trends including arrests practices and pretrial detention. The project will launch in July, 2016.
The Laura and John Arnold Foundation is funding the Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice for a three-year span.
Position: As a Post-Doctoral Fellow, you will work closely with Executive Director and the Principal Investigators, and other staff members to analyze and interpret quantitative findings and disseminate them via scholarly journals, policy reports, and policy briefs. You will be responsible for working with large and complex datasets. The Post-Doctoral Fellow will also help manage ongoing research analyses that employ diverse research methods and help with the development of the Research Network.
Other Duties
Responsibilities
- Aids in quantitative data collection, analysis, and reporting for rigorous evaluations of local and state data;
- Aids in identifying, developing and implementing ideas for new research and advancing existing projects at the intersection of criminal justice and policy;
- Works collaboratively with the Research Network staff members and data partners;
- Aids in preparing and delivering presentations and reports to board members, data partners, and stakeholders;
- Consults with other researchers and authorities in the field as appropriate;
- Assists in planning meetings, conferences, web-based communication etc.;
- Maintains confidentiality as required by the project or as directed by supervisors;
- Follows protocols for gathering quantitative data, coding data or information, constructing data bases using specified technology, analyzing data, maintaining data security, and archiving data as needed;
- Keeps accurate, well-organized records;
Performs the duties of lower level positions as needed; performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Core Competencies
- Intellectual strength in a field of knowledge, or specialty, pertinent to the research area, as evidenced in areas of study, teaching, publication and/or research background; knowledge of cutting-edge research in the field;
- Ability to comprehend and act on assignments of varying complexity;
- Ability to handle multiple assignments;
- Ability to work on a team as well as independently;
- Ability to operate in the computer/statistical environment of the research project;
- Ability to author or co-author reports of substantial complexity; when assigned,
- Ability to organize and participate in colloquia, symposia, presentations of reports, demonstrations, performances, etc. consistent with the scope and nature of the project and the requirements of the sponsor;
- Ability to exercise intellectual leadership in anticipating and resolving research issues;
- Ability to communicate effectively with and convey complex concepts, intricate processes, and sophisticated statistical findings to other researchers, supervisors, students, sponsors, administrators, and, when appropriate, the public;
- Knowledge of policies regarding intellectual property, use of facilities and equipment, allocation of time and materials to project costs, and utilization of IT resources;
- Knowledge of protocols for safe conduct of research, including the study of human subjects and establishment of safety reporting procedures.
Ideal Qualifications of the Post-Doctoral Student
- A PhD with advanced skills in quantitative research methods, using and performing descriptive and multivariate data analyses;
- Familiarity with the management of datasets and presentation of data;
- Familiarity with the use of statistical analysis software, including ArcGIS, R, SAS, Stata, SPSS, and/or Excel;
- Excellent written and oral communication skills for research and non-research audiences;
- Experience with report and manuscript writing.
RFCUNY Benefits
RFCUNY Employee Benefits and AccrualsAbout the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) was established as a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York in 1963. RFCUNY supports CUNY faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external support (pre-award) from government and private sponsors and is responsible for the administration of all such funded programs (post-award).
RFCUNY stands between CUNY’s principal investigators (PIs) and the sponsors who support them and strives to fulfill its essential responsibilities to both groups. Working closely with individual PIs and Grants Officers on the campuses, RFCUNY oversees employment, accounting, audit, reporting, purchasing, and special responsibilities that include management of a planned giving program; liaison with governmental agencies and foundations; negotiation of agreements; facility construction and renovation; protection and commercialization of intellectual property; and compliance with applicable standards in research involving human subjects, animal care, environmental and radiological safety, and conflicts of interest.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Key Features
Misdemeanor Justice Project
Full Time
Depends on Qualifications
Jul 15, 2016 (Or Until Filled)