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Category: CCRI Staff News

Student Cohort Coordinator Internship

Internship Description

About CCRI

CCRI conducts research on equitable college access, progression and transfer, degree completion, and employment in living-wage careers for underserved students and diverse learner populations throughout the United States. This position will primarily focus on the STEM Transfer Partnerships initiative, which fosters collaboration between 2-year and 4-year institutions to improve STEM transfer student success, particularly for low-income students. By creating strategic partnerships and a community of practice (CoP) for members of partnership teams supported by CCRI’s research and expert coaching, the project aims to identify and dismantle institutional barriers, ultimately driving systemic change and sharing effective practices statewide.

Position Summary

This internship offers a unique opportunity for a highly motivated and organized college student to join a higher education research team focused on educational equity and to serve as a Student Cohort Coordinator for a STEM Transfer Partnership CoP that includes undergraduate student participants across multiple institutions. The position provides hands-on experience in leadership, event coordination, and community building within a STEM context. The intern will have the opportunity to develop crucial professional skills in communication, project management, and organization. The person in this position will gain experience with virtual teamwork, a student success program and building professional networks, maintaining outreach and communications platforms, and administrative support while contributing to a vital initiative supporting STEM transfer students.

Responsibilities:

  • Student Cohort Coordination:
    • Serve as the primary point of contact for student participants from roughly sixteen 2-year and 4-year institutions in Washington in the STEM Transfer Partnership cohort.
    • Develop and disseminate communication materials, including newsletter stories, emails, and social media posts.
    • Foster a sense of community and collaboration among student cohort members.
    • Collect and track student feedback to improve cohort activities.
    • Assist with the planning and execution of cohort-related projects and initiatives.
    • Maintain attendance and participant records.
  • Workflow Management & Website Maintenance:
    • Support project efficiency and communication by assisting with the maintenance of workflow management tools (e.g., ClickUp) and the tracking of project tasks and timelines.
    • Contribute to the program’s online presence by updating and maintaining the CoP’s communications and document repository platform and the website (WordPress) with accurate and engaging content.
  • Research assistance:
    • Assist with research processes as requested.

Essential Skills:

  • Currently enrolled as a student at University of Washington Seattle.
  • Strong organizational and time-management skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Proficiency with Canva and creating short videos.
  • Proficiency in Google Suite and Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
  • Familiarity with social media platforms.
  • Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
  • Interest in STEM education and student success.
  • Interest in event planning.

Desired Qualifications:

  • Experience working with diverse student populations.
  • Experience with workflow management system ClickUp.
  • Experience with website content management system, WordPress.
  • Experience planning events or assisting with event coordination.
  • Experience being part of a community of practice or leading a group.
  • Transfer student knowledge or experience
  • Interested in educational research or educational equity

Important Position Information

Position Details

Job title: Student Cohort Coordinator
Position type: Internship
Work-Study program: No

Location requirements

Location type: Remote
Remote work requirements: Remote employees must be based within the US

Time Requirements

Application open and close dates: 7/1/25 – 9/30/25
Schedule: Part time
Hours: 10 hours per week
Employment duration: Temporary
Estimated start & end dates: 8/11/2025 (or when filled) – 6/15/2026

Compensation

Pay range: $20-$30/hr, DOE

Qualifications

Requirements: (1) This job requires US work authorization and (2) to be enrolled as a UW Seattle campus student
Desired school year: Junior, Senior or graduate student
UW Seattle campus transfer students are encouraged to apply

CCRI is Hiring a New Research Scientist

Apply here!

Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) shapes, advances and stewards a world-class undergraduate academic experience for students at the University of Washington. Staff, faculty and students in UAA deepen and enrich the learning experience for all undergraduates, recognizing and supporting the unique learning path of each individual student and the commitment of each academic program to excellence in learning and teaching.

Within UAA, the Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) is a research group committed to generating actionable, timely research that supports more equitable college access and completion, critically informed student support, and improved educational pathways from access to transfer, graduation, and into the workforce. Our goal is to leverage this research to effect change in postsecondary education at all levels.

CCRI has an outstanding opportunity for a .80 FTE Research Scientist to join our team! The position has the possibility to be up to 100% remote or hybrid.

The Research Scientist will support multiple CCRI projects, including a Rural Mentorship grant which examines mentorship opportunities for low-income students at rural community colleges across the country, STEM Transfer Partnership, multiple evaluation projects, and they will also be pivotal in applying for and leading future research projects.

The Research Scientist will be responsible for collecting, coding, and analyzing qualitative data, developing evaluation tools, managing data, creating surveys, evaluating survey data; draft, develop and assist with writing scientific manuscripts and reports; prepare and present at scientific and stakeholder meetings; prepare and manage Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements; assist in grant application and paperwork process.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

  • 25% – Co-lead the qualitative data collection, create and analyze surveys, coding and analysis, data management, as well as writing up data summaries on several projects.
  • 25% – Co-author briefs and reports that summarize major findings and author papers and presentations and other dissemination activities.
  • 20% – Assist in grants administration, including annual reports, oversight of project deliverables, Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements, and future grant applications.
  • 15% – Participate in team meetings, strategic planning, equity initiatives, and future grant needs.
  • 15% – Attend conferences and support convenings and team facilitated events.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

  • Master’s degree in education, social sciences, or related field.
  • Minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience in education research and experimental design.
  • Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Working knowledge of practices, policies, and issues related to vertical transfer.
  • Experience with grant writing and International Review Board (IRB) applications.
  • Experience creating, collecting, analyzing survey data, and writing up results.
  • Experience in design, implementation, and analysis of evaluation protocols.
  • Demonstrated ability to communicate complex scientific information in clear and concise language appropriate for diverse audiences (e.g., scientists, policy makers, university students).
  • Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
  • Ability to multi-task and work collaboratively.
  • Excellent written and oral communication and facilitation skills.
  • Experience successfully working as part of a team.
  • Applicants must have a demonstrated record of research productivity in the form of relevant publications, conference presentations and experience with research related grant funding.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • A doctoral degree focused on higher education.
  • Four or more years of relevant work experience in education research and experimental design.
  • Knowledge and experience with community college transfer, transfer partnerships, STEM education, equity and diversity in higher education.
  • Experience with UW grant processing systems and IRB systems.
  • Experience in working with practitioners in co-creating and building evaluation protocols.
  • Strategic and critical thinker.
  • Experience in both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Application Process: The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your “My Jobs” page to take when you are access ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

Apply through UW Hires, https://uwhires.admin.washington.edu/eng/candidates/default.cfm?szCategory=jobprofile&szOrderID=230428&szCandidateID=0&szSearchWords=&szReturnToSearch=1 Salary DOE

Narrowing the Education Gap with Lia Wetzstein, CCRI

UW Today shares Undergraduate Academic Affairs’ recent interview with CCRI director Lia Wetzstein to discuss critical details of the importance of transfer. Having recently attended the U.S. Department of Education’s first ever National Summit on Transfer, Lia examines the paramount issues surrounding transfer between two- and four- year institutions and their impacts. Lia also details the work CCRI contributes to building the necessary bridges for students across pathways, centering equity and student support within the processes of transfer for continually building student success. 

 

Read more on UAA’s Q&A with Lia Wetzstein on how community college transfer students help narrow the education gap

Photo of attendees of Raise the Bar Summit.

New Data Dashboard from the Transfer Summit

Last week CCRI Lia Wetzstein, joined fellow delegates selected to represent Washington state at the Raise the Bar Transfer Summit where over 200 higher education professionals are gathered. 

 

This summit brings together state, institution, and other leaders in the field and is part of the Raise the Bar: Attaining College Excellence & Equity series: Tackling Transfer to Increase Access, Improve Completion, and Prepare Today’s Workforce.

 

At the summit, the federal government released new data. Since then, CCRC (Community College Research Center) an East Coast-based research organization, has turned it into a data dashboard and we want to share it with all of you.

 

https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/easyblog/new-federal-transfer-data-which-colleges-are-serving-community-colleges-transfers-best.html

New Research Scientist Mayra Nunez Martinez

It is with great pleasure that we introduce our newest research scientist, Mayra Nunez Martinez whose research centers on reimagining and transforming postsecondary institutions to better serve historically underserved students and communities. Informed from both personal and professional experiences her research is accountable to examining the racial and spatial inequities that rural Latine/x students face in higher education. She brings a unique lens to CCRI’s work, particularly for our grant on Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success funded by Ascendium Education Group. She understands that it is critical to better support these communities, as rural communities are often excluded from national conversations around education, and there are substantive gaps in the literature for issues in rural higher education.

As a first-generation, DACAmented Mexicana and former college access advisor and high school teacher, she is committed to removing the systemic and structural barriers that exist for underserved communities in accessing higher education. Currently, she is working toward her Ph.D. in School Organization and Education Policy at the University of California, Davis. Her dissertation work examines how institutional and structural factors influence rural Latine/x students’ community college transfer decisions and outcomes.

 

“As educators and scholars, we must critically analyze policies, programs, and resources to make college accessible for all students by acknowledging the unique needs of students based on their intersectional identities and experiences.”

 

Through her collaborations on various projects as a graduate student researcher for the California Education Lab and Wheelhouse, she supported data collection, analyses, and dissemination of research related to higher education access and equity issues. For example, she contributed to projects examining factors influencing Latinx community college choice, first-time Latinx students’ and parents’ college choices during the pandemic, and how recruitment and outreach strategies can be more culturally and linguistically inclusive at emerging Hispanic serving institutions. From these experiences she learned the importance of using mixed research methods and centering students’ voices to understand how institutional practices and educational policies should be more responsive to their unique challenges and needs and how academic research utilizing researcher-practitioner partnerships can inform policy and practice. 

 

These opportunities have provided her with invaluable experience that will contribute to CCRI’s research in this and other areas as well as continue to gain more tools for advancing educational equity to postsecondary opportunities for rural Students of Color.

CCRI welcomes student assistant Krista Roekelle Castro Orejudos

Krista is a current sophomore at the University of Washington who is majoring in English: Creative Writing and minoring in Digital Textual Studies. She is also the current student assistant for CCRI and shared that, 

when looking through CCRI’s mission statement and vision, I felt compelled to work for an organization that is dedicated to serving underserved students in community college and to helping them achieve their higher education objectives. I felt like their goals align with mine, and I wanted to do my best as their student assistant to assist them in any way possible. 

She finds that supporting CCRI’s outreach, to help build its social media presence on Twitter and LinkedIn is a way to actualize her values and share this organization’s message. 

When asked about her experience so far with CCRI,

Krista shared that working with CCRI has allowed her to further explore her passion for creative design. She is responsible for our online posts as well as our STEM Transfer Partnership fall convening poster. When she is not designing, she contributes to keeping information up to date on the website. 

Moreover, working with CCRI has given Krista her first opportunity to work remotely. She has learned how to navigate personal strengths and weaknesses when it comes to remote working. She started her position in August of this year and believes she has grown confident in her interpersonal communication skills and her ability to design on a deadline.

New opening for a Research Scientist at CCRI!

Community College Research Initiatives has an opening for a Research Scientist. This is a great opportunity for someone interested in research on community colleges, STEM, transfer, and organizational change! The position is part-time, 80% FTE with benefits and can be remote. Read more and apply here! https://tinyurl.com/38m5nhkn

Research Scientist Opening

CCRI has a new Research Scientist opening. We’re looking for an education researcher with an interest in community colleges, STEM transfer, a passion for equity, and who works well within a team. This position is half-time with benefits. If you have experience as a researcher in higher education we would love to hear from you. We invite you to apply through UW Hires, search for requisition number 196917. https://g.co/kgs/9siu1J #STEMeducation #stemequity #equity #researcher

CCRI has a Research Scientist position open

Our team is looking for an education researcher with an interest in community colleges, a passion for equity, and who works well within a team. This position is part-time and temporary. We have ongoing research, new grants starting and on the horizon. If you have experience in research methods and manipulating data using MS Excel we would love to hear from you. View at UWHires, requisition #193196. https://bit.ly/3rdXM2l

CCRI Panelist on Why Mobility Matters Now: The Intersection of Equity and Student Transitions

Earlier today, CCRI’s Acting Director, Dr. Lia Wetzstein joined other higher education researchers in a rich discussion on transfer and equity at the 2020 Michigan Student Success Summit. There is one more day to join in other discussions! Register, view presentation slides, and video recordings from this and all of the sessions on this event webpage.

These resources and publications are a collection of our work that engage with this topic. We hope you find them valuable and useful!

Transfer Partnerships: Lessons to Improve Student Success During and After COVID-19
Transfer Partnerships for Improved Equity and Outcomes (NDCC Issue 192)
Coaching for More Equitable Student Outcomes
Integrating Racial Equity Into Guided Pathways
Equity Tools  for Coaches