Research Assistant - GIS Mapping

Graduate Research Assistant for GIS Mapping – After School Programs

Department: Human Services Policy Center, Evans School of Public Affairs
Date Available: June 16, 2008
Application Deadline: June 23, 2008
About Us: The Human Services Policy Center (HSPC) is a research center at the Evans School of Public Affairs. The Center pairs applied analytic research with the promotion of policies that improve the lives of children, families, and communities. The Center addresses issues that matter to families, with special attention to the needs of those who are disadvantaged and focuses on policies affecting health, education, safety and economic well-being. Learn more about us by visiting our website at www.hspc.org

General Duties/Description:
This position will work on developing maps using ArcGIS for a project analyzing the supply & demand of after-school programs in Washington State. The purpose of this initiative is to identify the current supply of after-school programs, detail the characteristics of the families and communities which they serve, and detail the unmet demand for these programs through visual representations of survey and census data. The RA will work with the HSPC project lead and other staff, along with non-HSPC project partners. Tasks will include defining the appropriate scope of work given data availability and project goals, identifying appropriate indicators, data preparation and geo-coding, and map generation. The RA will also assist with the editing of final project deliverables. The position is available June 16, 2008. This position is twenty hours a week and is anticipated to last approximately 6-7 weeks; this may be adjusted as project demands dictate.

Salary: Salary is commensurate with academic standing. Compensation includes a tuition waiver and graduate appointee insurance, if appointee is taking classes during summer quarter.

How to Apply: Please email, fax, or send by postal mail both resume and cover letter to:
T.J. Stutman
Human Services Policy Center
1107 NE 45th St. Suite 205
Seattle, WA 98105
tstutman@u.washington.edu or 206-616-1553 (fax)

Applications will be reviewed in order received. Early applications are encouraged.

Notes: This job classification is governed by a negotiated labor contract and is subject to union shop provisions. For more information about union shop provisions, visit: http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/jobs/apl/union-info.html

Requirements:

• Graduate student in a relevant discipline such as geography, urban planning, public affairs, or sociology.
  Fluency in ArcGIS 9, including geo-coding and map generation.
• Experience with developing appropriate research questions and indicators, reviewing available data, and determining appropriate deliverables in collaboration with project leads and external funders.
• Experience working with online geographic-data, including Census and WAGDA data.

Condition of Employment: Must be UW Graduate Student The University of Washington is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206.543.6450 / 206.543.6452 (tty) or dso@u.washington.edu.

Research Assistant - Evans School of Public Affairs

Department: Evans School of Public Affairs
Date Available: September 16, 2008
Application Deadline: To ensure consideration apply before 6/23/08

General Duties/Description:
The Evans School is seeking a research assistant (ASE) to perform modeling using R and the module Statnet to analyze panel social network data gathered from the original low-income residents of the High Point Hope VI Redevelopment. The position is 20 hours a week for the Fall 2008 and Winter 2009 academic quarters. HOPE VI is a national grant program offered to local housing authorities by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with a goal of redeveloping more than 100,000 units of distressed public housing throughout the nation. High Point is the fourth HOPE VI grant that the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) has received. The development has been replaced with a mixed-income community that focuses on enhancing self-sufficiency and community involvement. Original residents had the option of remaining within the new development or using a housing voucher to move elsewhere.

In 2001, an in person survey collected egocentric social network data from 200 residents prior to redevelopment and any moves. This summer, 2008, these residents are being reinterviewed. The research assistant would work with these social network data as well as any pertinent data collected as part of the survey effort, with the goal of examining changes in the assortative mixing of the respondents’ social networks over time and applying new tools within statnet.

The research assistant will provide support for the analysis.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Managing and setting up the dataset for analysis
• Assisting in the analysis of the dataset
• Supporting the summary of those analyses.

Salary: Salary and benefits are competitive. Salary is commensurate with academic standing, qualifications, and experience. Workstudy is also a possibility.

How to Apply: Send or email a cover letter and resume to Rachel Garshick Kleit: kleit@u.washington.edu or Box 353055.

• Application inquiries may be made with Rachel Garshick Kleit at 221-3063 or email kleit@u.washington.edu

Requirements:

• Expertise in R, familiarity with statnet a bonus or other statistical packages a bonus.
• Ability to use Excel and Word•Ability to work independently and as a team member•Good problem-solving skills
• Good quantitative skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
  

Condition of Employment:Must be a UW graduate student

The University of Washington is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206.543.6450 / 206.543.6452 (tty) or dso@u.washington.edu.

Teaching Assistantships - The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

Position Description: The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences anticipates two Teaching Assistantships will be available in the following course for Autumn 2008:
Fish 210 - Methods in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

Quarter Offered: Autumn 2008
Instructor Name: Dr. Tim Essington
Lectures: MWF, 12:30-1:20
Lab: MW 1:30-4:20 OR TTh, 1:30-4:20
Course Website: http://fish.washington.edu/classes/fish210/

TA responsibilities include:

• TA's at 50% effort should expect to average approximately 20 hours/week throughout the appointmentperiod, for a total of 220 hours over the course of the quarter. Autumn appointments run from Sept.16th - Dec. 15th, although if course responsibilities extend after the 15th, TA's should expect toparticipate (ie: grading final projects and exams.)
• TA is responsible for, in conjunction with the SAFS Laboratory Coordinator, the coordination andexecution of two 3-hour laboratory sections, which will include quantitative, wet lab, and fieldactivities.
• TA is responsible for grading assignments associated with the laboratory portion of the course,which may include term papers.
• TA is expected to hold a minimum of 1 office hour per week.
• TA is expected to attend all lectures and one weekly administrative meeting.
• TA is expected to attend evening field trip usually held on third friday of October.

Requirements:

• Academic standing as a UW Graduate Student and eligibility to hold a Graduate StudentAssistantship.
• Availability for full appointment time frame (Sept. 16th - Dec. 15th.)
• Ability to give students feedback on writing
• Proficiency with Excel and Word
• Ability to work independently and coordinate multiple varied tasks simultaneously
• Current Animal Care Certification (online course - must have by start of course, if hired)
• Current certification in First Aid, CPR (or must have by start of course, if hired)
• Current Drivers License and UW Motorpool van driver training by start of course.
• Participation in both the UW Teaching Asst Conference and the COFS Practical TA Training inmid-late September 2008. Also, participation in the UW laboratory safety training, if not alreadycompleted.

Application Process: All applicants should submit through the UWHires Website: https://uwhires.admin.washington.edu/eng/candidates/
On the above site, under category, choose Academic Student Employee or search for Req # 44595.

Part of the application process for this position includes completing an on-line cover letterassessment as well as the Employment Eligibility Assessment to obtain additional information thatwill be used in the evaluation process. The assessments will appear on your screen for you tocomplete as soon as you select "Apply to this Position" on this job announcement. Once you begin theassessment, it must be completed at that time. If you select to take it later, it will appear onyour "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until the assessment is complete. In the cover letter assessment, please: . identify strengths you would bring to this position; . your background and abilities directlyrelated to this specific course; . contact information for 2-3 references (name, title, phone,email) familiar with your teaching and/or research abilities.

A 50% FTE Teaching Assistantship pays a stipend (which varies depending on graduate level andstudent's home department). Salary schedule may be seen at: http://www.grad.washington.edu/fellow/salaryschedule.htm
Teaching Assistants will be required to register for a minimum of ten credits per quarter;successful applicants will be responsible for paying any student fees. Operating Fee (including mostof tuition) will be paid. Graduate Appointee accident/sickness insurance will be provided.

Preference will be given to applications received by Monday, June 16, 2008. Decisions and notifications will be made by Monday, June 23, 2008.

Notes: This job classification is governed by a negotiated labor contract and is subject to union shopprovisions. For more information about union shop provisions, visit: http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/laborrel/contracts/uaw/contract/preamble.html The University of Washington is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at206.543.6450 / 206.543.6452 (tty) or dso@u.washington.edu.

Post-Doctoral Fellowship - Health Services Research

A post-PhD Fellowship in Health Services Research at the University ofWashington, Department of Health Services, is available Summer, 2008,for an MD or PhD.

Requires status as a U.S. citizen or permanentresident. Applicants must want a long term career in Health Services Research and be conducting research in the areas of AHRQpriorities, including medical safety, quality improvement, comparative effectiveness, and prevention of chronic disease.

MD or PhD Fellows engage in full-time research and related educationalactivities. Faculty provide expertise in areas of interest, includinggeneral health services research, outcomes research, economics, qualityof care, disparities research and health policy. The stipend depends on educational preparation.

"Health services research is the multidisciplinary field of scientificinvestigation that studies how social factors, financing systems,organizational structures and processes, health technologies, andpersonal health behaviors affect access to healthcare, the quality andcost of healthcare, and ultimately our health and well-being. Itsresearch domains are individuals, populations, costs, and organizational factors that influence the availability and quality of care."(Definition from Health Services Research and Health Policy, 10/2000.)

More information on the Fellowship is found at:
http://depts.washington.edu/ahrqhsrt/

A statement of research interest, specific aims for a health servicesresearch project of interest naming a UW Health Services faculty mentor, curriculum vitae, transcripts and three letters of reference should be sent by July 1, 2008 to:

Diana Siembor, Department of Health ServicesUniversity of Washington, Box 357660Seattle, Washington, 98195206-616-2979Equal Opportunity Employer

Research Assistant – Information School

Research Assistant – Medical Records Analysis & Retrieval
University of Washington Information School

Position Title: Research Assistant

Anticipated Start Date: September 16, 2008
End Date: September 15, 2009

Location
VA Met Park (Seattle downtown) and Information School, Mary Gates Hall

Position Description
We are seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as a Research Assistant to the “Medical Records Analysis and Retrieval” project within the “Assessing Information Value in Computerized Patient Care Documentation Systems” study. Under the general guidance of Co-PI Dr. Efthimiadis and PI Dr. Hammond, the RA will be responsible for research, design, development, testing and maintenance of information systems of a highly complex nature for this study.

Computerized patient care documents (CPD), consisting of progress notes, summaries, and reports documenting medical care are a key part of modern computerized health care information systems. On-line documents are more accessible and legible than paper records, but the transition to computer systems has introduced new challenges. Computerized documents differ from traditional documents: document writers may copy text from other documents; ancillary data is frequently inserted automatically; and templates assisting text entry introduce boilerplate text. Shortcuts aid writing documents but often result in poor readability and reduce the value of on-line documentation. Copying can propagate errors and obscure the original source of information. Data overload is a significant problem: Nationally, Veterans Administration (VA) systems currently store over 700 million patient documents. Individual charts may contain hundreds of documents. Computerized medical record users can be hard pressed to find the specific information they need amid a flood of potentially useful information, because the time available to retrieve information from documentation is constrained.

Improved patient records will benefit patients, practitioners, and anyone else who uses medical records. The objective of this part of the research project is to analyze and characterize a large dataset of medical records using information retrieval, language modeling, text classification and mining, and natural language approaches.

For additional information on this project please contact Dr. Efthimis Efthimiadis (efthimis@washington.edu) or Dr. Ken Hammond (Kenric.Hammond@va.gov).

Job Description
Design and implement components of the “Medical Records Analysis and Retrieval” project. Research and apply methods for the programming of text mining and retrieval algorithms in the 18 million document collection.Develop interface programming among the systems used.Create and maintain a simulator and interfaces for administering online surveys and analyzing the responses. Aid in the design and implementation of experiments to evaluate the above technologies; collaborate in writing research papers for publication on these experiments. Collaborate with and support other members of the team.Perform programming with clear documentation of all modules. Ensure backup procedures are in place and functioning smoothly. Follow standard practice for programming, configuration control, and quality assurance.Maintain and provide system developer and end user documentation for continuation of work by others.

This position will average 20 hours per week.

Required Qualifications
BA in Computer or Information Science, Computational Linguistics, Medical Informatics or related fieldExperience in one or more of the following fields: Information Retrieval, Natural Language Processing, Language Modeling, Text Mining, and/or Machine LearningFamiliarity with text retrieval software (e.g., Lucene)Database management using SQL server in a Windows environmentExperience in managing software projects Excellent programming skills, preferably in JavaExcellent communication and organization skillsSelf-motivated with the ability to take initiative and work independently

Other Requirements
The project must comply with confidentiality requirements of Human Subjects and HIPAA regulations at all times. Successful Candidate will be required to complete the following immediately upon hire:
Complete the UW Human Subjects training: www.washington.edu/research/hsd/training.htmlAdhere to HIPAA regulations: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa

This position is open to all University of Washington students. Undergraduate students will be compensated at a competitive hourly rate DOE. Masters level students are eligible for tuition waiver and benefits (percentage of tuition covered is dependent upon the program the student is enrolled in). Questions regarding salary and benefits should be directed to Crystal Yost, Human Resources Coordinator crystaly@washington.edu. Students must be enrolled for a minimum of 10 credits each quarter to be eligible.

To apply
1.Please include a cover letter describing your skills and experiences relevant to the position.
2.Attach a current resume that includes your work history and academic accomplishments.

Please submit all application materials to iApply@washington.edu (please include “RA – VA Project” in the subject line) or to Mary Gates Hall, Suite 370, no later than noon on June 30th. All candidates will be contacted within two weeks of the closing date.

Note: This job classification is governed by a negotiated labor contract and is subject to union shop provisions. For more information about union shop provisions, visit: www.washington.edu/admin/hr/jobs/apl/union-info.html

The University of Washington is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and covered veterans are encouraged to apply.
*Please Note: This position is pending final approval of funding