Master of Social Work

Job Description

This position will be for a 6 credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 10 hours per week - the position may be split between two students. This position will be hybrid (in person and remote).

1. Identify potential new practicum sites. Contact organizations, inquire about their interest in working with students and answer questions about our practicum program.
2. Request from new Field Instructors: Field Instructor application and resume. Upload the documents onto OneDrive.
3. Assist Practicum Directors with creating Field Instructor and Student orientations, including:
1. gather handouts to send to participants,
2. verify that information on handouts and PowerPoint presentations are current and update accordingly,
3. Support the in-person and online orientations.
4. Review for accuracy, thoroughness and professionalism the descriptions of practicum experience that students write. Upload the documents to D2L for other students to access.
5. Assist with planning the on-line and in-person Seminar in Field Instructor course, including:
1. gather handouts to send to participants,
2. verify that information on handouts and PowerPoint presentations are current and update accordingly,
3. Support the in-person and online course.
6. Assist with creating, planning and implementing workshops.
7. Update tip sheets and handouts for students as needed.
8. Update practicum site data as needed, including processing field instructor applications and affiliation agreements as needed.

Visit the Graduate Field Education and Undergraduate Field Education sites.

 

GA Job Description for Dr. Wan-Yi Chen, MSW, MPhil, PhD

This will be a 3 credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 5 hours per week.

The graduate assistant will assist with the development and coordination of service and research activities.   

Possible projects for 23-24 may be diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) projects within the College of Social Work and Education, and an exploration of violence victimization, and trauma impact.   

A graduate assistant working with Dr. Chen is expected to have the ability to work independently and good communication skills.  Per the stage of the project, the assistant may work on developing online survey(s).  Most of the discussions with the faculty can be done via Zoom or meeting in person if needed. 

If you are interested in applying, please provide a cover letter and your resume.  In your cover letter, please discuss your experience or interest in DEI work, and your interest in topics/areas related to the impact of exposure to family or community violence on trauma reactivities. 

GA Job Description for Dr. Kerrie Ocasio,PhD, MSW

This position will be for a 3 credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 5 hours per week.

Dr. Kerrie Ocasio studies the experiences of children, biological parents, foster/kinship providers, and child welfare staff with foster care services in order to develop attachment-focused, racially just and culturally sensitive responses to child protection that promote child well-being. 

Currently, Dr. Ocasio is preparing articles for publication from the following research studies:

1. An intervention that reconnected foster youth with relatives and other adults that were important to them and had been lost to them through the foster care placement process. This study draws on the concept of relational permanency and issues of ambiguous loss.
2. An intervention that provided pre-permanency services to children in foster care and their pre-adoptive caregivers. This study builds on our knowledge about this transitional stage and what formed families need to support emotional attachment and sense of belonging.

In addition, Dr. Ocasio is working on a child abuse prevention data indicators project focused on Philadelphia. The purpose of that project is to promote economic supports for families that have proven effective at reducing the likelihood of abuse and neglect occurring.

A graduate assistant working with Dr. Ocasio needs to have strong writing skills, an ability to work independently, and have some knowledge of the child welfare system. The primary tasks will involve literature reviews and seeking out publicly available data; however, it is possible that data collection with human subjects, data input, and data analysis tasks may also occur if new research projects are undertaken. 

Other details:

• To apply, please provide a cover letter and resume. In the cover letter, please discuss your experience and interest in child welfare, as well as one or two areas of child welfare practice that you are interested in learning more about and why.
• Most work will be completed remotely, however, if an opportunity to collect data becomes available, the student might need to be available for occasional onsite work either on campus or in the Philadelphia area in order to take advantage of that opportunity. Please indicate whether you would be available for some in-person work on campus or in the field and whether that availability would be weekday, evenings, or possibly both. 
• An interview will be conducted of strong candidates.

GA Job Description for Dr. Meagan Corrado, DSW, LCSQ

This may be a remote or hybrid position and will be for a 3-credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 5 hours per week. Students from both campuses welcome to apply.

This is a remote position. Faculty’s research focuses on trauma narratives, arts-based interventions, and trauma-informed work with urban youth of color.  GA’s role will be to support faculty with grant development, identify structured assessment tools, conduct literature searches and reviews, and complete other relevant tasks.  GA should be self-motivated, organized, and creative.  A GA with experience and interest in work with urban youth of color preferred.

GA Job Description for Dr. Erin Hipple, MSW, MA, LCSW, PhD

This position will be for a 3-credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 5 hours per week. Students from both campuses welcome to apply.

GA will assist in literature reviews, conducting and/or writing up research findings, and organizing/creating content for presentations at conferences. GA will also be asked to assist in organizing research team meetings and other logistical tasks. Please review Dr. Hipple's bio for information about their research interests to be sure it is a good fit. 

GA Job Description for Dr. Pier Cicerelle, DSW, MSW, LSW

This position will be for a 3-credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 5 hours per week. Most work will be completed remotely and only under specific circumstances would in-person meetings be necessitated (if at all). Responsibilities include: conducting literature searches and reviews, conceptualizing research projects and presentations on varied topics. These topics include but are not limited to: trauma theory and health behavior, LGBTQAI2S+ healthcare experiences, pedagogical approaches to social work education regarding LGBTQAI2S+ topics, academic freedom and educational gag orders. The student must also create and maintain a record of grant opportunities and calls for journal manuscripts as related to these topics. 

This graduate assistantship will also include the opportunity to contribute to publications and presentations with author credit. Candidates should have strong writing skills, be proactive, independent workers, who are detail-oriented, organized, and motivated. Interested folks should submit a writing sample, a resume and a cover letter that discusses research and professional interests.

GA Job Description for Dr. Angela Lavery, PhD , LCSW, FT

This position will be for a 3-credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 5 hours per week.

Assist with the ongoing development and coordination of research activities for several research agenda items.  Expected focus for 2023-2024 will be on ageism/paternalism/quality of life of older adults with equine interactions and digital storytelling. Additional areas of study could include areas such as: sustainability and older adult work/volunteerism/civic engagement and an intergenerational community engagement project. GA will assist in a variety of research duties. Examples may include: recruitment of participants; searches for research literature; evaluation and measurement tools; copyright permissions of research tools, etc. GA may also need to assist with coordination of interviews, provide transcription of completed interviews and assist with digital story telling videos (creation; editing and copying). GA might also assist in coordination with other interdisciplinary department contacts and community agencies involved with the these projects and if applicable, any focus groups and other types of data collection (qualitative interviews, or survey administration; qualtrics surveys, etc.). GA will assist faculty with ongoing development of research procedure and protocol and data analysis, depending on stage of project (including development of online module of aging etiquette training). This may also include assistance with search for appropriate grant opportunities and applications.

GA Job Description for Dr. Angela Lavery, PhD, LCSW, FT (GERO Certification)

This position will be for a 3-credit hour tuition waiver per semester to work 5 hours per week.

GA will be responsible for organization, development and design of the Graduate Certificate in Gerontology Newsletter for both Fall and Spring semesters.

GA will assist with any applicable social media outlets (Facebook Page; Twitter, etc.)

GA will assist with any applicable service learning project for core Gero Cert courses and with any research related to those service learning projects (permissions to use measurement tools, data collection and analysis if applicable). This may also include communicating with service learning sites and or key contacts (ex: Dept. of Aging).

GA will assist with article development in regard to Gerontological Higher Education (literature searches; writing literature review, etc.)

GA will assist in ongoing research of other Gerontology Certificate programs to compare to what is offered at our institution.

GA will assist with development of marketing materials of the Gerontology Certificate program.

GA will attend applicable Certificate meetings with Graduate Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Gerontology.

Other tasks may include:  assisting Graduate Coordinator with the revisions/updates and execution of the Strategic Development Plan – Short and Long-Term Goals and Objectives; review of Certificate website and make suggestions for update/revision/editing; coordinating with other Gerontology Certificate Faculty members; activities and development of materials and projects to be used for Careers in Aging Week in April 2024 as well as the PA – NASW Aging Symposium scheduled for May 2024 and other events prior and assist with search in funding opportunities to update educational materials for required Gerontology Courses.

 

GA Job Description for Dr. Susan Wysor-Nguema, MSW, MS, PhD

This is a research position for a 5hr/week graduate assistantship in exchange for 3 credits of tuition waiver. More details on this position are forthcoming.