The Center for Children and Families at Florida International University (FIU) is recruiting a full-time, Post-doctoral Research Associate with the Reading Explorers Program (https://ccf.fiu.edu/summer-programs/reading-explorers/)and School R.E.A.D.Y (School Readiness Interventions to Improve Early Academic and Disruptive Behaviors in Young Children) Lab (https://readylab.fiu.edu) for a minimum two-year appointment with the possibility of extending to three years (or longer as a research or clinical assistant professor). The position will be housed in the Center for Children and Families (CCF) at FIU (https://ccf.fiu.edu). The CCF is one of five University-Designated Preeminent Programs and has 38 faculty associates—most of whom are faculty in the FIU Psychology Department—and more than 100 trainees in masters, doctoral, and professional programs who study child and adolescent mental health. The CCF currently has more than $70m of research funding—mostly NIH and IES, and largely based on this CCF funding, the FIU Department of Psychology is ranked 9th among Psychology Departments in the U.S. in research funding (2017 NSF HERD Report). The CCF has extensive relationships with the local schools and many community agencies.
The Reading Explorers Program (REP), under the direction of Dr. Katie Hart, is managed and operated through the CCF in collaboration with Nova Southeastern University and is funded by The Children’s Trust (https://www.thechildrenstrust.org)and The Children’s Services Council of Broward County (https://www.cscbroward.org). REP offers coaching and consultation services to after-school staff during the school year and direct intervention to children and families in the summertime to build and improve foundational reading skills. Since 2013, Reading Explorers has helped over 10,000 families and annually serves over 2,000 children across 120 community sites throughout Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. In addition to partnering with youth development agencies who serve culturally and linguistically diverse families in the community, REP is active within The Children’s Trust Collective, a group of agencies funded by The Children’s Trust dedicated to strengthening provider capacity. Moreover, REP participates in the Miami-Dade County Grade-Level Reading Campaign (MDGLR), a community-wide initiative which aims to get all children reading at grade level by third grade https://www.thechildrenstrust.org/content/read-learn ). Serving as a lead agency in the Summer and Afterschool sub-committee of MDGLR, REP co-coordinates the annual Battle of the Books and supports other MDGLR initiatives. In 2019, REP was awarded Pacesetter Honors by the National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (https:// gradelevelreading.net) for excellence in summer and afterschool programming.
The postdoc will emphasize clinical research training within the context of REP. A successful candidate for this position will be seeking opportunities for engaging with large-scale community-based intervention research, building relationships to connect with community leaders and stakeholders, and coordinating, as well as implementing, capacity building efforts within the community around literacy. Additionally, the ideal candidate will have an interest in serving diverse communities, data analysis, and expertise in data management systems to support program evaluation and growth. Further, the postdoc will collaborate closely with our administrative team in the hiring, training, and supervision of students and staff participating in REP.
Opportunities will be available to accrue supervised clinical hours towards licensure. Postdoctoral associates will be expected to contribute substantively to manuscript preparation, conference presentations, grant submissions, grant reports, and community engagement. The opportunity to submit collaborative grants with the possibility of promotion to a faculty-level research position is available to postdoctoral associates who successfully obtain grant funding. Annual salary funding is up to $75,000 contingent on qualifications.
General applicant requirements
All applicants must hold a doctoral degree in clinical, school or related field of psychology at the start of their appointment. Spanish language fluency is a plus.
Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply to Job Opening 528692 at https://facultycareers.fiu.edu/. Applications consisting of a cover letter, CV, and names of three references (as well as subsequent letters) should be sent via email to Katie C. Hart, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Center for Children and Families, Florida International University (khart@fiu.edu). Review of applications will be ongoing with an initial receipt date for applications on February 23, 2023 and invitations for interviews made shortly thereafter and a targeted hiring date as early as May 1, 2023. Start date is flexible, but preference placed on early summer availability.