Project Mentor
Dr. Derek Houston
Department: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Research Project Overview:
Our SHARE apprentice will assist with our lab’s efforts in community engagement. They will begin by helping to research and create educational materials. They will learn principles of accessible design for educational material development, as well as principles related to health literacy. They will apply those principles by creating an infographic on a topic of interest that they will research themselves. They will iterate through reviews and updates with experts until a final product is created. Halfway through the summer, they will begin a research project on community events run or attended by the lab to quantitatively analyze the efficacy and outcomes of those events. They will create a poster detailing their research to be presented at Frontiers.
Role of a SHARE Summer Apprentice:
A SHARE apprentice will contribute to our building of community partnerships through community service and community engagement. Our SHARE apprentice will learn:
- health literacy principles in educational material development
- accessibility principles in educational materials and website
- community engagement strategies
- basic analysis of non-human subjects data
- presentation skills for Frontiers
Summer Schedule/Time Commitment:
Students applying to this apprenticeship are encouraged to review this apprenticeship timeline to give more information about this opportunity.
There are not specific days of the week we want our apprentice to work for set hours, but the expectation is that they are available for meetings with lab staff that we will schedule with their other summer commitments in mind. However, since the lab staff most often work during normal business hours, some availability is required in that window. The hours per week are flexible. Historically, we have had summer apprentices work anywhere between 6 and 12 hours. As long as that goal is met on average during the summer, there is plenty of day-to-day flexibility equaling to roughly 90 hours over the course of the summer.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Good communication skills
- Good self-organization skills
- Attention to detail
- Interest in designing educational materials
- Interest in community engagement
To Apply:
The application opens on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Click here to submit an online application for this research apprenticeship through the Quest Portal. The application deadline is Friday, March 28, 2025, at 11:59pm.
Click here to view an outline of the general application questions. There are no additional questions for this apprenticeship.
Please note:
All students hired for a SHARE Summer apprenticeship must complete a federal I-9 form and present original documents in person to OUR staff as part of the hiring process. Visit this U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services page for more information about acceptable documents. You cannot begin working until this is complete. Students are encouraged to plan ahead for this. For example, if you are going home for spring break, consider bringing original documents back to campus with you.