Department of Civil Service

Description:

The Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) is seeking a graduate student intern with experience in quantitative research and analysis to play a key role developing the OPWDD's understanding of trends in the Direct Support Professional (DSP) workforce in New York State. The student will have a unique opportunity to produce research and contribute to data-informed decision-making at the agency. The student will work closely with the Divisions for Workforce & Talent Management and Data Management and Strategy to understand and analyze data on the DSP workforce at the State and National level and communicate their findings to various stakeholders. The intern will work with a team to examine raw data, manipulate datasets, and perform statistical analyses. The ideal candidate will have a strong research background, experience using Microsoft Excel and SPSS for statistical analysis and will be able to work efficiently with other analysts, policy-makers, and leaders at OPWDD.
Candidate Expectations: Strong Commitment to OPWDD's mission and a willingness to learn more about state and national policy in the I/DD field, specifically issues facing the DSP workforce.Take collaborative approach with various stakeholders, including policy makers, advocates and analysts. Take direction and be receptive to feedback. Ability to work independently and problem solve.
Roles and &responsibilities:
- Organizing, cleaning, and coding a raw data set provided by OPWDD;
- Work with State and National workforce data
- Perform quantitative analyses (e.g. regression, hierarchical modeling) of multiple datasets using various statistical methods;
- Communicate with project team on the methods and techniques used to perform the analyses, including the strengths & limitations of the approach;
- Effectively interpret and explain results and findings, this may include developing and delivering presentations, formal reports, charts, and graphs that are accurate and accessible to broad audiences;
- Conduct literature reviews on relevant topics, such as staff recruitment and retention, to develop broad understanding of current policy, trends, and research;
- In addition to analyzing survey data, the student may be required to assist with survey design & administration to support ongoing data collection needs.

Skills:

Research

Writing

Internship Areas: Health Services, Information Technology, Planning/Analysis/Research, Public Policy