Assistant or Associate Research Professor

JOB SUMMARY

The University of Connecticut School of Social Work’s Innovations Institute invites applications for a full-time (11-month appointment) non-tenure-track assistant or associate research professor position. The UConn School of Social Work seeks highly motivated and productive early to mid-career scholars who are committed to research, social justice, and social work education. We are open to various areas of research and are particularly interested in candidates whose scholarship addresses health equity.

The UConn School of Social Work is a national leader in graduate social work education with a tradition of educating and serving diverse communities. We are ranked in the top 11% of schools of social work nationally and number one in Connecticut. The school’s research doctorate is the only public social work Ph.D. program in the region. Our externally funded portfolio exceeds $70 million dollars. Areas of distinction include child welfare and child well-being; behavioral health, trauma, and violence prevention and reduction; international social work and human rights; immigrant and refugee studies; social and health disparities; diversity and cultural competence; and policy analysis, advocacy, and community organizing. The school is also home to the Innovations Institute, a nationally recognized interdisciplinary implementation and translational research center. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive faculty environment.  Innovations Institute is an interdisciplinary translational research center that is housed within the SSW. Innovations Institute is a leader in building effective public-serving systems to improve the well-being of and ensure vibrant futures for children, youth, their families, and communities. Innovations’ programs touch nearly every state and territory in the country, and, through online and in-person training, Innovations has trained over 80,000 practitioners in child welfare, children’s behavioral health, and other child- and family-serving systems. The impact of this work is improved quality and effectiveness of public-serving systems that are responsive to the unique needs of young people and their families.

Founded in 1881, UConn is a Land Grant and Sea Grant institution and member of the Space Grant Consortium. It is the state’s flagship institution of higher education and includes a main campus in Storrs, CT, four regional campuses throughout the state, and 13 Schools and Colleges, including a Law School in Hartford and Medical and Dental Schools at the UConn Health campus in Farmington. The University has approximately 10,000 faculty and staff and 32,000 students, including nearly 24,000 undergraduates and over 8,000 graduate and professional students. UConn is a Carnegie Foundation R1 (highest research activity) institution, among the top 25 public universities in the nation. Through research, teaching, service, and outreach, UConn embraces diversity and cultivates leadership, integrity, and engaged citizenship in its students, faculty, staff, and alumni. UConn promotes the health and well-being of citizens by enhancing the social, economic, cultural, and natural environments of the state and beyond. The University serves as a beacon of academic and research excellence as well as a center for innovation and social service to communities. UConn is a leader in many scholarly, research, and innovation areas. Today, the path forward includes exciting opportunities and notable challenges. Record numbers of undergraduate applications and support for student success have enabled the University to become highly selective.

Positions with Innovations Institute are fully remote with expected travel to UConn’s Hartford Campus annually. This appointment does not lead to permanent academic tenure and must be renewed annually.

The selected candidates will serve as the co-Principal Investigator and Project Director for the evaluation of Connecticut’s Rural Health Transformation Project (RHTP).  The selected candidate will apply knowledge, concepts, principles, and skills across Connecticut’s RHTP and ultimately support multiple research and evaluation projects or initiatives within the Innovations Institute. In addition, the successful candidate will bring expertise in implementation science and mixed-methods research, including the design, execution, and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative analyses. The candidate will contribute methodological expertise to complex health systems evaluations while developing an independent program of research and extramural funding aligned with the mission of the Innovations Institute and the School of Social Work.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Project Administration, Hub-and-Spoke Governance & Strategic Leadership: Serve as the administrative Project Director providing operational leadership, strategic vision, and fiscal oversight for the central evaluation hub located at the UConn SSW Innovations Institute.

• Design, implement, and maintain the systemic organizational framework required to govern, synchronize, and support evaluation workflows
• Work with content core initiative project leads at Innovations, UConn SSW, and UConn Health to ensure integration and consistency across pillars of work.
• Establish clear operational cadences, standardized communication protocols, and performance benchmarks to monitor data flow and programmatic milestones across multi-site subrecipients.
• Act as the primary high-level institutional liaison between the Innovations Institute evaluation hub and the lead state agency (the Connecticut Department of Social Services).
• Direct and manage a multidisciplinary team within the hub, including research scientists, data analysts, field coordinators, and graduate assistants; handle recruitment, performance evaluation, and team workflow management.

2. Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) Duties, Methodological Quality & Data Oversight

• Act as Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI), sharing direct accountability for the absolute scientific, intellectual, and technical integrity of the multi-site evaluation.
• Lead the design, execution, and continuous optimization of mixed-methods evaluation frameworks across the four core initiatives of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP): Population Health Outcomes, Workforce, Data and Technology, and Care Transformation and Stability.
• Provide methodological leadership in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, including study design, statistical analyses, qualitative data collection and analysis, data integration, and interpretation of findings.
• Apply implementation science frameworks and methods to evaluate implementation processes, fidelity, adoption, workforce development, sustainability, and outcomes across diverse healthcare settings.
• Champion the data harmonization strategy, developing standardized data-collection pipelines, metadata schemas, and validation mechanisms to aggregate disparate healthcare metrics from multiple distinct EHR platforms and field sites.
• Supervise the Institutional Review Board (IRB) application, submission, and modification processes, ensuring strict human-subjects protection compliance across all 80 evaluation spokes.
• Lead the scientific synthesis of state-wide community listening and public engagement data, ensuring that translational findings reflect the equity-focused intent of the state's healthcare initiatives.

3. Fiscal Accountability, Compliance & Reporting

• Manage fiscal compliance for the evaluation allocation of the multi-million-dollar federal financial assistance award, ensuring that all expenditures strictly adhere to the University of Connecticut, State of Connecticut, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines.
• Oversee budget projections, track subrecipient expenditure compliance, and coordinate closely with the UConn Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) for financial reporting and auditing requirements.
• Direct the synthesis, writing, and timely submission of all federal and state-mandated narrative progress reports, annual evaluations, and closeout documentation required by CMS and DSS.
• Ensure total programmatic alignment with Public Law (PL) 119-21 (H.R. 1, section 71401) statutory requirements, maintaining data security, participant privacy, and regulatory documentation.

4. Translational Science, Knowledge Dissemination & Service

• Formulate policy briefs, white papers, and executive summaries to translate complex evaluation data into actionable healthcare policy recommendations for Governor Lamont’s administration and state agency leadership.
• Author and co-author peer-reviewed manuscripts for publication in high-impact public health, social work, and health administration journals to advance the national literature on rural health infrastructure.
• Present evaluation methodologies, innovative hub-and-spoke frameworks, and localized clinical outcomes at regional, national, and international health policy and evaluation conferences.
• Represent the Innovations Institute and the UConn School of Social Work on internal university committees, state-level task forces, and national rural health research coalitions.

5. Research, Scholarship, and Extramural Funding

• Develop and maintain an independent program of research aligned with the mission of the School of Social Work and the Innovations Institute.
• Pursue and secure extramural funding from federal, foundation, and other public and private funding sources to support an independent portfolio of research and evaluation.
• Lead and contribute to multidisciplinary grant proposals in collaboration with faculty, investigators, community partners, and state agencies.
• Disseminate research findings through peer-reviewed publications, presentations, and other scholarly products.

APPOINTMENT TERMS

This is an 11-month, non-tenure-track position with an anticipated start date of October 1, 2026. Initial salary commensurate with qualifications, experience, and rank.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Employment of the successful candidate is contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-employment criminal background check.

TO APPLY

Please apply online at Faculty and Staff Positions, Search #499772 and submit the following application materials:

• Current curriculum vitae.
• Cover letter that comments on the relevant minimum and preferred qualifications.
• Research statement that describes the candidate's research and extramural funding trajectory and explains how the candidate’s research agenda aligns with the priorities of the School and this position.
• Diversity statement that describes previous and potential contributions to promoting diversity and anti-oppression in your teaching, service, and plan of research.
• Representative samples of up to three (3) publications.
• Names and contact information of three (3) references.

Applicants can address questions by email to:

Margo Candelaria, Ph.D.
Deepa Kalauni, MSW
Search Committee Co-Chairs
University of Connecticut
School of Social Work
38 Prospect Street
Hartford, CT  06103 
innovationssearch@uconn.edu

References will not be contacted without the prior permission of the candidate. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

At the University of Connecticut, our commitment to excellence is complemented by our commitment to building a culturally diverse community.

All employees are subject to adherence to the State Code of Ethics.

All members of the University of Connecticut are expected to exhibit appreciation of, and contribute to, an inclusive, respectful, and diverse environment for the University community.

The University of Connecticut aspires to create a community built on collaboration and belonging and has actively sought to create an inclusive culture within the workforce. The success of the University is dependent on the willingness of our diverse employee and student populations to share their rich perspectives and backgrounds in a respectful manner. This makes it essential for each member of our community to feel secure and welcomed and to thoroughly understand and believe that their ideas are respected by all. We strongly respect each individual employee’s unique experiences and perspectives and encourage all members of the community to do the same. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, age, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disabilities, veteran’s status, status as a victim of domestic violence and/or sexual assault and/or trafficking in persons as defined by Connecticut law, prior conviction of a crime, workplace hazards to the reproductive systems, or gender identity or expression.

The University of Connecticut is an AA/EEO employer including for Disability and Veteran status.