“Translational research in the behavioral and social sciences addresses how basic behavioral processes inform the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and delivery of services for mental illness, and, conversely, how knowledge of mental illness increases our understanding of basic behavioral processes.”

RA Recruitment: Building a Frontline for Success

All construction waned, the floors were polished, the landscaping perfected and the orientation groups began. Yes, it was that time of year again- the beginning of the Fall semester. With thousands of new students entering SBU, the FTRG had a lot of work to get complete in just 2 weeks!

Recruitment for Research Assistants is a multi-level process. First, the RA coordinator has to create flyers to advertise across campus. Then, a class search of all possible psychology courses, some sociology and even women's studies courses gets printed up. Each member of the recruitment team speaks to an assigned handful of classes.

This semester was especially crucial to get as many RAs as we could to work on our current study on how families cope with conflict. Not only did we need RAs to participate in RDD, but we also had data management positions and 4 coding positions (with at least 5 on a team) we had to fill.

In just one week, the recruitment team spoke to about 30 classes and the gates opened. After potential RAs fill out an application online, they set up an interview with the RA coordinator. At the interview, different opportunities are discussed and both the RA and the RA coordinator decide what s/he would be best qualified for.

After the interview, RAs need to get IRB certified by taking an online course and then they get clearance to register as an RA.

All of this was complete between September 4 and September 12! Recruitment was a success. In total, there are 84 RAs here in the FTRG. Each RDD shift is essentially full, the data management shifts are completely full, and we have at least 5 people on each coding team.

We are looking forward to this semester being a success. All of our RAs have expressed enthusiasm and are working diligently to achieve their goals!

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