Working Title: Graduate Assistant

State Role Title: Graduate Assistant

Position Type: Graduate Assistant

Position Status: Part-Time

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt: Eligible for Overtime

College/Division: College of Arts and Letters

Department: 100033 - Political Science Department

Pay Rate: Stipend

Specify Range or Amount: 10,110

Is this a JMU only position? N/A

Is this a grant-funded position? No

Is this a Conflict of Interest designated position? N/A

Beginning Review Date: 07/14/2025

About JMU:

Located in the heart of Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA. With a population of just over 53,000, Harrisonburg is one of the most diverse communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 20,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.

General Information:

Founded in 2022, the American Political Reform & Innovation Lab (APRILab) in the College of Arts and Letters is a civic- and community-engaged, nonpartisan political science and data science research lab. APRILab produces original, evidence-based research on institutional political reform in collaboration with internal and external faculty and with leading experts in the national political reform advocacy community. The lab’s research addresses significant, real-world problems posed by institutional dysfunction, democratic backsliding, and unequal political influence.
APRILab is seeking a graduate assistant to begin working in Fall 2025, preferably for the full academic year. The duties will require up to a maximum of 20 hours per week during both semesters. Graduate students who identify themselves as a member of a traditionally marginalized population are especially encouraged to apply.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Oversee day-to-day lab operations, schedule, and physical space;
2. Help recruit, train, and oversee a diverse and enthusiastic pool of undergraduate lab associates;
3. Monitor undergraduate lab associates performing data collection, data cleaning, database management, and reporting for multiple, simultaneous research projects;
4. Meet with the supervising director and undergraduate lab associates on a weekly basis;
5. Research background material and prepare copy for website, social media, grant proposals, research reports, working papers, and related public-facing media products;
6. Coordinate communication between university faculty and staff colleagues, external faculty advisors, lab affiliates, collaborators, and political reform advocacy partners;
7. Work collaboratively and productively in a diverse work environment, while acknowledging and appreciating differences among colleagues and external engagement partners;
8. Commit to acting in a professional, nonpartisan manner when representing JMU and the APRILab;
9. Other reasonable tasks related to the lab’s research and engagement objectives as assigned.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will possess a:
• Bachelor’s degree and good academic standing in a graduate program at James Madison University (see conditions of employment);
• High level of intrinsic motivation, good time-management skills, and the ability to be independently productive and accountable to others;
• Willingness to conduct independent research in collaboration with the lab director, internal and external collaborators, and political reform advocacy partners;
• Strong set of organizational, writing, research, and editing skills;
• Record of undergraduate coursework in research methods, statistics, data science, or similar topics; and coursework in American politics, history, economics, or similar;
• Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Office suite, Google Drive, LaTeX, Slack, or similar office software.

Additional Posting Information:

Preferred but not required:
• Experience with IRB protocols and human subjects research ethics;
• Experience with technical writing, copy editing, proofreading and/or producing alternative audio, visual, or marketing products;
• Training to conduct social scientific, data visualization, or data science tasks, including natural language processing, machine learning, and data analysis in Python, R, STATA, or related languages and with Qualtrics or similar questionnaire software;
• Ambition to pursue advanced graduate education and/or a career in public service and public affairs, broadly defined.

Conditions of Employment:  

Students may apply to a graduate assistantship prior to being accepted into a graduate program. However, to be eligible to receive an assistantship upon entry into a graduate program, the following criteria must be met:

The student must be conditionally or unconditionally accepted into a graduate program. Students who are provisionally accepted will not be eligible until they achieve conditional or unconditional acceptance into their program.

The students must have an official transcript on file indicating completion of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution or agency

After receiving an assistantship, the student must maintain at least a 3.0 graduate GPA in order to retain or reapply for the assistantship.

These are minimum criteria. Graduate program coordinators have the right to impose additional criteria if they see fit.

EEO Statement:

James Madison University is committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive work and educational community that is free of all forms of discrimination. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, parental status, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status.

We promote access, inclusion and diversity for all students, faculty, staff, constituents and programs, believing that these qualities are foundational components of an outstanding education in keeping with our mission. The university is interested in candidates whose experience and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to this core quality.

Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity: (540) 568-6991.

Reasonable Accommodation:

If you are a student with a disability and need assistance please contact the Office of Disability Services at (540) 568-6705 or disability-svcs@jmu.edu. You may also visit the Office of Disability Services, located in the Student Success Center, Suite 1202 and they will be happy to assist you.