Category Archives: miscellaneous

Research and Policy Analyst

Description

The Office of Elections is seeking to hire a Research and Policy Analyst (Legal Advisor). The Research and Policy Analyst (Legal Advisor) position is responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis to support election staff, candidates, political committees and other entities throughout the election cycle.  The position helps ensure compliance with state and local election laws related to candidate qualifications, ballot access, filing requirements, and campaign documentation. The role will also help draft policies and procedures to ensure elections are conducted in compliance with all aspects of local, state and federal law related to election administration, voter registration, and elections, more broadly.

Duties include but are not limited to

Analysis

• Recommend, research and draft changes to proposed legislation and existing laws
• Help develop technical, administrative, and policy protocols to ensure compliance with existing election law, policies and regulations.
• Conduct research on various research and policy issues
• Analyze statistical data
• Identify trends, issues, opportunities, and funding resources related to key election policy areas
• Help prepare presentations and communicate findings to stakeholders, including policymakers, senior management, and the public
• Help represent the City of Richmond Office of Elections at legislative committee meetings, board meetings, hearings, and other public meetings.

Candidate Qualification and Filing

• Provide guidance to candidates and prospective candidates on eligibility requirements, filing deadlines and required forms.
• Accept, review and process candidate filings and campaign finance reports for completeness and accuracy.
• Verify candidate information and coordinate with other local election officials and state election officials as needed
• Track and maintain candidate records.

Ballot Preparation & Certification

• Help prepare and proof candidate ballots for accuracy prior to publication
• Help coordinate the ballot order, name formatting and ballot layout requirements.
• Assist with candidate withdrawal and disqualification processes when applicable

Compliance & Documentation

• Help ensure compliance with federal, state and local election laws, policies and procedures
• Maintain candidate files in accordance with records retention laws
• Serve as the primary point of contact for FOIA requests

Administrative & Data Management

• Enter candidate information into election systems as needed
• Create reports for candidate filings, campaign finance reports and ballot status
• Keep calendars of statutory deadlines for candidate activities.

Qualifications, Special Certifications and Licenses

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, Political Science, Economics, Social Sciences, or a related field
• 2-5 years of experience in research and evaluation, policy analysis, strategic planning, project management, or a related field
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may be used to meet the minimum qualifications of the classification

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING:

• Advanced degree in Law, Public Policy, Public Administration, Public Affairs, Political Science, Economics, Social Sciences, or a related field preferred

• Demonstrated experience in legislative and policy analysis and drafting
• Significant professional experience in election administration, election law, regulatory compliance, campaign finance, government relations or related policy/research role.
• Demonstrated ability to read, interpret, apply and advise on state, local and federal laws and regulations — especially relating to election administration, voter registration, campaign finance, candidate fillings, and voting rights.
• Experience interpreting election ruling, statutes and administrative rules 
• Prior experience working in a government elections office, regulatory agency, judicial/legal environment, campaign or advocacy organization; familiarity with GIS/mapping or voter-file datasets; multilingual capabilities depending on jurisdiction.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: TYPICAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: These are a representative sample; position assignments may vary.

Knowledge (some combination of the following):

• Policy analysis
• Project management
• Strategic planning
• Quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Ethical research practices 
• Specialized knowledge of Virginia Freedom of Information Act laws and procedures
• Knowledge of the interconnection between the Richmond City Office of Elections and other agencies, including but not limited to, other local registrars and electoral boards, the Virginia Department of Elections, the Election Assistance Commission, the Federal Voting Assistance Program, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Library of Virginia
• Knowledge of the city’s and state’s regulatory processes

Skills (some combination of the following):

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
• Proficiency in statistical software (e.g., SPSS, R, Stata) and data analysis tools
• Proficiency in use of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to synthesize complex information and present it clearly
• Strong organizational and project management skills

Abilities (some combination of the following):

• Problem-solve and be detail oriented
• Work independently and as part of a team
• Adapt to changing priorities and deadlines
• Maintain confidentiality

How to Decide Between an Academic and Nonacademic Career

Monday-Thursday, December 8-11, 12-12:45 pm, webinar | Registration

PhDs work wherever smart people are needed. In today’s creative economy, a faculty career isn’t the only option for PhDs who are seeking engaging and rewarding work. PhDs work in every part of the economy – industry, nonprofits, higher education, and government.

But what career pathway will be right for YOU?

This special workshop series is designed to walk doctoral students, PhDs, and postdocs through a series of exercises to help them evaluate career options and identify next steps in building their career either as faculty or beyond the professoriate.

During the series we’ll talk about:

• December 8 – Introduction to your Optimal Career Pathway/How to decide
• December 9 – How to identify your values
• December 10 – How to identify your most marketable skills
• December 11 – How to build your network using on campus resources

AI and Childhood Lab Research Fellowship

The Childhood & AI Lab Research Fellowship brings together innovative scholars investigating how AI affects children’s cognition, learning, social relationships, mental health, creativity, identity, autonomy, and overall development and wellbeing.

Program Overview

The fellowship expands the number of researchers whose work advances our understanding of how AI shapes attention, learning, creativity, social development, and decision‑making in children and adolescents. Fellows bridge developmental science and technology to translate findings into actionable guidance for families, educators, policymakers, and technologists. The community is intentionally cross‑disciplinary—cognitive scientists learn from computer scientists; ethnographers inform neuroscientists; education researchers collaborate with ethicists—so ideas evolve faster and travel farther.

Who Should Apply

• Early‑stage researchers studying AI’s effects on children.
• Mid‑career & senior researchers bringing disciplinary expertise (e.g., psychology, education, public health, computer science, neuroscience, ethics) to questions of AI and childhood.
• AI experts & technical researchers interested in how systems are used by children (e.g., model evaluation, red‑teaming).
• Practitioner‑researchers in NGOs, UN agencies, government, or allied institutions conducting applied research in the field.

We strongly encourage applications from researchers at all career stages and from the Global South; diversity of perspectives and methods is essential to the mission.

The American Sociological Association’s Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance invites submissions for the 2026 Distinguished Student Paper Award competition. This award is presented annually for the best paper authored by a graduate student. Papers may be empirical or theoretical and can address any topic in the sociology of crime, law, and deviance. Submissions may be sole- or multiple-authored, but all authors must be students at the time of submission. Papers should be article length (approximately 30 double spaced pages) and should follow the manuscript preparation guidelines used by the American Sociological Review. Papers accepted for publication at the time of submission are not eligible. The winner will receive $500 to offset the cost of attending the 2026 ASA meeting. Nominations may be submitted by the author or by others, and we encourage self-nominations.

Please send a PDF of the paper to the Award Committee Chair, Dr. Bryan Sykes (bls244@cornell.edu) with the subject line CLD Distinguished Student Paper Nomination.

Committee:

• Bryan Sykes (Chair), Cornell University
• Stacy DeCoster, North Carolina State University
• Anne K. Johnson, Washington State University
• Felipe Salazar-Tobar, Kennesaw State University

The Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) is excited to announce the launch of our new Virtual Data Enclave (VDE)!

The VDE is a cutting-edge research server, hosted by the University of Michigan, providing users secure, remote access to our curated microdata. Our data products are recognized as the gold standard of harmonized and integrated criminal justice administrative records and now include 200+ million criminal justice events, covering >84% of the U.S. population.

VDE Highlights:

• Simplified and expedited proposal review (<30 days, not 12-18 months)
• Remote access from home or office
• Support for integrating your own records
• Fast statistical disclosure turnarounds (<10 business days)
• Free trial access through the end of 2025

Whether you’re interested in advancing research, informing policy, or supporting evidence-based decision-making, now is the perfect time to explore the platform’s robust features and comprehensive data holdings. To learn more, please visit https://cjars.org/vde or reach out to us with your questions at cjars-vde-users@umich.edu.