The Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences program has opportunities for both undergraduate (including work-study) and graduate students at the University of Michigan.
Undergraduate Students:
Join the QMSS Student Leadership Team through any 1 of the 3 following positions that we currently employ undergraduate students for:
- Front Office Assistants
QMSS Front Office Assistants work at the front desk in the QMSS suite to welcome and assist visitors, answer phone calls, manage our open work spaces, direct students to office hours, receive deliveries, and welcome new QMSS students to the minor. QMSS Front Office Assistants also work directly with the QMSS Program Manager on special projects as needed, including (but not limited to) creating marketing materials, creating social media content, analyzing data, creating data visualizations, assisting with QMSS events, and putting together various handouts and deliverables for students.
If you are interested in this position, please reach out to Caitlin Posillico, the QMSS Program Manager for more information!
Winter 2024 - Spring/Summer 2024: We are NOT currently accepting applications for this position.
Fall 2024: Stay tuned for more information!
- Student Writers
QMSS Student Writers work remotely to create original content for the QMSS student-run blog, Putting Methods to the Madness, the QMSS News page on our website, and QMSS social media accounts.
Putting Methods to the Madness, QMSS's student-run blog
Run by QMSS senior Connor Zahler as Editor & QMSS faculty supervisor Dr. Beth Ann Whitaker, Student Writers have an opportunity to write short articles about topics they are interested in or passionate about -- with a data-relevant twist. From sports to fashion to Google search trends to U-M's history to celebrating and elevating underrepresented individuals and voices, YOU choose the topics you want to write about and get creative about how to incorporate numbers and data (including a critique of data-related methods someone else (mis)used!).
QMSS News & Social Media
Dip your toes in journalism and media by writing articles that get featured directly on the QMSS website. Conduct short interviews with QMSS GSIs, faculty, staff, students, and invited speakers & write them up for the website, attend QMSS events and write about your experience & that of other attendees, and create original content for QMSS's social media on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.
If you are interested in this position or just want to learn more, feel free to reach out to our current editor, QMSS senior Connor Zahler (conmoo@umich.edu), the writing team's faculty supervisor, Dr. Beth Ann Whitaker (bawhit@umich.edu), or the QMSS Program Manager, Caitlin Posillico (qmss.program@umich.edu) for more information and to learn about our application instructions.
Winter 2024 - ongoing: We are currently accepting applications for this position!
- Peer Mentors
QMSS Peer Mentors are current declared QMSS minors that work as a direct connection between QMSS faculty, staff, and students to bring students relevant workshops, seminars, and social community-building events & resources. QMSS Peer Mentors are regularly available to current and prospective QMSS students to provide their perspective, advice, and to connect students with resources as needed. Peer Mentors attend QMSS Community Hours and hold drop-in office hours (both in-person and virtual options), and they are availabile via one-on-one appointments by student request through the QMSS Peer Mentor email account (qmss-peermentors@umich.edu).
QMSS Peer Mentors work directly with the QMSS Program Manager and have several leadership opportunities throughout the academic year to brainstorm various events they believe will benefit the QMSS Community and then take on the responsibility of planning, managing, and/or executing those events. Mentorship is provided by more senior QMSS Peer Mentors and through one-on-one meetings as needed with the QMSS Program Manager.
If you like to take initiave and want an opportunity to be a leader within the QMSS community, gain valuable experience as a mentor, and work directly with QMSS administration and faculty to provide more for the QMSS program, then please consider applying to be a QMSS Peer Mentor!
If you are interested in this position or just want to learn more, please reach out to the QMSS Program Manager, Caitlin Posillico (qmss.program@umich.edu).
Winter 2024: We are NOT currently accepting applications for this position.
Fall 2024: Stay tuned for more information!
Graduate Students:
Join the QMSS teaching community as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) for 1 of our program's 2 core courses:
- QMSS 201: Introduction to Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences
QMSS 201 takes an applied perspective to data science and statistics in the social sciences. It covers data cleaning, data management, data ethics, hypothesis testing, and data visualization through application of skills to real-world, socially-rooted datasets. Students are taught how to use (and required to apply skills in problem sets and projects with) Excel, Tableau, and R throughout the semester. GSIs in QMSS 201 teach 2 laboratory sections as part of their responsibilities.
- QMSS 301: Quantitative Social Science Analysis and Big Data
QMSS 302 also takes an applied perspective to big data in the social sciences. It covers web scraping, text analysis, geospatial analysis, and predictive analysis through application of skills to real-world, socially-rooted datasets. Students are taught how to use (and required to apply skills in problem sets and projects with) R and Python. GSIs in QMSS 301 teach 2 laboratory sections as part of their responsibilities.
The LSA Class Size Policy can be found here: LSA Class Size Policy.
More details about the job descriptions and expectations of a QMSS GSI can be found in our job posting.
Winter 2024 - Spring/Summer 2024: We are NOT currently accepting applications for QMSS GSIs.
Fall 2024: Stay tuned for more information!
