Intern- Bridge Beyond Carolina Internship Program SSES Justice Practice

RTI International (RTI) is both a global research institute and a leading international development organization based out of North Carolina. At RTI, you will find work you believe in, tackling some of the most complex global challenges of our time. Our mission is to impact the wellbeing of 1 billion people by 2030 through science-based solutions in climate, education, health, and equity. Our staff promote meaningful change around the world helping people live healthier, more productive, and more independent lives.

If you are looking for an opportunity to make a real difference, RTI is the place for you. Join us in our commitment to teamwork, belonging, and the passion to change the world.

Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences (SSES) performs a wide range of research and technical services focused on important public policy issues in health, environment, education, criminal justice, and social welfare. Over 3,000 staff support more than 1,000 projects each year. We are passionate about Improving the Human Condition, and believe Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging must permeate all that we do.

The Justice Practice Area

Our work is building the evidence base to advance justice, safety, and resilience in our communities. We seek to (1) understand the prevalence, characteristics, and correlates of crime and victimization and (2) develop and assess strategies to promote safety, accountability, and resilience. We are organized around the primary stakeholders in and consumers of our research, evaluation, quality assurance, and knowledge translation projects. These stakeholders include victim services providers, public health entities, law enforcement, and agencies in judicial and correctional systems, as well as the communities that these agencies and systems serve. The Justice Practice Area includes a wide variety of experts to lead and support projects that encompass cross-sector and multidisciplinary approaches to advance science and promote justice. The most important aspect of what we do is conducting work that is practical and impactful to the agencies and individuals working to promote justice, safety, and resilience

Internship Summary

RTI International is excited to share this Scope of Work to identify a University of North Carolina doctoral student to participate in an internship within the Justice Practice Area for Summer 2025. This internship will allow the student to collaborate on a national research project focusing on understanding the implementation, impact and costs of community supervision and/or clean slate legislative policies.

The graduate student intern should anticipate that they will have the opportunity to participate in several core project activities, including collaborating with RTI colleagues with expertise in economics, criminology, law, and quantitative and qualitative research; preparing project deliverables (e.g., policy and research briefs, PowerPoint presentations) and manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals; engaging in dissemination strategies; and participating in RTI team and external client meetings, including the funder and the state probation partners. We envision that a graduate student intern will be a fundamental and contributing colleague on the project team and we are committed to providing mentorship and development opportunities to allow for professional growth during the internship term. Dr. Pamela K. Lattimore and Dr. Kristin Bechtel will serve as the managers for this internship. The internship will be remote as project colleagues are mostly teleworkers, but if there are opportunities for RTI campus meetings, the graduate student intern will be welcome to attend.

Internship Core Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities for this internship include:

• Conducting literature reviews scanning research on policies and their implementation, costs, and impact
• Supporting the development and refinement of qualitative instruments and approaches (e.g., surveys, interview protocol)
• Participating in data collection and analysis, including cleaning and coding of quantitative and qualitative data
• Assisting with the completion of IRB materials and supporting any follow-up
• Contributing to written deliverables and reviewing work products for accuracy and completion
• Documenting team and client meeting highlights and facilitating next steps internally to ensure the project activities and tasks are completed in a timely manner
• Ensuring consistent and clearly written and verbal communication between team members and clients

Internship Learning Objectives

Learning objectives to be achieved in partnership with the graduate student intern, include:

• Increasing subject matter expertise on community supervision and/or clean slate policies and practices, understanding implementation needs and associated data challenges, identifying potential solutions to allow for a more robust implementation and evaluation of these policies.
• Developing policy-relevant writing skills for policy makers, practitioners, and community.
• Growing professional network with RTI and external clients.
• Expanding upon quantitative and qualitative research skills on a policy-focused project.
• Understanding grant and contract management responsibilities.

Internship Qualifications

Successful graduate student intern qualifications include:

• Be currently enrolled in a doctoral program in a related field, such as, public policy, criminal justice/criminology, economics, sociology, etc.
• Have prior experience with research through coursework (e.g., research methods, statistics, data analysis), research internships, or employment.
• Have a strong interest in policy-relevant research, especially related to the criminal legal system, community supervision, reintegration, collateral consequences, etc.
• Be curious, humble, organized, and an enthusiastic team member who can balance working independently with knowing that asking questions is encouraged to help support learning, as well as to efficiently develop solid, beneficial, and timely work products.
• Be able to work successfully in a remote work environment, including being an effective communicator in writing and verbally, to ask and address questions, manage task responsibilities, and schedule and participate in video conference meetings.
• Have 20+ hours/week available to work. While some project tasks can be completed outside regular business hours (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM), there are regularly scheduled project calls that the intern would be asked to participate in.
• Have basic project management skills, including the use of Microsoft office software (MS Word, Excel PPT).

For San Francisco, CA USA Job Postings Only: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Further information is available here.

RTI accepts applications to our job openings from candidates with criminal histories or conviction records in accordance with all applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

For Applicants in Massachusetts Only: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below. Our pay ranges represent national averages and may vary by location as a geographic differential may be applied to some locations within the United States. RTI considers multiple factors when making an offer including, for example: established salary range, internal budget, business needs, and education and years of work experience possessed by the applicant. Further, salary is merely one element to our offer.

At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.