Lab

Prospective RAs

Tyler Renshaw

• 2 min read

I usually have 2–4 research assistants (RAs) working with my lab at any given time. Most of our RA positions are volunteer-based. And most RAs are undergrad students at Utah State University who are majoring or minoring in psychology. However, my lab is open to RAs from other programs, other universities, and community agencies. 

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I am NOT accepting new RAs to work in my lab for the foreseeable future. I will update this notification whenever that changes. If you are interested in an RA opportunity related to youth mental health or school-based mental health services, then I recommend looking into the labs of the other faculty in the USU School Psychology Program.

RA Basics

Being an RA is a good way to figure out if you actually like research. It is also a surefire way to strengthen your application for grad school in psychology and mental health fields. In my lab, RA work provides opportunities to collaborate with grad students and to get an insider's look into the ins-and-outs of grad school.

RAs in my lab are assigned to work on specific projects and are typically trained and supervised by my current PhD students. I provide secondary supervision for all the projects going on in the lab. I’m also happy to meet with RAs to provide mentoring around grad school and career options.

Common research activities for RAs in our lab include school-based observations and data collection, literature reviews, and article coding for systematic reviews. Most RAs end up helping out with grad students' dissertation projects.

RA Eligibility

Here is an eligibility checklist for folks interested in becoming RAs with our lab: 

  1. Are you interested in learning more about youth mental health and school-based mental health services?
  2. Are you thinking about pursuing graduate studies in a mental health field?
  3. Are you majoring or minoring in psychology? (Or already completed a major or minor in psychology?)
  4. Do you have at least a 3.0 overall undergrad GPA?
  5. Are you willing to spend at least one full academic year (or 2 semesters) working with our lab as an RA?
  6. Are you willing to commit at least 5 hours per week to RA work?

If you can answer “Yes” to each of these questions, then you might be a good fit for our lab. Feel free to send me an email to express your interest, and I will reply to let you know about current opportunities.