Research Assistants

Dr. King's lab is staffed by his PhD mentees, master's students in clinical psychology, and undergraduate students.

The RA team as of fall 2010 consists of

PhD students:

• Brooke Stettler
• Jill Del Pozzo
• Kenny Gonzalez
• Lauren Grove
• Tristin Faust

MA students:

• Ryan Brady
• Sarah Hitchcock
• Amanda Parlardy
• Nicole Guevara

Former students (still working in lab):

• Alma Munoz-Enriquez (BA)
• Alexandria Lopez (MA)
• Ambiorix Ramirez (MA)
• Dwight Ceballo (MA)
• Ivysmeralys Morales (MA)

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Interested MSU Students

Research assistants (RAs) receive various assignments within the lab, including the following:

• extracting information from legal databases and the available research literature
• collecting data from participants
• scoring research measures
• entering paper records into electronic data files
• conducting data analyses, if able
• developing conference presentation submissions
• delivering conference presentations
• co-authoring papers with Dr. King

Master's students and undergraduate students who are interested in working as RAs within the lab must be able to devote 10 hours to lab work per week (including on site as needed). This includes attending an approximately hour-long weekly morning lab meeting.

Initial RA appointments are for one semester, but RAs who perform adequately can continue to work in the lab for as long as approved by Dr. King. Availability, dependability, and hard work in the lab is the route to a strong letter of recommendation from Dr. King.

Students who are interested in obtaining admission to a master's or doctoral program relevant to clinical-forensic psychology are encouraged to get as close to two years of research experience in the lab as possible. This is in addition to

• studying long and hard to obtain a high GPA
• studying long and hard to score well on the GRE
• working with Dr. King well ahead of time to determine graduate programs that would make sense to apply to
• working with Dr. King well ahead of time to develop a strong personal statement and CV
• working with Dr. King well ahead of time to develop a personal statement that is tailored to each graduate program to which you are applying
• volunteering in a second lab to obtain a letter of recommendation from an additional faculty member who does research
• volunteering in a relevant human services setting to round out your experience and obtain a letter of recommendation from a human services provider

It is no doubt a lot of work. And the road to become a licensed psychologist (which requires earning a PhD or PsyD degree in clinical, counseling, or school psychology, among other things) who practices forensic psychology (which ideally involves specialty training in or soon after graduate school) is especially long and competitive. But the work is highly interesting, meaningful, and consequential, and it can also be fairly lucrative.

Some of these comments apply as well to related but distinct future careers, with their own graduate school training routes, including correctional psychologist, licensed professional counselor, licensed clinical social worker, certified alcohol and drug counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, specialty probation or parole officer, and lawyer. I advise students in my lab about these alternative educational and career options, which may be a better fit for some of them.

Note: My lab is likely not a very good fit for students interested in forensic psychiatry, as psychiatry has a very different training route than applied psychology and the other human services. The same may also be true for students primarily interested in child advocacy, criminology, and law enforcement.

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Applying to Work in the Lab

Students who are interested in obtaining an RA position are encouraged to apply in the summer prior to the fall term in which they hope to begin work in the lab. Although interested students may also apply ahead of the spring term, there may not be any RA openings in the spring term. Preference is given to master's clinical psychology students and undergraduate psychology students over all other MSU students.

Students interested in working as RAs should email Dr. King directly with a resume/CV and cover letter. In the cover letter, describe the following:

• why you are applying for an RA position in Dr. King's lab, specifically
• any relevant prior experiences you may have
• what your graduate school and career objectives are
• what you hope to get out of the experience

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Prospective PhD Applicants

Dr. King typically mentors a new clinical psychology PhD student each year.

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Letters of Recommendation

I typically only write letters of recommendation for students whom I've supervised in research or clinical practice, and who wish to go on to graduate study in human services (typically psychology but sometimes also social work or other disciplines that provide clinical services), law, or criminal justice. Part of this process involves personalized advising and feedback about your application plan and materials.

As I am typically unable to provide strong letters of recommendation for students whom I've only had in class, I tend to decline such requests or strongly caution students about relying on such a letter.

If you are an RA and wish to request letters of recommendation from me, you must generally do so 3 months before they are due (so in September for December application due dates, October for January due dates, December for March due dates, and so on).

Please provide me with drafts of all of the following at the same time as your request:

• Personal essay
• CV
• Unofficial transcript
• Document containing bullet-points of things I might highlight about you in your letter of recommendation
• Document containing a listing of programs to which you are applying (with web links), and, if applicable, the faculty with whom you are hoping to work (with web links)

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Conference Travel Funding

Attending academic conferences with Dr. King is an excellent professional development investment.

At present, there are three separate funding opportunities for RAs who are presenting research at academic conferences (whether in the form or posters or papers, and especially for student first authors).

1. The MSU Psychology Department offers undergraduate and graduate students who are presenting research at a conference approximately $250 per year to offset some of the costs that they incur. This amount may vary some from year to year. It may also only cover the cost of registration and some or all of the cost of printing a poster. The available funds can also be exhausted each year (by other students who applied for reimbursements sooner).

2. The MSU College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) Dean's Office, which oversees the college (CHSS) of which the Psychology Department is a part, offers undergraduate and graduate students who are presenting research at a conference approximately $100 per year to offset some of the costs that they incur.This amount may vary some from year to year. The available funds can also be exhausted each year (by other students who applied for reimbursements sooner).

These two sources of funding can be combined for an approximate total of $350 per year.

To receive such funding, you must submit three things to a Program Assistant for the Psychology Department (look him, her, or them up here):

(a) proof of the accepted presentation (e.g., a scan of an acceptance email or your entry in the conference program);

(b) receipts for your expenses; and

(c) a letter of support from Dr. King (email him a reminder about what you're presenting and where, and where your name falls on the authorship list).

3. The Graduate School (TGS) at MSU, a separate college from CHSS, provides Student Research & Conference Travel Fund Awards of up to $300 to graduate students (up to half of the cost of conference travel-related expenses). The available funds can also be exhausted each year (by other students who applied for reimbursements sooner). The application process involves a few additional materials beyond those required for #s 1 and 2 above. Read more about this funding opportunity here.

Steps for reimbursements requests from the Psychology Department, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean's Office, and The Graduate School:

1. No later than 60 days prior to your conference-related travel, submit a completed travel authorization form to the Psychology Department program assistant(s).

2. No later than 60 days prior to your conference-related travel, submit proof of acceptance of a paper or poster that you co-authored to the Psychology Department program assistant(s).

3. No later than 60 days prior to your conference-related travel, submit an acceptance email from the conference co-chairs, or an extracted page or pages from a conference program document or website, to the Psychology Department program assistant(s).

4. No later than 60 days prior to your conference-related travel, request that the Psychology Department program assistant(s) assist you with completing a quick invoice form.

5. No later than 30 days prior to your conference-related travel, if applying for The Graduate School's Student Research & Conference Travel Fund, submit your materials in request of this award.

6. Keep all original receipts received during your travel.

7. Soon upon returning from the conference (i.e., within about a week), make photocopies of your travel, lodging, registration, food, and other relevant receipts. You only need to make copies of receipts up to the max for which you are eligible for reimbursement (i.e., you do not need to submit receipts for which you will not be seeking reimbursement). For printed receipts, also include a copy of your bank statement reflecting the charge (and blacking out other charges). Submit these proofs of expense to the Psychology Department program assistant(s).

8. Soon upon returning from the conference (i.e., within about a week), request that the Psychology Department program assistant(s) assist you with completing a quick invoice form.

Once you have completed all of these steps, the Psychology Department program assistant(s) will route your paperwork to the necessary administrators within the Psychology Department and College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean's Office, respectively. Decisions regarding your reimbursements, and how you will receive said reimbursements, will be communicated either directly to you or through Dr. King.

Note: To make the task less burdensome for the Psychology Department program assistant(s), compile drafts of #s 1-4 and #s 7-8 before submitting to the Psychology Department program assistant(s) via email or in person.

The travel authorization, travel reimbursement, and quick invoice forms are located at: https://www.montclair.edu/finance-and-treasury/forms/

The Psychology Department program assistant(s) can be identified at: https://www.montclair.edu/psychology/faculty-and-staff/

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Alma's Future Research Assistant