Research Assistant (Summer Student)
(Temporary, Full-Time)
We acknowledge that the land we gather on, Mohkínsstsisi, is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation, and the Îyâxe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley First Nations. This land is also the home of Métis Nation Region 3. We recognize all Indigenous people of Turtle Island who call Treaty 7 home.
We acknowledge that there has been art, music, dance, storytelling, and ceremony on this land since time immemorial and it is in the spirit of this land and its people that we do our work.
Employment Equity Statement
Calgary Arts Development is an equal opportunity employer and employs people without regard to race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, language, citizenship, creed, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, physical, and/or mental abilities.
While remaining alert and sensitive to the issue of fair and equitable treatment for all, Calgary Arts Development has a special concern with the participation and advancement of members of designated groups that have traditionally been disadvantaged in employment: Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, persons with physical or mental disabilities, and members of the 2SLGBTQIAP+ community.
We are currently working remotely to reduce the risk of COVID-19 contact for our staff, but it is important to note that our office in the Burns Building downtown is unfortunately not fully accessible in the following ways:
- The Burns Building is not fully wheelchair accessible.
- We do not have accessible or gender-neutral washrooms — the closest ones are in the building adjacent to ours, Arts Commons.
- We are not presently equipped with technology that supports those with hearing or visual impairments.
While we seek to rectify this in the future, we feel it is important to be transparent about the limitations of our current facilities.
Who Are We?
Calgary Arts Development Authority is our city’s designated arts development authority. We provide grant investments to hundreds of arts organizations, individual artists, and groups. We value relationships, generosity, reciprocity, plain language, and curiosity.
We believe the arts have the power to build our city. Through the arts development strategy, Living a Creative Life, our vision is a creative, connected, prosperous Calgary where every resident has the opportunity to live a creative life. We foster a sustainable and resilient arts sector, and support arts-led city building.
Strong relationships are central to our work, and will be particularly central to this role. We honour artists and believe that art is a critical component of public good. We welcome new introductions and partnerships with artists and arts organizations as well as with others whose work may be outside the arts who are trying to make our city great through living a creative life.
Our team has been working towards creating shared environments where all people can feel safe, heard, and validated. A sensitivity to the lived experiences of diverse, marginalized, and equity-seeking people is very important as we continue valuing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in all aspects of our work.
The Role
We are recruiting a temporary full-time research assistant to join our Impact team for the summer.
Calgary Arts Development maintains multi-year data sets. This individual will review the data, co-develop a standard for maintaining that data moving forward, and clean previous data to ensure it meets the newly developed standard.
Specific tasks will include:
- Data cleaning
- Data management
- Data manipulation
- Data reporting
Having worked closely with the data, this individual will work with management to understand what information and learnings from the data are most useful, and how to present that information internally to the organization and externally to our clients.
Our organization receives hundreds of applications for grants each year, and hundreds of final reports. Most reports provide qualitative information, and we are developing a systematic way of compiling that information as well as using technological tools to gather useful information from those reports.
Specific tasks related to using this data set will include:
- Field scan of other funders and how they use reports.
- Data manipulation.
- Data reporting.
Additional related tasks will include:
- Contributing to research projects by doing background research and literary reviews.
- Developing recommendations for digital procedures.
- Analysis of qualitative data using natural language processing tools.
Who Are You?
This position is supported by the Canada Summer Jobs Program. As a requirement of that program, applicants must be youth between the ages of 15 and 30. Preference will be given to students returning to school in the fall and recent graduates.
For this position, we are looking for a detail-oriented individual comfortable using quantitative software such as excel.
You are not all things to all people, but you are probably already a few of these things:
- You are passionate about the Calgary arts community, and enjoy working with people.
- You are highly organized, detail oriented, and self-motivated in your work.
- You are comfortable juggling multiple tasks simultaneously, identifying priorities, and ensuring those you work with have all the details they need to be successful in their work.
- You have strong time management skills.
- You are very detail oriented.
- You have experience using excel and google sheets.
- You are committed to growing your awareness of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility and want to ensure that our systems reflect those values.
- You are a self-starter who is adaptable working both independently and with a team.
- You are a lifelong learner.
- You may have experience with other research software such as nVivo, SPSS, arcGIS, Voxco.
- You are a quick learner when it comes to new software tools.
If you see yourself in this opportunity, we would love to have a conversation with you. And if you’re not sure, you can learn more about us by exploring our website.
If you have questions about this posting, please address those inquiries to Gregory Burbidge, Research & Policy Manager, at greg.burbidge@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.
How to Apply
Please indicate your interest by emailing jointheteam@calgaryartsdevelopment.com with your resume and cover letter. Please use the subject line: Research Assistant
If you would like to request application assistance, please contact jointheteam@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or call 403.264.5330 to arrange assistance. Details around application assistance are listed in detail below.
For best consideration apply by May 13, 2022. We are hoping to fill this position by late May.
While there is some flexibility regarding the start date, this temporary position ends no later than September 3, 2022. During the employment period, the position will be supported for full-time work at $25 per hour.
Application Assistance
We recognize that the job application process can create barriers to access for many applicants who are interested in applying. Our job calls are written in English, shared online, and require applicants to email their applications in English. This creates technological, linguistic, communication, and cultural barriers, to name a few.
In recognition of these barriers to access, eligible applicants can request assistance to help alleviate some of the costs associated with preparing and submitting a job application.
Who Can Request Assistance?
Individuals who self-identify as:
- An individual who is Deaf, hard of hearing, has a disability or is living with a mental illness.
- An individual facing language, geographic, or cultural barriers.
To receive assistance, you will need to provide:
- The name and contact information of someone who can help you (this could be a trusted friend or family member, or a professional service provider). We may be able to make recommendations depending on the service being requested.
- The amount you are requesting, including the service provider’s hourly rate.
Types of Assistance
General Transcription or Editing Services & Organizing of Support Materials
- Applicants who identify barriers within the writing process directly due to a physical or learning disability or due to living with mental illness.
- Maximum Contribution: $75
Language Translation
- Applicants writing an application in another language who require translation into English, including American Sign Language.
- Maximum Contribution: $150
ASL Interpretation
- Calgary Arts Development is able to make arrangements for reputable, in-person ASL interpreters for interviews, in consultation with the interviewee, and at no cost to the interviewee.
Interview Parking
- Applicants who must drive to an interview at our request are eligible to have their parking costs paid by Calgary Arts Development.
- Maximum Contribution: $26 per interview, or the equivalent of the daily rate for parkades or parking meters that are close to the Calgary Arts Development office. Please note that currently all interviews are being conducted via Zoom.
Childcare
- Applicants who require childcare services in order to attend the interview are eligible to be reimbursed for those childcare expenses.
