Senior Community Research Associate / Project Lead

Department Overview

The University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) has a 50-year history at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. The UCEDD at OHSU works to improve the health and quality of life of Oregonians with disabilities through education, community service, research and information sharing.

Function/Duties of Position

This grant funded position is for an individual with expertise or lived experience in AAC to participate in and guide projects with the UCEDD for the AAC Peer Support Project. The role includes the development, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of strategies that build UCEDD community-engaged research capacity and partnerships. This position is critical for leadership, collaboration, dissemination, and communication with disability organizations locally, regionally, and nationally involved with AAC and peer support. Research and engagement activities may span diverse domestic and national regions and include virtual workgroup meetings, virtual coalition meetings, leadership meetings, and community engagement studios.

 

AAC Peer Support Project:

Training and Capacity Building 

• Co-lead workgroup efforts to provide introductory training for coalition members on governance, peer leadership, and inclusive facilitation. 

• Offer early technical assistance to emerging or existing AAC peer groups, including mentorship support and guidance on accessibility best practices. 

Leadership Coalition Support 

• Assist with planning, coordination, and facilitation of leadership coalition activities, including establishing and leading virtual meetings for workgroups, leadership, coalition and partners, as needed.  

• Advise on strategies to engage and retain coalition members, including outreach to hard-to-reach populations. 

• Support evaluation efforts by tracking participation, outcomes, and impact of coalition initiatives. 

• Participate in reporting generation and dissemination. 

Community Engagement and Recruitment 

• Lead recruitment of AAC Steering Committee members and community engagement studio participants. 

• Support development of culturally and community-informed approaches to engage participants. 

• Facilitate community engagement studios and related activities. 

Communication Accessibility 

• Lead efforts to ensure accessibility of project communications, materials, and engagement activities. 

• Collaborate with project team to implement strategies for inclusive communication practices across all project components. 

Advisory and Collaboration 

• Provide guidance and support to the project team in implementation of AAC-related initiatives. 

• Advise on project direction and priorities to ensure alignment with objectives. 

UCEDD activities

• Attend relevant meetings.
• Participate in projects that require your skills/expertise.

Required Qualifications

• Master's in relevant field (creative writing or communication based field) AND 5 years of relevant experience OR Bachelor's in relevant field (creative writing or communication based field) AND 9 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated competence in written and spoken communication using a speech generating device.
• Authorship of written documents for the international AAC community related to disability advocacy and AAC.
• Experience with and authorship of podcasts and audio presentations related to disability advocacy and AAC.
• Experience in leadership positions on disability committees and AAC national and international organizations.
• National experience working with people who use or need AAC and successfully communicating with them.
• Experience disseminating information at national and international AAC meetings.
• Experience leading national meetings with AAC users and disability organizations through virtual platforms.
• Experience setting national agendas for consortium meetings with AAC users and disability organizations.
• Experience collating, organizing and sharing information into accessible shared internet drives for AAC users and disability organizations.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, Powerpoint; Google Drive and ZOOM platform; Excellent communication skills; Ability to work independently and remotely in a multi-task environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in anthropology, related to AAC and disability peer supports