Minn-LInK Fellowship Program

Fellows will have opportunities for mentorship from 2 specific sources:

1. Fellowship Mentor—As part of the application process, applicants should identify a mentor (an academic advisor or another mentor who can provide ongoing support) who agrees to:
   • Provide a letter of recommendation for the applicant
   • Once accepted, provide feedback on the Fellow’s project
   • Participate in progress meetings with Minn-LInK staff and the Fellow
   • Review final analyses for project
2. Minn-LInK Researchers—As part of the Fellowship program, Fellows will receive ongoing support and mentorship from Minn-LInK researchers in coordination with the identified mentor through:
   • Development of data sets for research
   • Assistance in understanding the data
   • Address questions regarding the data cleaning, coding, analysis, and interpretation
   • Check-ins with Fellows

Each Fellow will be required to complete a research project which they will develop as part of the Fellowship Program. Research must include data from two or more Minn-LInK data systems (i.e., use integrated data) and focus on homeless students. Linking data within 1 system (e.g., MARSS and MCA) is not considered integrated data for this Fellowship. Applicants will develop a brief proposal as part of their application (including rationale, data required, analysis, and dissemination plan). Research project proposals will be refined by Fellows after they are selected and reviewed more thoroughly by Minn-LInK staff and Grand Challenges team members.

The research project builds on knowledge gained in the training seminar meetings and allows Fellows to gain applied experience conducting cross-systems research with support of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers. Fellows will begin research projects in June 2018 and complete by August 2018. Findings from research projects will be presented in a 4-page Minn-LInK Brief, and may also be shared in presentations to local and national stakeholders. The research project may also be used as part of a dissertation, journal publication, or conference presentation. All research requires Institutional Review Board approval, as well as a 30-day review period with our state agency partners according to Minn-LInK protocol.

Resources to support Research Project proposal development include:

1. All applicants should consult with Minn-LInK staff prior to submitting an application.
2. Review the Minn-LInK page to learn about the project and the data available.
3. Review Minn-LInK briefs to learn about previous studies, how Minn-LInK data can be used, and how Minn-LInK researchers keep local stakeholders informed of study findings.
4. Check out the Minn-LInK introductory packet for more information about what data is available, previous research questions, and the Minn-LInK process.
5. Read peer-reviewed, published articles to learn how Minn-LInK data can be used to advance science.
6. Read dissertations developed from Minn-LInK studies to learn how doctoral students have used Minn-LInK as a cornerstone of their doctoral program.

The application for the 2018 HSWH Minn-LInK Fellowship Program is closed. 

Application Requirements

• Interested students must submit their Fellowship applications by 11:59 PM on April 18th, 2018.
• Fellowship applicants must show an interest in conducting cross-systems research focused on homelessness and demonstrate strong research-based skills, including experience using sound research methods and intermediate to advanced quantitative data analysis techniques.
• Applicants must be in good academic standing in their program and commit to all requirements of the Fellowship.
• Applicants will need to submit:
  • An unofficial transcript;
  • An essay (no more than 2 pages, single spaced, 12 pt font) describing their interest in cross-systems research, their experience working with quantitative data (experience working with large or complex data sets is preferable but not required), and how the Fellowship will be used in their academic career;
  • A brief (2-3 page) research proposal; and
  • A letter of recommendation addressing the applicant’s readiness for cross-systems research, statistical ability, and how this work will support the student’s academic career. We recommend that the recommendation letter be written by the applicant’s academic advisor or someone who can speak about the applicant’s readiness for conducting cross-systems research using quantitative data.

Application Scoring Criteria

• The applicant has completed appropriate coursework in statistics and research methodology that would support his/her successful completion of the Fellowship and research project. The letter of recommendation supports the applicant’s description of readiness and fit, statistical aptitude, and skills.
• Applicant effectively conveys interest in issues and goals that align with the focus on homeless students of this Grand Challenge project and connects them very well to the Fellowship opportunity.
• The applicant describes, with detail, his/her data experience; experience is sufficient (e.g., student played a primary role in a Graduate Assistantship, internship, work experience, etc.) to carry out an independent research project and perform the proposed analysis.
• The applicant clearly describes the research question(s) and any secondary questions, description of the years, data sets, and variables needed to execute the research; study incorporates data from 2 or more systems.
• The proposed methodology is appropriate to answer identified research questions and describes a plan for analysis that can be refined with greater knowledge of the data available; scope is appropriate to the timeframe of the Fellowship.
• The applicant understands that a Minn-LInK Brief and presentation are required and considers both academic as well as community-based types of dissemination.

Applicants will be notified of acceptance by April 27th, 2018.

Reference the Resources tab for assistance with the development of the research proposal.

Meet the Minn-LInK Fellows
The Minn-LInK Fellowship Program is intended to prepare future researchers for cross-systems research using integrated data to better understand child well-being. The Fellowship serves to train students to use integrated, cross-systems data for research and to better understand the complexities of this data.

Meet the 2018 Homework Starts with Home Minn-LInK Fellows
The current Fellowship program is funded by the University of Minnesota’s Provost’s Grand Challenges Research Initiative. Students will have the opportunity to complete a research project focused on homeless and highly mobile students in Minnesota.

Max Herzberg, MA — Institute of Child Development

Max Herzberg is a doctoral student in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. He received a BA in Psychology from Grinnell College and MA in Child Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Max’s primary research interests include normative stress responses in early adolescence, the developmental consequences of early life stress, and the neural mechanisms associated with stress. His work with Minn-LInK investigates the effects of housing stability on the academic and behavioral outcomes of children in homeless or highly mobile families.

Sun-Kyung Lee — Family Social Science

Sun-Kyung is a doctoral student in Family Social Science department, specializing in family science. Her research interests are high-risk families, parent-child relationship, parenting, and research methods in family studies. Her recent studies focus on discrepancies of parenting measures, bidirectional influence between parent-child, family communication effect on child well-being, and adaptation process of Karen refugee families.

Warren Lowell — Humphrey School of Public Affairs

Warren Lowell is a Master of Public Policy student at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He received his B.A. in psychology from Cornell University and worked as a caseworker in children’s mental health for several years before returning to graduate school. Since coming to the Twin Cities in the fall of 2018, Warren has engaged with projects focusing on homelessness, early childhood, and social welfare policy. He currently serves as a research intern for the Governor’s Housing Task Force at Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, where he provides support to a team tasked with creating innovative housing solutions to Minnesota’s housing crisis. He is also a graduate research assistant at the Humphrey School where he conducts research in partnership with emergency homeless shelters to learn more about barriers that families face in accessing early childhood education and childcare. As a HSWH Fellow, Warren hopes to utilize cross-systems administrative data to assess the efficacy of certain homelessness interventions in improving student and family outcomes.

Weston Merrick, MPA — Humphrey School of Public Affairs

Weston is a PhD candidate at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and graduate research assistance at the Future Services Institute. His interest centers on how design thinking and behavioral sciences can be used to improve public service delivery. Weston also leads Minnesota Management & Budget’s Results First Initiative, an effort to use high-quality evidence to estimate the extent to which publicly funded services generate positive, cost-effective outcomes for Minnesotans. Previously, he evaluated the effectiveness of business incentives and workforce development programs for the Department of Employment & Economic Development.

Weston holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from Indiana University and BSBA in finance from the University of Missouri. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Weston met his wife and Minnesota native, Cassie, during college. As a Minnesota transplant, he spends his summers on patios and winters indoors with his pup, Dewey.

Alyssa Palmer — Institute of Child Development

Alyssa Palmer is a Ph.D. student in the Developmental Psychology program at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development (ICD). She graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 2016 with a B.S. in Psychology focusing in neuroscience. Her research interested include the effects of childhood adversity on mental health, emotion regulation, physiological reactivity and regulation, parenting, and interventions targeting those processes. Using data from Minn-LInK, Alyssa aims to complete a project focused on the effects of housing stability on family child protective service involvement.

Meet the 2015-2016 Minn-LInK Fellows
Each student completed his or her own Capstone Project between September 2015 and May 2016 using data housed at Minn-LInK. The inaugural cohort of Fellows represented a variety of research interests and academic programs across the University.

Minhae Cho, MSW — School of Social Work

Minhae Cho is a doctoral student in School of Social Work. She received her B.A. and Master’s degrees in Child Welfare from the Sookmyung Women’s University, South Korea, and also completed her M.S.W. at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She investigated the risk factors associated with recidivism among youth with child protection and juvenile justice system involvement. The project also examined the relationship between out-of-school suspensions and re-offending. Read more on Minhae’s work in Minn-LInK brief #30.

Sarah Cronin — Department of Educational Psychology

Sarah Cronin received her PhD in the Educational Psychology department studying Counseling Psychology. Her recent research endeavors include high school counselor effectiveness for first-generation college students, school counselor technology use to communicate with parents, and evaluation of an online parent education program. Sarah’s capstone project with Minn-LInK observed high school math achievement in Minnesota. More specifically, Sarah inquired about the effect school and family resources have on high school math achievement for rural to urban geographical settings. Resources included variables such as socioeconomic indicators, school counselor to student ratios, advanced and remedial course availability, and teacher’s years of work experience. Read more about Sarah’s work in our Minn-LInK Briefs.

Adele Dimian, MA — Department of Educational Psychology

Adele’s research interests include in general behavior analysis and the assessment of challenging behavior among children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. More specifically, she was interested in identifying risk factors for the development of self-injurious behavior among young children with intellectual/developmental disabilities. The capstone project Adele completed will aim to evaluate the educational placements and academic outcomes of young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who received individual or family skills training (i.e., early intensive behavioral therapy) at ages 3-5. The primary analysis and research question of this capstone project focused to what extent a delay in early intervention services impacts the long- term educational outcomes for children diagnosed with ASD. Read more on Adele’s work in Minn-LInK Brief #32.

Dylan Galos, MS — School of Public Health

Dylan Galos received his PhD in Epidemiology. Dylan earned his MS in Environmental Health Sciences from The Ohio State University in 2011 and BA in Biology from New Mexico State University in 2009. His primary research interests are in social epidemiology, quantitative methods, occupational health and child and family health. Using data from Minn-LInK, Dylan wrote his dissertation focusing on: 1) the incidence of intergenerational child maltreatment in Minnesota; 2) the impacts of intergenerational child maltreatment on education; 3) the impact of bias in self-report of child maltreatment. Read more on Dylan’s work in Minn-LInK Brief #29.

Aleksis Kincaid — Department of Educational Psychology

Aleksis received his PhD in School Psychology at the University of Minnesota. After graduating from The College of St. Scholastica with a B.S. in psychology and sociology, Aleksis served as an AmeriCorps member in an elementary school in Duluth, MN. Aleksis’ AmeriCorps experience and an internship at a county jail sparked his interest in how various systems can better serve the needs of youth. Aleksis’ research interests revolve around the intersections of race, disability, and socioeconomic status, and how these factors are related to education and life outcomes. His research aims to raise awareness of issues that youth with disabilities face and disseminate findings for practitioners to understand how to effectively work with these youth. This project focused on developing an understanding of the characteristics, needs, and outcomes of youth with disabilities who interact with the juvenile justice system. Specifically, this project had two aims: (1) to describe the topography of youth with disabilities who interact with the juvenile justice system; and (2) to determine what factors may be related to differential contact and disposition outcomes for youth with disabilities compared to their non-disabled peers. The results from this project will be used to raise awareness of the issues youth with disabilities face in the juvenile justice system. Read more on Aleksis’ work in Minn-LInK Brief #31.