Volunteer Opportunities for Students
COVID update
USC has made the decision to finish the academic semester online or remotely. Remote volunteer opportunities may be available; please inquire with the contact provided. Please visit USC’s official website for university updates regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Various opportunities are made available to current students interested in gaining direct experience conducting research, including contributing to the work of funded laboratories and scholarship of faculty members. If you are interested in volunteering to learn more about research or are considering a career in science, please contact faculty members directly to learn more.
Research Related to COVID-19
COVID-19 Time Use and Occupational Balance: Mental Health and Well-Being in College Students During a Pandemic
Nature of Work: This is a mixed methods study consisting of both survey and interviews examining the mental health and well-being of college students during the pandemic. We are looking at the relationships among We require assistance with recruitment, with conducting and transcribing interviews. Volunteers will have the opportunity to contribute to poster presentation and to publications.
Time Commitment: 6 hours a week for a minimum of one semester; if starting in 2020, commitment to May 2021 is requested. This will consist of a one-hour a week fixed meeting and the remaining time can be scheduled at your convenience and the availability of participants.
Preferred Skills and Resources: Attention to detail, organizational skills, conducting interviews, comfortable interacting with individuals from various backgrounds. Experience with PowerPoint, qualitative research, NVivo and/or SAS or SPSS is a plus.
Preferred method of communication: email
Contact: Sharon Cermak, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Healthy Aging Research & Technology (HART) Lab
Smartphone Intervention for Underactive Older Adults with and without Memory Difficulties
Faculty: Stacey Schepens Niemiec
Nature of Work: We are developing and testing a specialized smartphone application to improve physical activity patterns in older adults who are cognitively healthy or have mild memory difficulties. Duties may include IRB amendment/reports; recruitment and screening; data collection, entry and management; transcription; participant packet collating; inventorying and ordering supplies; and app intervention content development and suggestions for app improvement. You may also assist in literature reviews and creating reports or presentations.
Time Commitment: 6-20 hours/week for at least 2 semesters
Preferred Skills and Resources: CITI and HIPAA training offered through USC (will be required if you volunteer), general technological savviness, comfort with using a smartphone and teaching older people to use the device, attention to detail, literature searching skills, excellent writing skills, PowerPoint and Excel experience, and access to transportation to travel offsite to community venues involving seniors.
Preferred method of communication: Email
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Strategies For Optimizing mHealth Technology for Use in Older Adults with MCI and Dementia: A Rapid Review of the Literature
Faculty: Stacey Schepens Niemiec
Nature of Work: This study includes a review of the literature on the present practices that support successful use of mHealth technology in older people with mild cognitive impairments or dementia. Duties will include systematic review of the literature, contributions to manuscript development, identification of potentially suitable journals, and completion of online submission forms once a journal is selected.
Time Commitment: 4-8 hours/week
Preferred Skills and Resources: Excellent writing skills, attention to detail, literature searching skills, and PowerPoint and Excel experience.
Preferred method of communication: Email
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
¡Vivir Mi Vida! Lifestyle Intervention to Optimize Health Outcomes in Latino Patients
Faculty: Stacey Schepens Niemiec and Jeanine Blanchard
Nature of Work: Our interdisciplinary research team is developing a lifestyle-based intervention for late-midlife Latino adults who receive primary care services in a rural community. We have completed pilot testing of the intervention and are currently in the process of refining the manual, updating intervention modules for delivery via telehealth, writing manuscripts, presenting, and preparing grants. Duties may include transcription, Spanish-to-English translation, health resource gathering, review of training manual iterations, translating intervention modular content for delivery via telehealth, development of activity-based intervention modules, development of training for community health workers, searching literature, and creating reports and presentations.
Time Commitment: 4-8 hours/week
Preferred Skills and Resources: CITI and HIPAA training offered through USC (will be required if you volunteer), Spanish-English bilingual (not required but ideal), attention to detail, literature searching skills, experience analyzing qualitative data, excellent writing skills, willingness to travel offsite to rural areas such as Lancaster, and PowerPoint and Excel experience.
Preferred method of communication: Email
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
A Comparative Evaluation of Mobile Activity Monitors during Daily Tasks
Faculty: Stacey Schepens Niemiec
Nature of Work: The purpose of this study is to assess the validity of various commercially available and research grade activity monitors in measuring physical activity during a sedentary, light intensity, and moderate-to-vigorous intensity daily tasks. A secondary purpose is to assess the capability of these activity monitors to distinguish among different intensity activities. Duties may include data cleaning, literature review, presentation, and manuscript development.
Time Commitment: 4-8 hours/week
Preferred Skills and Resources: CITI and HIPAA training offered through USC (will be required if you volunteer), experience using activity trackers, attention to detail, literature searching skills, PowerPoint and Excel experience, ability to learn data and activity analysis programs.
Preferred method of communication: Email
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Sensory Adaptations in Dental Environments Lab
Sensory Adapted Dental Environment to Enhance Oral Care in Children
Faculty: Sharon Cermak
Description of Study: This is as NIH-funded grant designed to examine the effectiveness of an intervention to adapt the sensory characteristics of the dental environment in order to decrease anxiety and negative behavioral responses of children with ASD, thus enhancing their oral care.
Nature of work: Data entry
Time Commitment: Minimum of 4 hours weekly between 10am and 5pm
Number of students needed: 1
Preferred Skills and Resources: Attention to detail
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Test-retest reliability of the Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (Little DCDQ)
Faculty: Sharon Cermak
Description of study: The DCDQ is an established test being used in multiple countries to screen children for coordination disorders. A downward extension (younger ages) of the test is being developed. This study involves having 20 parents complete the questionnaire two times in order to examine test-retest reliability.
Time Commitment: Minimum of 4 hours per week
Preferred Skills and Resources: You must have access to a minimum of 25 parents of children, ages 3 and 4 (e.g., your sister or parent is a preschool teacher; you have a child that age who attends a preschool)
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)