Intern, Ithaka S+R (Rural Student Success Network)

Ithaka • New York City, NY

3d • $25 - $25

About The Position

Ithaka S+R is a non-profit research and consulting service that helps the academic and cultural communities serve the public good and navigate economic, technological, and demographic change. Ithaka S+R is currently collaborating with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) to facilitate the Rural Student Success Network (RSSN). The RSSN is a learning cohort that will seek to bolster student success and economic mobility by convening and guiding a network of rural-serving institutions (RSIs) in efforts to improve their programming and practices around community college transfer processes, re-engagement and support for adult learners, and aligning their program offerings with local workforce needs. The S+R team will be supporting institutions by coordinating inter-institutional learning opportunities, providing tailored technical assistance, and producing institution-specific reports with insights about how to optimize improvements for each institution’s local context. The team will simultaneously be conducting research activities designed to highlight best practices and identify lessons learned from the literature on student success for the cohort and the field more broadly. Working with the RSSN project team and reporting to a Ithaka S+R Researcher, the intern will contribute to a number of project activities, including conducting case studies of student success programs, developing institution specific tools for technical assistance support, and planning and facilitating virtual network convenings. The intern will have the opportunity to learn from our team of researchers and institutional partners while contributing to impactful work meant to support both RSIs and the students they serve. This internship will last 12 weeks, beginning on June 2, 2026. To be considered for this opportunity, please ensure your application is submitted by the deadline of January 31, 2026.

Requirements

• Pursuing a master’s degree or Ph.D in a field that requires superior writing, communication, research, and critical thinking skills.
• Strong interest in Ithaka S+R’s mission to solve challenges facing higher education.
• Comfort working in a fluid, highly collaborative, remote team environment.
• Ambitious self-starter enthusiastic about learning new skills.
• Highly effective communicator, eager to collaboratively set goals and seek feedback.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks while ensuring attention to detail and accuracy.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex concepts and research data into compelling, accessible, and engaging work products, including long- and short-form written outputs as well as presentation materials.

Nice To Haves

• Qualitative analysis experience (preferred but not required).

Responsibilities

• Address critical challenges in higher education
• Develop a broader knowledge of Ithaka S+R’s work through exposure to and active participation in discussions beyond the scope of the intern’s specific project
• Collaborate with researchers and analysts to produce specific deliverables
• Present work accomplished during the internship showcasing deliverables achieved and skills learned
• Contributing to project development (e.g., project scoping, background research, development of mixed methods research instruments).
• Participating in data collection (e.g., literature reviews, desk research, conducting interviews and focus groups).
• Performing data analysis.
• Contributing to project outputs, including reports, memos, blog posts, fact sheets, and slide decks.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern