Graduate Assistant for Public Health Fall 2026

Public Health Graduate Assistant

• Position: Graduate Assistant
• Academic Year: 2026/2027
• Modality: In-person
• College: CEHHS - College of Education, Health, and Human Services
• Department: Public Health

Job Overview

The Department of Public Health is accepting applications for Unit 11 Graduate Assistant positions for Fall 2026:

• Body Hygiene Insecurity Project
  
  
  • The Graduate Assistant will work as a student researcher by assisting a faculty member with their work with the Socio-Environmental Tijuana River Project Lab investigating the intersection of substance use and environmental health in the Tijuana / San Diego border region. This position will support the re-design and testing of survey and semi-structured interview instruments, assist with fieldwork preparation and logistical planning for data collection, conduct literature review, assist in quantitative analysis using R and qualitative analysis using Atlas.ti, and contribute to drafting a manuscript based on the collected data, as well as help prepare findings for sharing with binational networks and community partners.
• Grant Proposal Preparation
  
  • This position focuses on supporting the preparation and development of upcoming grant proposals (such as the preliminary development for an NIH R16 proposal related to the understanding of body hygiene stigma. The Graduate Assistant will assist in the preliminary development of grant proposals, including structuring objectives and aims, conduct comprehensive literature searches and reviews to build a strong evidence base for proposals, support the finalization and formatting of grant narratives and supporting documents, and collaborate and assist with data or literature needs on an ongoing environmental justice study.
    
    
• Social Epidemiology

  • The Graduate Assistant will work as a student researcher by assisting faculty on community engagement and social epidemiology projects. This person will be responsible for (i) creating health communication, promotion, or outreach materials, (ii) coding interview data or analyzing descriptive survey data, (iii) secondary survey data management, (iv) write-ups of research findings, and (v) relevant literature review. The scope of these tasks will support community-engaged and epidemiologic research needs on how sociocultural factors relate to mental health outcomes in marginalized communities.

• Data Analysis & Manuscript Preparation
   
  • This Graduate Assistant position focuses on assisting public health faculty with a research project examining physical functioning and disability among older adults. Responsibilities may include literature reviews, identification of data sources, data analysis and management, and/or manuscript preparation.
    
    
• CSUSM Mobile Wellness
  
  
  • This graduate assistant position focuses on assisting public health faculty with their work on the CSUSM Mobile Wellness initiative, conducting literature reviews and research as needed to support program initiatives. This position assists with identifying and writing grants to support funding opportunities, alongside collecting, organizing and performing light analysis on data related to program activities and outcomes. 

California State University San Marcos is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants for employment without regard to age, physical or mental disability, gender or sex, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, medical condition, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion or religious creed, sexual orientation, and veteran or military status

General Requirements of the Positions:

• Current enrollment in a graduate program at CSUSM.
• A Bachelor's degree or higher.
• Ability to relate well to others within the academic environment.
• Strong communication and time management skills.
• Previous research and/or data collection and/or data analysis experience preferred. 
• Experience with data analysis software like SPSS, R, or SAS.

General Minimum Qualifications of the Position:

• Admission or registration as a CSUSM student

For a complete list of responsibilities and required qualifications, please review the position description linked at the top of the page.

Anticipated Pay Rate

• Anticipated Hiring Salary Range: Minimum: $ 3,408.00 Maximum: $ 6,072.00
• CSU Classification Salary Range: Minimum: $ 3,408.00 Maximum: $ 6,072.00

The anticipated hiring range is generally at or near the minimum of the appropriate range, commensurate with education and experience.

Graduate Assistants are non-exempt employees. CSU policy limits work assignments to no more than 20 hours in a week in all campus positions combined while students are in session.

Application Timeline 

Applications are accepted and reviewed as needed, on an on-going basis throughout the 2026/2027 Academic Year. Applications will be reviewed starting 05/28/2026. All positions are subject to enrollment/registration as a CSUSM student and funding.