Dr. Kameko Halfmann, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, earned the university’s inaugural New Faculty Professional Development Award. The award provides one new faculty member each year with funding to help launch his or her research or creative endeavor program at the university. The faculty member receives up to $5,000 from the university’s provost’s office and up to $5,000 matching funds from their college.
“I was truly honored and excited to receive this award,” said Halfmann. “The award allowed me to pay students over the summer to work on research and help set up my lab here at UW-Platteville.”
“The newly-created, new faculty start-up award is an amazing opportunity for new faculty, as it provides funding between their first and second year at UW-Platteville,” said Chris Frayer, coordinator of the New Instructor and Academic Staff Learning Community at UW-Platteville. “The inaugural award helped fund Dr. Halfmann's research, which provided four students the opportunity to work on an undergraduate research project.”
“This new faculty start-up award supports the development of individual research programs of outstanding faculty such as Dr. Halfmann early in their career and is a step in the right direction in providing a comprehensive start-up package on a competitive basis,” said Dr. Chanaka Mendis, assistant provost at UW-Platteville. “This is the first time we have institutionalized such an award and I truly believe that it will not only support faculty in advancing their research projects but also provide our students opportunities to engage in a high impact practice such as research.”
For the award, Halfmann and her students (Chelsea Davis, Dominique Kornely, Bailey Kerkel and Dana Mueller) worked on research related to student debt attitudes. Students assisted in several aspects of the research, including Institutional Review Board preparation, design, data collection, literature reviews and writing up the results.
“We found that most students view debt as a way to invest in their future and they have a relatively high level of confidence in navigating student loans,” said Halfmann. “However, a substantial portion of our students also experience quite a bit of anxiety related to their debt, and these students tend to have had a lower childhood socioeconomic status and higher levels of depression/anxiety. Also, we found that students who are more impulsive tend to view debt as a way to fund a social lifestyle. Now we are trying to better understand what elicits or reduces impulsivity.”
Halfmann and her students presented their research findings from the preliminary study at the Pioneer Creative Activities and Research Day in 2018. They also submitted a manuscript to be considered for publication. They will also present related research at the Pioneer Creative Activities and Research Day in April 2019.
Halfmann, who has been at UW-Platteville since fall 2017, teaches courses in general psychology, research methods and physiological psychology. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a concentration in neuroscience from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in neuroscience on the cognitive track from the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
Tenure-track faculty in their first year at UW-Platteville who regularly participate in the university’s New Instructor Learning Community are eligible to apply for the New Faculty Professional Development Award. Review the guidelines and proposal requirements for the award.