October 27, 2020 | Julie (Stagis) Bartucca '10 (BUS, CLAS), '19 MBA - UConn Communications

Social Work Faculty Earn UConn Research Awards

Four UConn School of Social Work faculty members received funding to support their projects under two major internal award programs from the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR). Michael Fendrich, professor and associate dean for research, was awarded a $50,000 grant for his project, “Tailoring a Mindful Intervention to Enhance Opioid Treatment Outcomes […]

A man in a suit and tie sits at a table in an office, looking at the camera

Michael Fendrich starting his day with a bike ride to the office at the School of Social Work on Oct. 12, 2018. (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

Four UConn School of Social Work faculty members received funding to support their projects under two major internal award programs from the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR).

Michael Fendrich, professor and associate dean for research, was awarded a $50,000 grant for his project, “Tailoring a Mindful Intervention to Enhance Opioid Treatment Outcomes in a Community Program,” through the highly selective Research Excellence Program (REP). Crystal Park of the Department of Psychological Sciences and Elizabeth Russell of Human Development and Family Sciences, both in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, are co-principal investigators on the project.

According to OVPR, “the primary goal of the REP is to provide seed funding to fuel innovative research, scholarship, and creative endeavors with strong potential for significant extramural funding and/or achievements consistent with the highest standards of accomplishment in the discipline. Multi-PI, interdisciplinary projects are encouraged, with the goal of adding to UConn’s reputation for innovative research, scholarship, and creative activities.”

Three School of Social Work faculty members received Scholarship Facilitation Fund awards, through which the OVPR provides up to $2,000 to UConn faculty across all disciplines, on a competitive basis, to promote, support, and enhance research, scholarship and creative endeavors.

The faculty and their projects are:

  • Scott Harding, associate professor; co-director of the Ph.D. program: “Risk, Vulnerability and the Limits of Choice: Home Care Workers’ Views on COVID-19”
  • Kathryn Libal, associate professor; director, UConn Human Rights Institute: “Indexing Support for Contributory Volume on Beyond Borders: The Human Rights of Non-Citizens at Home and Abroad”
  • Nathanael Okpych, assistant professor: “How Campus Support Programs for Students with Foster Care Histories Adapt to the Covid-19 Pandemic”

For a full list of recent REP recipients and SFF recipients, visit the OVPR website. The next cycle for both awards is currently open. Applications for the SFF program are due December 1, 2020. Applications for REP are due December 15, 2020.