Faculty and Staff Grants From October 2024

Expanding the Field: Building a Research Community and Innovative Research Agenda on Family Economic Well-Being

• Kristin Klopfenstein, Colorado Evaluation Action Lab
• Grant from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (subaward Administration for Children and Families)
• Abstract: This project will launch the Family Economic Well-Being Research Community to share what people interested in this problem are working on, how they approach the problem, and potential avenues for actionability. The results of this project will help identify potential target populations for child maltreatment prevention programs that specifically address financial instability and neglect.

Perinatal Substance Use Data Linkage Project

• Elysia Versen, Colorado Evaluation Action Lab
• Grant from the University of Colorado Denver
• Abstract: The goal of this data linkage project is to inform policy and practice efforts aimed at strengthening families impacted by perinatal substance use and substance use disorders (SU/SUD). The project is unique in Colorado because it centers maternal-infant dyads, their health outcomes and services received prenatally through the first year of life. As such, this study can bring into focus opportunities for prevention, treatment and support of dyads impacted by SU/SUD during the perinatal period.

Studying How Patterns in Self-Regulated Learning Differ Across Groups of Students in Multiple OpenStax Courses

• Stephen Hutt, Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering & Computer Science
• Grant from the University of Pennsylvania (subaward the Institute of Education Science)
• Abstract: This project aims to understand and enhance self-regulated learning (SRL) in post-secondary students as they interact with online textbooks. SRL, vital for academic and career success, involves managing cognition, affect, motivation and metacognition. Despite its importance, many students struggle with effective SRL. This research will build SRL detectors using machine learning, analyzing data from OpenStax (an online textbook platform) courses. The research aims to deepen understanding of SRL behaviors in relation to student-task interactions and assess how these behaviors predict academic outcomes in diverse U.S. populations.

Peacekeeping Dividends and Post-Conflict Development (Dividends)

• Jonathan Moyer, Josef Korbel School of International Studies

RAND Prime for Global Competitive Analysis

• Jonathan Moyer, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
• Grant from RAND Corporation (subaward the Department of Defense)
• Abstract: This project will support the U.S. government’s interagency in better understanding global systems, competition and cooperation. As a member of the consortium, the Pardee Institute for International Futures will bring a rich body of work stemming from its longstanding efforts to better understand, measure and forecast relationships within and across the international system.

Diversifying Water Law Program at DU Law

• Tom Romero, Sturm College of Law
• Grant from Colorado State University (subaward the Colorado Department of Natural Resources)
• Abstract: The University of Denver Sturm College  of Law proposes to create a pilot program to elevate and serve law students from historically minoritized communities to pursue the practice of water law.

Research & Evaluation and Evidence Inventory Needs Assessment

• Kristin Klopfenstein, Colorado Evaluation Action Lab
• Grant from the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS)
• Abstract: The Colorado Lab will work with CDHS leadership to modify the evidence portfolio tool as needed to ensure the information gathered supports achievement of CDHS’s goals for evidence building.

Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) Phase 2

• Ashley Brock-Baca, Graduate School of Social Work
• Grant from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood
• Abstract: Butler will analyze longitudinal survey data and develop a report and a data dashboard with all existing CBCAP community asset survey data available. Butler researchers will provide more in-depth analysis and reporting.

Competitive Abstinence Education

• Yunying (Annie) Le, College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
• Grant from Thriving Families (Department of Health and Human Services)
• Abstract: For this project, the University of Denver will lead an evaluation of Thriving Families’ Love Notes program. The team will lead data collection for the evaluation, conduct analyses on the outcomes to determine whether the program was successful in achieving its aims, and generate final outcome reports.

Positive Childhood Experiences to Counteract Childhood Adversity for Healthy Longevity in Marginalized Communities

• Angela Narayan, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Grant from the National Academies
• Abstract: This grant would support work on a project on antiracism methods in child maltreatment research. Use of an acquired longitudinal data set would clarify whether minoritized children report being removed from their homes for similar or different reasons than the courts claim them to be removed. This project would examine this dataset for discrepancies between youth reports of removal and official records and to write a federal grant application for secondary data analysis on the importance of a) giving voice to minoritized youth involved in the child welfare system at the time they were removed and b) improving antiracist methods to assess maltreatment via incorporating youths’ own lived experiences.

Colorado Project 2025: Rural Thriving

• Alana Phanichpatom, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
• Grant from the LOR Foundation
• Abstract: The Colorado Project serves as a state platform for deliberation focused on challenging issues affecting Colorado. The goal is to establish common ground in order to move forward with practical solutions geared toward the public good. Funds will support the next convenings.

Resounding Communities: Community Music Making as Civic Engagement

• Aleysia Whitmore, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Abstract: This research project examines how music and social justice intersect in the Spirituals Project, a Denver-area community choir program with a tri-partite performance, social justice and education mission centered on preserving and revitalizing African American spirituals.