Ann Hoyt was chair of the University Committee of the UW-Madison
Faculty Senate. In that role she chaired or served on several other university-
wide committees. She also chaired the Steering Committee for
the Faculty-Staff Great People Scholarship campaign. A component of
the University of Wisconsin Foundation’s “Great People. Great Place.”
campaign, the faculty-staff effort is raising funds for need-based scholarships
for undergraduates. Professor Hoyt is a long-time director of
the University of Wisconsin Credit Union and the National Cooperative
Business Association.
Judi Bartfeld studies food security, school meal programs and child support policy. Current work includes studies of local factors linked to household food security; research on determinants of participation in school breakfast programs; impacts of school breakfast programs on food security and meal patterns; and the relationship between shared placement and post-divorce economic well-being of mothers and fathers. She serves on the steering committee of the Wisconsin Food Security Consortium and co-directs the Wisconsin Food Security Project, which involves development of an interactive Web site to provide local information about economic and food security in Wisconsin.
Sean Cash studies how food and nutrition policies affect consumers — examining, for example, the use of food price interventions to
address public health concerns, the role of agricultural policies on
nutrition, and the relationship between food security and obesity.
He also conducts research in environmental regulation and resource
conservation. Professor Cash received several awards and grants during
his previous appointment with the University of Alberta, Canada.
He is widely published, with recent articles including “Taxing Food
to Improve Health: Economic Evidence and Arguments,” (with Ryan
Lacanilao) Agricultural and Resource Economics Review; and “Border Enforcement and Firm Response in the Management of Invasive
Species,” (with Holly A. Ameden and David Zilberman), Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Among his 2007–2008 conference
presentations were “Taxes and Subsidies on Food and Obesity,” at a
Workshop on Financial Incentives, European Congress on Obesity,
Geneva, Switzerland; “Sustainable Production and Consumption in
North America: A Tough Sell,” panel discussion, North American
Issues: Designing Institutions, Choosing Policies, Network on North
American Studies in Canada Annual Policy Conference, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.; and “On the Border: The Inspection
and Regulation of Imports, panel discussion, American Agricultural Economics Association and American Council on Consumer Interests
joint annual meeting, Orlando, Florida.
J. Michael Collins researches consumer responses to foreclosure, the role of default counseling on loan repayment behavior, and the effects of consumer protection policies on mortgage borrowers. He is working with the Annie E. Casey Foundation on financial coaching and asset building research, including developing evaluation tools. He is also the lead researcher for several low-income tax preparation programs evaluating strategies to encourage consumer saving at tax time. Professor Collins presented a paper, “State Mortgage Foreclosure Policies and Counseling Interventions: Impacts on Borrower Behavior in Default,” at the Federal Reserve System’s Conference on Housing and Mortgage Markets. In addition, he has given numerous media interviews on credit card debt, retirement account options, and other personal finance topics.
Karen Holden continued her work on retirement savings and financial education. She worked on a project, “Efficacy of Parental Instruction in Teaching Financial Concepts to Children Under the Age of Five,” sponsored by the Credit Union National Association. Professor Holden also continued to study the preparedness of K Annie E. Casey Foundation 12 teachers to teach financial literacy concepts. In addition, she was profiled in the fall 2007 issue of PAA Affairs online newsletter, published by the Population Association of America.
Cynthia Jasper, Vaughan Bascom Professor of Women and Philanthropy, was frequently quoted in local and national media including Time and Smart Money magazines on varied topics, particularly related to consumer behavior and trends in the retail industry. She recently received funding from the Agricultural Experiment Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture for her project on Family Businesses and Public Policy. She also continued to chair the Department of Consumer Science and the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Roberta Riportella continued to serve as project director of the Covering Kids and Families-Wisconsin program. CKF is a coalition of more than 60 organizations, with UW-Extension and the School of Human Ecology sharing lead agency responsibilities. CKF is focused on reducing the number of uninsured children and families in Wisconsin by making sure those who are eligible for Medicaid and BadgerCare know about and can easily enroll in the programs for which they qualify. This year CKF is enhancing its outreach work in schools, identifying children most at risk for not having health insurance through the school lunch programs, which have similar income guidelines to BadgerCare. Funding comes from the Wisconsin Partnership Fund ($446,185), Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program ($450,000) and federal matching funds through the Department of Health and Family Services ($616,000). Additional grants from the Evjue Foundation ($14,000) support ongoing CKF work, resulting in over $1.5 million over a three-year period.
Max Schmeiser studies how public programs impact the economic wellbeing and health status of vulnerable populations, with an emphasis on the poor, disabled, and obese. He had one article accepted for publication in Health Economics and another published in Currents. He presented a paper at the American Society of Health Economists Biennial Conference and received two grants: $36,000 through the Cornell University Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center to study the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on workplace accommodation, and $29,745 from the USDA Research, Innovation, and Development Grant in Economics program to study the impact of Food Stamp program participation on obesity.
Nancy Wong’s current research focuses on the roles of cultural and
material values on consumer decisions. She has published a leading
article in the February 2008 issue of Journal of Consumer Research, “The Cultural Construction of Risk Understandings Through Illness Narratives,” and another leading article in the June 2009 issue of
Journal of Consumer Research, “The Safety of Objects: Materialism,
Existential Insecurity, and Brand Connection.” In addition, she has
two forthcoming book chapters, “God and Mammon: The Influence
of Religiosity on Brand Connections,” in the The Connected Customers,
published by Lawrence-Erlbaum, and “Matching Firm Structures
to Market Environment: Examples from the Logistics Industry in
the People’s Republic of China,” in the Handbook of Contemporary
Marketing in China: Theories and Practices, Nova Science Publishers.
Professor Wong served on the planning committee for the annual
meeting of the Association of Consumer Research Conference in San
Francisco and organized a special session, “Self-Enhancement and the American Dream: Control, Authenticity and the Pursuit of Happiness,”
at the annual meeting of Consumer Culture Theory Conference in
Boston. As faculty director of the Kohl’s Center for Retailing Excellence,
Professor Wong established a research contract between Hy-Vee, Inc.,
and UW-Madison.
Lydia Zepeda's received the 2008 Letters and Sciences Exceptional Service Award for her work with First Year Interest Group (FIG). Her research includes producer and consumer attitudes toward genetically engineered foods and labeling. She has also investigated producer decisions on sustainable farming practices and farm family labor. Her current research focuses on consumer attitudes and behaviors toward organic and local foods, utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods, including photographic food diaries.
