Martha Fuentes-Bautista, assistant professor of communication and public policy, has received a 2010-2011 Faculty Research/Healey Endowment grant. The grants are awarded annually as part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement internal grant program, and are designed to promote excellence in research as well as each awardee’s capacity to publish and acquire future outside funding.
Thirty-eight applications were submitted through the Faculty Research/Healey Endowment grant competition this year. Professor Fuentes-Bautista was one of nine applicants to receive the award.
Support from this grant will enable Fuentes-Bautista to conduct a year-long study, “Examining Impacts of Local Broadband Initiatives on Universal Service Goals.” The study will evaluate the ability of different local broadband interventions (municipal, community-based, and/or public-private partnerships) to improve the availability and affordability of high-speed Internet services in areas with little or no broadband access. Ultimately, this research will help to inform state and federal programs charged with advancing broadband coverage, which is increasingly vital for economic development, public health and safety, educational opportunity, and government transparency.
Over the next year, Fuentes-Bautista will gather data from 10 communities in Western Massachusetts to develop indicators for evaluating the scope and impact of local broadband initiatives. Pilot data will be used to develop predictive models and for applications to federal granting agencies. WesternMA Connect, Inc., a regional nonprofit that supports the deployment of broadband in the western part of the state, will be a collaborator in the research.
Professor Fuentes-Bautista has been at UMass Amherst since 2007 and has research and teaching interests in new media policy, technology and inequality, and global communications. Her doctorate is from the University of Texas at Austin.
For more information, contact Susan Newton (snewton@pubpol.umass.edu or 413-577-0478)