Pillar Lead for Research and Creativity and for Service and Engagement | Director of Faculty Support | Associate Research Professor

As director of faculty support, Dr. Petri works with the vice provost for faculty affairs to facilitate, design, coordinate, advertise, implement, assess and document outcomes of UMKC’s faculty development and support programs. Dr. Petri serves as pillar lead for Research and Creativity in the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence, or CAFE. She also directs the Office of Research Development, which is part of the Office of Research Services. Currently, Dr. Petri is part of 2 funded National Science Foundation projects. Dr. Petri has an appointment as an Associate Research Professor to the Division of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Foundations in the School of Education. 

Dr. Rebecca Best joined the political science department at UMKC in the fall of 2012. Her current research focuses on the reintegration of female combatants, the effects of women in government on the prospects for peace resolutions of civil wars, the effects of insurgent fractionalization on bargaining between states and rebels, and the effects of terror watch lists.