W. Brad Faircloth, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Contact Information

  • bfairclo@unca.edu
  • 251-6427
  • 233 Delany Hall

 

Dr. Faircloth earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame, studying child development and family functioning. He has been a college professor, parent educator and researcher for over 20 years. His passion is supporting others to achieve their personal learning goals. Using strengths-based approaches to working with people, Dr. Faircloth strives every day to serve and educate others in the best way he can. He is currently engaged in various research projects investigating Social and Emotional Learning in outdoor programming, questions related to equity and diversity in Environmental Education programs in the southeast region, the psychology of risk, and visual perception.

Research Interests

Marital Conflict
Parent Education
Family Communication
Child Functioning
Physiological effects of outdoor experiences
Program development and evaluation
Promotional approaches to supporting families

Awards and Honors

Kaneb Center Teaching Award: Psych Methods - University of Notre Dame (Fall 2002)
Dissertation award Nominee - University of Notre Dame (Fall 2003)
Alumni Association Teaching Award Nominee - University of Notre Dame (Spring 2004)
Notre Dame Postdoctoral Fellow - University of Notre Dame (Spring 2004 - Fall 2007)
David L. Parks Distinguished Professor Award - Montreat College (Spring 2017)
SciComm Fellowship - National Science Foundation (Spring 2022 - Spring 2025)

Select Publications

Cummings, E. M., Faircloth, W. B., Mitchell, P. M., Cummings, J. S., & Schermerhorn, A. C. (2008). Evaluating a brief prevention program for improving marital conflict in community families. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 193-202.

Cummings, E.M., Faircloth, W.B., Mitchell, P.M., McCoy, K., & Schermerhorn, A.C. (2008). Translating basic research about marital conflict and children into a psycho-educational program for parents. Invited for publication in H.R. Schaffer & K. Durkin (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of developmental psychology in action: Opportunities and obstacles in giving developmental psychology away. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, Inc.

Faircloth, W. B., (2004).  Testing the Effectiveness of a Marital Conflict Focused Parent Education Program with 6-month and 1-year Follow-ups. Unpublished dissertation.

Faircloth, W. B. (2012). Children and Marital Conflict: A Review. CaseMaker 6(1), 1-5.

Faircloth, W. B., & Bobilya, A. J. (2013). A psychometric investigation of the North Carolina Outward Bound Student Course Impression Scale. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 5(2), 115–118. http://dx.doi.org/10.7768/1948-5123.1207.

Faircloth, W. B., & Cummings, E. M. (2008). Evaluating a parent education program for preventing the negative effects of marital conflict. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 141-156.

Faircloth, W. B., Schermerhorn, A. C., Mitchell, P. M., Cummings, J. S., & Cummings, E. M. (2011). Testing the Long-term Efficacy of a Prevention Program for Improving Marital Conflict in Community Families. Journal of Applied Developmental, 32(4), 189-197.