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Stephanie D. Freis

Associate Director of Faculty Development & Associate Professor

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Dr. Stephanie D. Freis is the Associate Director of Faculty Development at Furman University in Greenville, SC. In this role, she collaborates across the college to support faculty’s growth as educators, scholars, and community members. She serves through an evidence-based model where an individual’s unique needs and interests inform her mentorship choices in order to adapt the educational environment.

Prior to joining Furman, Dr. Freis served as a tenured faculty member in Psychology at Presbyterian College (PC). Her research focuses on two themes including narcissism and entitlement in non-clinical samples as well as teaching and learning in the college context. Freis has held many leadership roles including Chair of Excellence in Teaching at PC where she organized a team of faculty to provide support to instructors through professional development, first-year mentoring, writing accountability, and more. She was also Assessment Coordinator for Psychology, which included a department-wide curricular revision, and a Workshop Facilitator, focused on trainings in inclusion and constructive dialogue. More broadly, Dr. Freis remains a strong advocate for first-generation college students and career professionals. Her work aims to empower instructors and enhance the academic experience for both students and educators.

Honors & Awards

  • 2024 - Faculty Fellow at Hannam University, South Korea
  • 2023-2024 - Kenneth B. Orr Faculty Research Fellowship (out of ~75 faculty), Presbyterian College
  • 2023-2024 - One-year funded sabbatical serving as an instructional observer at Centers for Teaching and Learning across the USA, Presbyterian College
  • 2023 - First-Gen Impact Awards Keynote Speaker, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
  • 2022-2023 - NetVUE's Vocation Across the Academy Faculty Partner, Presbyterian College
  • 2017-2023 - Eight Faculty Scholarships in Research and Teaching, Presbyterian College
  • 2022 - Summer Fellows Program Faculty Mentor, Presbyterian College
  • 2022 - Poster Award as Faculty Mentor, South Carolina’s Upstate Research Symposium
  • 2018-2022 - Seven Barnett Undergraduate Research Competition Awards as Faculty Mentor, Presbyterian College
  • 2021 - Robert H. Freymeyer Award for Meritorious Scholarship (Researcher of the Year), Presbyterian College
  • 2020 - Small Research Grant, Society of Personality and Social Psychology
  • 2019 - Poster Award as Faculty Mentor, South Carolina’s Upstate Research Symposium
  • 2018 - International Conference Grant, Association of Psychological Science
  • 2017 - Teacher of the Week, Presbyterian College
  • 2017 - Psychology Teaching Excellence Award, The Ohio State University
  • 2013-2017 - Four Conference Travel Grants, The Ohio State University
  • 2016 - College Teaching Award (out of ~3,000 instructors), The Ohio State University
  • 2016 – Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Award (out of 423 applicants), Edward F. Hayes Advanced Research Forum
  • 2016 - Affordable Learning Exploration Grant, The Ohio State University
  • 2015-2016 - Graduate Teaching Fellowship, The Ohio State University
  • 2015 - Career Development Grant, The Ohio State University
  • 2015 - Research Poster Award (1 of 5 awards out of 2,262), Society of Personality and Social Psychology
  • 2015 - Course Coordinator Conference Grant, The Ohio State University
  • 2014 - Meritorious Teaching Award, The Ohio State University
  • 2014 - Social and Behavioral Sciences Fellowship, The Ohio State University
  • 2014 - Best New Course Writing Prompt Award, The Ohio State University
  • 2012-2013 - University Excellence Fellowship, The Ohio State University
  • 2012-2013 - National Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship
  • 2010 - Outstanding Tutor of the Year, The University of Wisconsin - Sheboygan
  • 2008-2012 - Wisconsin Academic Excellence Fellowship

Education

  • Ph.D., Social Psychology; The Ohio State University
  • M.A., Social Psychology; The Ohio State University
  • B.A., Psychology; The University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
  • A.S., General Studies; The University of Wisconsin – Sheboygan

Publications

  • Freis, S. D. (2024). Testing an intervention to reduce academic entitlement. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000411
  • Freis, S. D. (2024). Building and sharing self-knowledge. In Catherine Sanderson & Rebecca Totton (Eds.), Elgar Guides to Teaching: Teaching Social Psychology. EE Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035327133.00025
  • Freis, S. D. & Brunell, A. B. (2022). Narcissistic helping motivations during COVID-19. Personality and Individual Differences, 194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111623
  • Freis, S. D., & Brunell, A. B. (2021). Effects of narcissism in essential workers during COVID-19. Personality and Individual Differences, 171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110533
  • Freis, S. D. & Hansen-Brown, A. A. (2021). Justifications of entitlement in grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: The roles of injustice and superiority. Personality and Individual Differences, 168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110345
  • Freis, S. D., & Allen, W. (2019) Decision-making among the narcissistic subtypes: If I can’t benefit, then who should? Current Psychology, 41, 155-164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00558-6
  • Hansen-Brown, A. A., Freis, S., D. (2019) Assuming the worst: Hostile attribution bias in vulnerable narcissists. Self and Identity, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2019.1609574
  • Freis, S. D. (2018). The distinctiveness model of the narcissistic subtypes (DMNS): What binds and differentiates grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. A. Brunell, J. Foster, & T. Hermann (Eds.), The Handbook of Trait Narcissism: Key Advances, Research Methods, and Controversies, (pp. 37 – 46). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_4
  • Vespia, K. M., Freis, S. D., & Arrowood, R. (2018). Faculty and career advising; Challenges, opportunities, and outcome assessment. Teaching of Psychology, 45(1), 24-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628317744962
  • Freis, S. D., Belding, J., Patton, K. P., & Beers, M. J. (2018) Meaningfully integrating psychology and writing: Lessons learned from a second-level writing course. In T. L. Kuther (Ed.), Integrating Writing into the College Classroom: Strategies for Promoting Student Skills. Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology website: http://teachpsych.org/resources/Documents/ebooks/Kuther%20Writing%20Final%202018_04_22.pdf
  • Kraha. A., Freis, S. D. & Longstreth, M. (2017). You’re not in Kansas anymore: More ways how grad school is different than undergrad. Eye on Psi Chi. https://doi.org/10.24839/2164-9812.Eye22.1.8
  • Brown, A. A., Freis, S. D., Carroll, P. J., & Arkin, R. M. (2016). Perceived agency mediates the link between the narcissistic subtypes and self-esteem. Personality & Individual Differences, 90, 124-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.10.055
  • Freis, S. D. & Kraha. A. (2016). You’re not in Kansas anymore: How grad school is different than undergrad. Eye on Psi Chi. https://doi.org/10.24839/1092-0803.eye21.1.4
  • Freis, S. D., Brown, A. A., Carroll, P. J., & Arkin, R. M. (2015). Shame, rage, and unsuccessful motivated reasoning in vulnerable narcissism. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 34(10), 877-894. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2015.34.10.877
  • Freis, S. D. (2015, February). Biases that Influence our Motivation and Ability [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://nobaproject.com/blog/2015-02-12-biases-that-influence-our-motivation-and-ability
  • Freis, S. D., Brown, A. A. & Arkin, R. M. (2015). Narcissism and protection against social threat. P. J. Carroll, R. M. Arkin, & A. Wichman (Eds.), The Handbook of Personal Security, (pp. 131 -144). Taylor & Francis: Psychology Press.
  • Arkin, R. M., & Freis, S. D. (2013). This book is liable to be just what you expect; smile, don’t slouch, concentrate while reading and it could be even better. [Review of the book Mind Over Mind: The Surprising Power of Expectations, by C. Berdik]. PsycCRITIQUES, 58 (16).
  • Freis, S. D., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2013). A Facebook analysis of helping behavior in online bullying. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(1), 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030239

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