This is Gail Vallance Barrington, Barrington Research Group, Inc., representing the Canadian Evaluation Society, a member of AEA’s Competencies Task Force. Our Task Force’s charge was to answer one essential question: “What is fundamental to the practice of evaluators?” As an active participant in CES’s Credentialed Evaluator Program, I have been pleased to share our credentialing experiences north of the border as AEA establishes a set of formal evaluator competencies.
The competencies included in the 2/24/16 DRAFT Management Domain focus on the nuts and bolts of conducting an evaluation, such as finding work, budgeting, coordinating resources, and monitoring progress. Also included is timeliness both in communication and in completing an evaluation.
Lesson Learned/Issues Raised: Feedback to date has questioned the domain name. Several people noted that, as they are not managers, the heading Management Domain does not seem to apply to them. We are considering changing the name to Project Planning and Management Domain because whether we are lead evaluator or not, we must plan and manage our work efficiently. Let us know if this change makes sense.
Another suggested change relates to the evaluator’s role in working with others: “Coordinates and supervises others to deliver evaluation processes and products effectively.” Again, feedback is welcome.
Get Involved: We need to hear from as many AEA members as possible in the coming weeks. Let us know your thoughts by going to the link on AEA’s homepage (www.eval.org) and contacting us. Also, keep reading aea365 this week for draft competencies from the remaining two domains.
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating AEA’s Competencies Task Force week. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from members of AEA’s Competencies Task Force. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.