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University-Based Centers TIG Week: The Realities of Real-World Evaluation Work in the South: Navigating the Complexities of Evaluation Guiding Principles within a Large University System in the South by Bich Do and Samuel B. Robison

We are Bich Do, Research Associate, and Sam Robison, Associate Director and Associate Professor of Research of the Louisiana State University Social Research and Evaluation Center. In this post, we discuss the challenges of evaluation work in a large university system situated in the Deep South, shedding light on the unique challenges and solutions we’ve encountered while striving to align with the AEA Guiding Principles.

University-Based Centers TIG Week: Working with Students at a University-Based Evaluation and Research Center by Rae Jing Han, Liz Litzler, Erin Carll, Emily Knaphus-Soran, and Daniel Mackin Freeman

Hi! We are Rae Jing Han, Liz Litzler, Erin Carll, Emily Knaphus-Soran, and Daniel Mackin Freeman from the University of Washington Center for Evaluation & Research for STEM Equity. Our center usually employs 6-10 students (graduate and undergraduate) to help us with our evaluation and research projects. We love the energy and perspective students bring, and over time, we have learned a few things about the strengths students bring to our work and some strategies for supporting them in their role.  We have incorporated student voices in quotes.

University-Based Centers TIG Week: The Benefits of Working at a University-Based Evaluation Center by Shannon Sharp

Hi AEA members! My name is Shannon Sharp, and I am an Evaluation Associate at the University of Mississippi’s Center for Research Evaluation (CERE). I have worked at this University-Based Evaluation center (UBC) for seven years, and in that time, I have come to realize that there are benefits—both professional and personal—to working within a university system that are often not available when working in other sectors.

University-Based Centers TIG Week: University-Based Partnership and Evaluative Capacity-Building by Olivia Melvin, Gray Flora, and Yasmin McLaurin

Hey all! We are Olivia Melvin, Gray Flora, and Yasmin McLaurin. This blog is written from the perspective of an evaluator-client dyad of a student success program served by a University-Based Evaluation Center at the University of Mississippi. This year-long evaluative capacity building partnership formed in early-stage program development. The content for this blog post was generated via unstructured reflective interview.

University-Based Centers TIG Week: Collaborating Across Knowledge Paradigms in a University-Based Evaluation Center by Ashlee Lewis and Jen Crooks-Monastra

Hello, AEA Colleagues! We are Ashlee Lewis and Jen Crooks-Monastra, evaluators from the Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Center in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina. Today, we’d like to share some insights we have gleaned from working with researchers whose knowledge paradigms differ from our own.

Making Data Accessible to All Using Data Warehousing and BI Tools by Taj Carson

I’m Taj Carson, founder and CEO of Inciter (formerly Carson Research Consulting). In the early days of conducting evaluations, I realized I was inadvertently gatekeeping a valuable asset by collecting and storing data in a way that only I could get to. Over time, I heard from many organizations that they wanted more – more access to their data, and more ?exibility to use their data to construct stories for a wider range of audiences. Although the standard, PDF format reports often take up the bulk of an evaluation budget, I don’t believe they provide the bulk of the value. For instance, clients may wish to explore evaluation data sets to inform programmatic decision-making, re?ect on progress, and share feedback with constituents long after the funder receives their report. Too often the resources spent on study design, data collection, analysis, and reporting did not usefully live on after the reporting stage.

Every Evaluation Contributes to Sustainable Development – the Only Question is How Much and for Whom? by Dorothy Lucks

Hello, AEA365 community. My name is Dorothy Lucks, an inaugural member of EVALSDGs, a credentialed evaluator, a Fellow of the Australian Evaluation Society and, more importantly, an individual committed to embedding the global-local sustainable development goals (SDGs) in every evaluation that I am involved with. This blog summarizes key ways that all evaluators can get involved in evaluations that can contribute to sustainable change.

A Systematic Approach to Addressing Data Management by Kavita Mittapalli

Hello! I am Kavita Mittapalli, Ph.D. I own a K-16 research and evaluation firm, MN Associates, Inc. (MNA) just outside Washington DC metropolitan area. I founded MNA in 2004 as a graduate student at George Mason University. I have a Ph.D. in Research Design and Methodology in Education. We are a team of five evaluators and an administrative staff with a combined 65 years of experience conducting a wide variety of social science and STEM education research and evaluation projects across the country.