My name is Brad Watts, and I am a seasoned evaluator with a career background that includes positions at two different university-based centers. Currently, I serve as the Assistant Director of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University (WMU) and the co-program chair for the University-Based Centers (UBC) TIG.
As The Evaluation Center begins its 50th year at WMU, I’ve been pondering what makes a good UBC. As it turns out, Daniel Stufflebeam had a similar idea over 20 years ago. He developed a checklist for developing and assessing university-based centers. In this blog post, I have selected a few points from Stufflebeam’s checklist and explored their relevance today based on my experience.
Lessons Learned: Checklist Items and Reflections
#B4: Secure a commitment from the university for “hard money” support of the center’s core staff (p.3). Unfortunately, the financial situation for most higher education institutions has changed dramatically over the past few decades, making stable hard money funding rare for non-teaching positions. Most members of the UBC TIG indicate they are largely or wholly dependent on soft money funding from grant and contract work. Successful arrangements at centers are more likely to focus on securing portions of indirect or overhead funds from grant projects or partial funding commitments for administrative roles.
#B7: Provide the center with a functional physical location and equip it appropriately (p.4). When The Evaluation Center was established 50 years ago, the university provided substantial office and meeting space. However, the need for amenities such as a library, copier room, and large meeting spaces has been slowly declining for years…and that was before 2020 hit! Since the COVID pandemic, the needs of a UBC have dramatically changed: collaboration is on Microsoft Teams, meetings happen in Zoom, and results are delivered in PDF and PowerPoint documents. Although our staff still values in-person collaboration and socializing, its importance has declined. In the future, it seems doubtful that physical space will be a prerequisite for a successful UBC.
#H1: Use center projects as a laboratory; #H3: Make the center a locus of learning for graduate students (p.10). One way that UBCs can distinguish themselves is through their connection to learning and higher ed. The Evaluation Center has always worked with students to provide field experiences, graduate assistantships, and part-time employment opportunities. Center staff also serve as advisors and dissertation reviewers for graduate students. Providing service to the university bolsters the center’s reputation within the university and is a strong argument for continued support.
#I2: Periodically conduct needs assessments; #I3: Regularly subject center activities to evaluation (p.10-11). As an evaluator, I feel guilty (and I bet you do, too!) about not doing more market research and self-reflection at our center. There are clear benefits to systematically examining what clients in the evaluation market need and how your center performs; however, these activities are often pushed aside in favor of pressing project deadlines or proposal opportunities. All UBCs should make it a goal for 2023 to look critically at their performance and how they can better help their clients! Looking back at these few checklist points, it seems like the operational context for UBCs has changed significantly over the last two decades. If you work at a UBC, be sure to check out the full checklist, as well as other evaluation tools, at The Evaluation Center’s Checklist Project site. It would be interesting to know what you think is still relevant to your UBC in Stufflebeam’s checklist. My thinking is that an update is due!
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