Hello, everyone, from part of our team at the University of Mississippi (UM) Center for Research Evaluation (CERE)— Olivia Melvin, evaluation associate and (semi-)recent graduate of UM; and Anna Kang, current undergraduate student worker majoring in exercise science. CERE is a university-based center at UM. We are not student-facing, nor do we have a degree/certificate program in evaluation at UM, so we don’t have many touch points with students. We’re exploring how to connect with undergraduate students to increase buy-in for evaluative processes and recruit some part-time support on projects.
Here’s how our conversation has gone so far:
Olivia: How can we attract undergraduate student workers to the university-based evaluation centers?
Anna: First, I think it is really important to establish an understanding of what evaluation is, including its use and application. Second, create opportunities for students to work on projects that interest them. Highlight linkages between student personal goals and evaluative work.
Olivia: How can we increase students’ exposure to university-based evaluation centers? How can we introduce what we do to students?
Anna: Having a presence at orientation sessions… sharing promotional materials…This is a great way to at least be seen, even if students don’t engage with the center after. The center could also lead brief presentations in targeted classes, focusing on students in majors that are related to evaluation.
Olivia: How can we advertise alignment between the evaluative professional skillset with students’ academic goals?
Anna: Advertise the cross-disciplinary skillset that students can build at the center. For example, I get to work on qualitative and quantitative data cleaning, while thinking through high-level emergent codes and themes. I don’t think I would have ever gotten to touch this side of research and evaluation in my undergraduate experience otherwise.
Olivia: How can evaluative work alter your view and understanding of broader themes such as research, data-collection tools and strategies, community development work, etc.?
Anna: The broad range of project types helped me see how research, data-collection, instrument development and community work are all integrated together. I get to be involved in different aspects of evaluative work for the sake of community benefit. In the end, I get to be at the other side of things I found myself on the receiving end of previously (e.g., survey building, rather than completing a survey).
Olivia: What have you found most enjoyable about working at an evaluation center?
Anna: I find the flexibility and understanding from the people at the center to be the highlight. Everyone is open to working with an undergraduate student, and they’ve involved me in various projects that have an impact far beyond what I can do on my own. I appreciate the work and community that is here at the center, and I want other students to experience this.
Hot Tips:
Sharing out high-level findings with students for some of our campus projects is one of the primary ways that we are able to introduce our center and our work. In that setting, our work is directly related to activities that students are tapped into on campus.
We have shared high-level one-page reports and video newsletters with students for in-person member checking sessions. This creates a space to show students why we collect their data, what we do with that data and how it is ultimately presented to stakeholders. This also facilitates conversation around the “how and why” of data viz strategies, high-level reporting, etc.
Our student interaction is largely limited to those who are involved in projects that we evaluate on campus. We’d love to hear your advice on how we could better engage students to increase awareness of our center and recruit student talent!
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There are several ways to engage students with evaluation.
1. Provide awareness about the importance and teach them that evaluation which is beyond the research can help students I’m writing Thier academic papers and thesis. This means you create buyin within students. Beside tell students that there are many usefull evaluation techniques and methods that can help them in conducting systemic survey for thier thesis
Second offer more students the opportunity to work in your evaluation project so more interest will be created
Third use technology to reach students within your university and you can use social media to increase the engagement rate
Encourage students to write thie thesis on the evaluation topics.
To engage students with evaluation, consider the following recommendations:
Communicate the value of evaluation: Educate students on the importance of evaluation and how it can enhance their academic work beyond research. Emphasize how evaluation techniques and methods can help them conduct systemic surveys for their theses and academic papers. Encourage them to integrate evaluation into their academic work by showing them practical examples of how it can be applied.
Provide opportunities for involvement: Offer students the chance to work on evaluation projects within your center. This can increase their interest in evaluation and provide them with hands-on experience in the field. Encourage them to use the opportunity to develop their skills and network with other professionals in the evaluation community.
Utilize technology to increase engagement: Use social media and other technology platforms to reach students within your university. Share information about your evaluation center, upcoming events, and opportunities for involvement. Encourage students to engage with your center by commenting and sharing posts. Consider creating a newsletter to keep students informed of evaluation-related news and events.
Encourage thesis topics on evaluation: Encourage students to write their theses on evaluation-related topics. This can increase awareness of your center and the importance of evaluation in academia. Offer support and resources to students who choose to pursue this avenue, such as access to literature on evaluation or connecting them with evaluation experts in your center.
By implementing these recommendations, you can increase awareness of your evaluation center among students and encourage them to integrate evaluation into their academic work. This can lead to increased engagement, interest, and potential recruitment of student talent.
Awesome post and I love the dialogue format! One additional opportunity to involve undergraduates may be to organize a team for AEA’s inaugural student evaluation case competition: https://www.eval.org/Education-Programs/Student-Evaluation-Case-Competition. Registration is open through the end of April!