Program Evaluation

So two weeks ago the meeting was on program evaluations and the importance of them! Here's what I learned:

- there only real way to determine the success of a program is based on the goals specific to that project.

- Why is program evaluation important? because sometimes there are uninteded consequences to a program that need to be looked at, sometimes doing nothing IS better than doing something, need to make sure the program is reaching its goal

-it is hard to find program evaluations published because not all evaluations are positive- organizations dont want to lose their donors!


ps. here's a really cool statistic for you- 75 percent of donations come from individuals!! and y'all probably thought it was from corporations!


-another reason why program evalution is important: there in no shortage of NGO's with many seeking to do the same thing; evaluations help assess who's doing the best job.

- it's so helpful to understand the concepts behind evaluations so that you can ASK QUESTIONS yourself... be smart! and ask those hard questions to help the programs you're involved with be more effective...


now, if you're interested in evaluations....

- pay attention to the methodology classes in your discipline (it helps to know about surveys, observational research, etc in your discipline)

- there will be an evaluation class offered on a trial basis this winter semester... you dont need any pre-reqs or anything... just a love for program evaluation! (it sounds really cool!!)

-there is JOB SECURITY!! program evaluations is a huge up-and-coming field in development so if you're looking for a more stable job... think about it!