- Email: [email protected]
Report on AEA topical interest groups
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meeting was excellent and that enthusiasm suggests an exciting and positive future for AEA. Looking ahead now, members of both organizations can anticipate a ballot to elect the final AEA Board member, an active AEA membership recruitment drive to sign up "charter members," and plans for Evaluation '86, the first annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association are already underway. See you in Kansas City!
Report on AEA Topical Interest Groups Gary T. Henry
Topical Interest Group Coordinator
Topical Interest Groups (TIGs) are groups of AEA members who are interested in substantive evaluation areas, methodological approaches for evaluation, or a particular locus of evaluations. Examples include Evaluating Organizational Performance, Qualitative Evaluation Methods, and Evaluation in Business and Industry. TIGs include Special Interest Groups originally affiliated with the Evaluation Network and Topical Groups originally organized within the Evaluation Research Society. Existing groups. Currently several groups are either organizing or active. (See the list with names, addresses, and phone numbers of organizers below.) Most of these groups held meetings at Evaluation '85 to set a course for the coming year. The first order of business in most cases was to establish the purpose and objectives for the TIG. This statement is important for gaining approval to function under the auspices of AEA. The specific requirements for "chartering" a TIG in the new organization will be discussed at the next board meeting. The next step for most TIGs was to develop tasks designed to achieve the objectives and assign responsibility for the tasks to a group member or committee. Some TIGs-for example, the group on independent consultation-are beginning with the distribution of a group membership list that includes some detail on the interests and experience of members. Others, such as the Evaluation in Not-for-profit Organizations and Foundations, will be organizing panel sessions for Evalua-
III
tion '86 as they did for the last conference. Also, they will be making recommendations for a pre-session that would be useful to evaluators working in their environment. Other groups are considering offering meta-evaluations for other group members that wish to have someone else with similar interests review their evaluation. Newsletters have been circulated by groups, including the Business and Industry group, in the past. And many of the ongoing groups reported substantial informal networking among members during the past year and are trying to increase the size of the network and facilitate its use in the future. New TIGs. New TIOs are anticipated over the next year. Membership interest in new groups, as well as existing groups, was gauged by a survey at Evaluation '85. A total of 55 members indicated interest in groups. Further interest on the part of AEA members will be requested with the membership applications. As a result of the interest in a TIO in the Educational Evaluation area, a new group will be organizing this year. Other groups may be added over the course of the year. Coordinating activities. I am in the process of getting names of members collected from the interest survey mentioned above to TIO organizers. Also, I am working with the AEA Board to secure approval of the TIO organizing procedures. Please contact me with questions or ideas concerning new TIOs and contact the organizers listed below for information about ongoing groups. Topical Interest Group Coordinator Gary T. Henry Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission Suite 1100, General Assembly Building Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 786-1258 Utilizing Evaluations John Seeley Formative Evaluation Research Associates 361 W. Eisenhower Parkway Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (313) 994-9060 Independent Consultation Tara Davis Knott Evaluation Resources, Inc. 4646 Popular, #230 Memphis, TN 38117 (901) 683-3463
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Evaluation in Not-for-Profits and Foundations David Bernstein American Red Cross National Headquarters 17th & D Streets, NW Washington, DC 20006 (202) 639-3040 Evaluation in Business and Industry Robert Brinkerhoff Western Michigan University College of Education Kalamazoo, MI 49008 (616) 383-1690 Qualitative Methods James A. Pearsol 3190 Graves Hall 333 W. 10th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210 (614) 422-4063 Evaluating Organizational Performance Thomas J. Pavlak Forbes Quadrangle University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (412) 624-0875 Jobs Training Partnership Act Evaluation Kalman Rupp Westat Research 1650 Research Blvd. Rockville, MD 20850 (301) 251-1500 Educational Evaluation Joanne Farley National Center for Research in Vocational Education The Ohio State University 1960 Kenny Road Columbus, OH 43210 (800) 848-4815
meeting was excellent and that enthusiasm suggests an exciting and positive future for AEA. Looking ahead now, members of both organizations can anticipate a ballot to elect the final AEA Board member, an active AEA membership recruitment drive to sign up "charter members," and plans for Evaluation '86, the first annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association are already underway. See you in Kansas City!
Report on AEA Topical Interest Groups Gary T. Henry
Topical Interest Group Coordinator
Topical Interest Groups (TIGs) are groups of AEA members who are interested in substantive evaluation areas, methodological approaches for evaluation, or a particular locus of evaluations. Examples include Evaluating Organizational Performance, Qualitative Evaluation Methods, and Evaluation in Business and Industry. TIGs include Special Interest Groups originally affiliated with the Evaluation Network and Topical Groups originally organized within the Evaluation Research Society. Existing groups. Currently several groups are either organizing or active. (See the list with names, addresses, and phone numbers of organizers below.) Most of these groups held meetings at Evaluation '85 to set a course for the coming year. The first order of business in most cases was to establish the purpose and objectives for the TIG. This statement is important for gaining approval to function under the auspices of AEA. The specific requirements for "chartering" a TIG in the new organization will be discussed at the next board meeting. The next step for most TIGs was to develop tasks designed to achieve the objectives and assign responsibility for the tasks to a group member or committee. Some TIGs-for example, the group on independent consultation-are beginning with the distribution of a group membership list that includes some detail on the interests and experience of members. Others, such as the Evaluation in Not-for-profit Organizations and Foundations, will be organizing panel sessions for Evalua-
III
tion '86 as they did for the last conference. Also, they will be making recommendations for a pre-session that would be useful to evaluators working in their environment. Other groups are considering offering meta-evaluations for other group members that wish to have someone else with similar interests review their evaluation. Newsletters have been circulated by groups, including the Business and Industry group, in the past. And many of the ongoing groups reported substantial informal networking among members during the past year and are trying to increase the size of the network and facilitate its use in the future. New TIGs. New TIOs are anticipated over the next year. Membership interest in new groups, as well as existing groups, was gauged by a survey at Evaluation '85. A total of 55 members indicated interest in groups. Further interest on the part of AEA members will be requested with the membership applications. As a result of the interest in a TIO in the Educational Evaluation area, a new group will be organizing this year. Other groups may be added over the course of the year. Coordinating activities. I am in the process of getting names of members collected from the interest survey mentioned above to TIO organizers. Also, I am working with the AEA Board to secure approval of the TIO organizing procedures. Please contact me with questions or ideas concerning new TIOs and contact the organizers listed below for information about ongoing groups. Topical Interest Group Coordinator Gary T. Henry Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission Suite 1100, General Assembly Building Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 786-1258 Utilizing Evaluations John Seeley Formative Evaluation Research Associates 361 W. Eisenhower Parkway Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (313) 994-9060 Independent Consultation Tara Davis Knott Evaluation Resources, Inc. 4646 Popular, #230 Memphis, TN 38117 (901) 683-3463
112
Evaluation in Not-for-Profits and Foundations David Bernstein American Red Cross National Headquarters 17th & D Streets, NW Washington, DC 20006 (202) 639-3040 Evaluation in Business and Industry Robert Brinkerhoff Western Michigan University College of Education Kalamazoo, MI 49008 (616) 383-1690 Qualitative Methods James A. Pearsol 3190 Graves Hall 333 W. 10th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210 (614) 422-4063 Evaluating Organizational Performance Thomas J. Pavlak Forbes Quadrangle University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (412) 624-0875 Jobs Training Partnership Act Evaluation Kalman Rupp Westat Research 1650 Research Blvd. Rockville, MD 20850 (301) 251-1500 Educational Evaluation Joanne Farley National Center for Research in Vocational Education The Ohio State University 1960 Kenny Road Columbus, OH 43210 (800) 848-4815