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Session Title: From Implementation to Sustainability: A Report on How the American Evaluation Association/Duquesne University Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program remained Responsive to the Evaluation Professional Needs and Stakeholder Demands during the First Five Years
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Panel Session 258 to be held in Sebastian Section I4 on Thursday, Nov 12, 10:55 AM to 12:25 PM
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Sponsored by the Multiethnic Issues in Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Sarita Davis, Georgia State University, skdavis04@yahoo.com
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| Discussant(s):
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| Sarita Davis, Georgia State University, skdavis04@yahoo.com
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| Abstract:
The American Evaluation Association/Duquesne University Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program (AEA/DU GEDIP) was launched in the fall of 2004. Over the first 5 years of its implementation the program had to respond to increased demand from various stakeholders while remaining true to the mission and goals of the program. The program grew substantially, seeing an increase in the number of highly qualified applicants (from 13 in the first year to 91 in the fifth year), an increase in number and diversity of agencies willing to host and/or support interns, and an increase in the diversity of academic focus/discipline of the applicants and institutions the interns were affiliated with. Throughout the five years, the program director and coordinators conducted ongoing formative evaluation of the program. These efforts enabled reflexive and recursive analysis of the problems associated with program development, and modification. The panel will present how the program, during its implementation managed to respond to the increasing demands from applicants and other stakeholders while remaining faithful to the mission of the AEA and the original goals of the program, and describe the road to sustainability. Program implementation will be presented from the perspective of the three program coordinators who were involved during this five year period.
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The First Two Years: Laying the Foundation and Developing Evaluative Thinking Among Graduate Students of Color
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| Prisca Collins, Governors State University, p-collins@govst.edu
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This presentation will discuss the processes involved during the initial implementation of the program, the challenges encountered and the lessons learned during the first two years. This will include a description of the development of the internship curriculum, calendar, tools for continuous evaluation and establishment of a resource base for advising, mentoring and socialization of the interns. The discussion will highlight the processes behind the start up activities of the program, including but not limited to the development of evaluative thinking among the interns, raising funds, and attending to the unique needs of the first and second cohorts. Challenges related to engaging various stakeholders and building a viable learning community between the small number of interns and the evaluation community will also be discussed.
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A View From a Former Intern: Examining Curricular Adaptations During the Mid-Years of the Program
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| Tanya Brown, University of California Los Angeles, jaderunner98@gmail.com
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This presentation will discuss the implementation processes during the third year. The third year was notable for the inception of a second track of training specific researching logic model implementation in STEM evaluation projects. The presenter will highlight how the coordinator was sensitive to the students' development regarding the unifying goals of the program as well as addressing the unique challenges of working on the traditional AEA/DU GEDIP track versus the STEM track. She will outline how during her tenure she managed the diverging course of development of the cohort members and the shifting evolution of the program. The presentation will also provide the unique perspective of a former intern who became actively involved in the implementation of the program as program coordinator, and how she was able to address the challenges of that period drawing upon her experiences as an intern and other contextual circumstances.
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The Road to Sustainability: The Fourth and Fifth Years of the American Evaluation Association (AEA)/Duquesne University (DU) Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program
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| Shane Chaplin, Duquesne University, shanechaplin@gmail.com
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This presentation will discuss how the program continued to evolve in the last two years to accommodate the increasing demands from the applicants and other stakeholders. The presentation will highlight how the level of funding and type of funding helped shape the focus, structure, and mode of delivery of the internship activities. He will also discuss the reorganization process as the STEM funding ended and the development of virtual communication platforms to engage all the cohorts in dialogue. Finally, he will further delineate the leadership development theories informing the program activities and the shift in focus towards establishing sustainability of the program.
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