Looking Forward to an Outstanding 2008

From the AES President

As summer wanes and the end of daylight saving approaches for some of us, it is a good time to look forward and see what the year is bringing. Lively regional programs are already underway and the workshop Introduction to Evaluation run by Dr Paul Chesterman will begin touring next month. Each year AES endeavours to ensure that there is a workshop of general interest which can be offered in a number of regions for the benefit of members as part of their professional learning. The growing number of workshops over the past few years indicates that we are meeting our objective of providing education and training in matters related to evaluation and we would like to build on what we have achieved to date.  While he is visiting the regions, Paul will be taking the opportunity to explore the professional learning needs of members as part of his role of chairing the Professional Learning Committee of AES. We look forward to a preliminary paper from them later in the year.

By now you will have all received your Call for Proposals for the Perth conference and I hope that you are thinking about possible presentations and submitting your proposals.  This is a great opportunity to share your work with a wider audience, to get feedback and have those really interesting discussions with other evaluators. The theme of evaluation adding value is one that we can all relate to as those doing, commissioning and using evaluations. Of course we also need a lively audience and Perth is definitely the place to be 8-12 September. Keep an eye on the web site for updates and diary those deadlines.

The AES Awards nominations are also open and I’d urge everyone to think about those excellent evaluations – and evaluators – you have come across over the past 12 months and think about making a nomination in one of the seven categories. The Awards committee really looks forward to reading about what people have done and achieved. Winning one of the awards demonstrates acknowledged excellence and is a significant achievement.

Thanks to the work of the Publications committee and particularly John Owen as its chair, we are now benefiting from the free access to Evaluation and Program Planning. The February issue will be of particular interest to those of you working in the health field. The members only section on the web site does lend itself to such opportunities and there may be other initiatives that can take advantage of this facility. No doubt you all have the AES home page as one of your favourites so you can keep up with what is happening in the regions and more generally. I really appreciate the ongoing work that goes into maintaining the website.

Though its rather late for ‘Happy New Year’, I’d like to wish you all the best for a productive year having had a good start to 2008 and maybe some rest and relaxation.

Associate Professor Jenny Neale - AES President

The Perfect Excuse to Visit Perth

AES 2008 Perth Conference

As hopefully most members are now aware, the AES international conference for 2008 is to be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Perth, Western Australia from 8 - 12 September 2008. September is wildflower season in Western Australia so it's a great time to visit!

The theme for this year's conference is Evaluation: Adding Value. The 'Call for Papers' for the conference is now open and there are a number of presentation options for the conference including:

• Paper
• Symposium
• Roundtable
• Poster
• Mini workshop

The organising committee would also like to receive proposals for pre-conference workshops. The submission deadline is 31 March 2008. Please see the conference website www.aes2008.com.au  for further details.

Two keynotes have now been confirmed for the conference. They are:
Dr Fiona Cram, Senior Research Fellow, University of Otago, New Zealand; and
Professor Frans Leeuw, Policy and Program Evaluation, Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Netherlands. Biographies on both of these keynotes will be available on the website shortly, as will details of the third keynote.

The Perth organising committee looks forward to seeing you in September in Perth!

Gaye Mackenzie – 2008 Conference Convenor

Get Those Nominations In!

AES Awards for Excellence in Evaluation 2008

Over the past two years the AES Awards Committee has been reviewing the portfolio of AES Awards for Excellence in Evaluation.  The Awards Committee introduced several changes in 2007 and these changes have now been refined and improved with the release of the new and consolidated suite of AES Awards for 2008. The result is a strong and highly relevant suite of awards. The Chair of the Awards Committee, Professor Peter Bycroft explains,

“we have now completed a two year review of the AES Awards.  The review was based on feedback from AES members and the recommended changes were pilot tested in the 2007 round of awards.  As a result of this review and the pilot testing, the AES Awards Committee has refined the awards suite.  In 2008, we offer a comprehensive, inclusive and impressive range of awards that respect the breadth and scope of our membership and of our industry.  I encourage all AES members to nominate.  The AES Awards for Excellence in Evaluation provide prestigious peer-reviewed recognition of evaluators and evaluation efforts in Australasia”

Awarded annually, the AES Awards for Excellence in Evaluation are an important indicator of the Society’s quality standards. The award winners represent the best-in-class for each Award category. Winning an AES Award offers significant peer recognition and in the past has proven an important contributor to professional and commercial success and to academic career progression.

So get nominating! A brochure explaining the awards and the assessment criteria in more detail, tips and advice for preparing an award nomination (frequently asked questions) and nomination forms are available on the AES website www.aes.asn.au

If nominees have any further questions, they should contact the AES Awards Chair (Professor Peter Bycroft. email: peter.bycroft@cordia.com.au, Phone: 61 7 5474 5387).

Evaluation around the Globe

Conferences

European Evaluation Society 2008 Conference
Date: October 1 –3, 2008

Theme ‘Building for the future: Evaluation in governance, development and progress.
Where: Lisbon, Portugal

According to the EES conference organisers:

“This conference will be the major international evaluation event of the year for 2008 and should not be missed. It offers you the perfect opportunity to meet colleagues in the international field of Evaluation and exchange ideas. Contributions to this conference are very welcome. Please check the PDF brochure ‘Call for submissions’ available at the conference website www.eesconference.org for further information. Deadline for submissions is April 1st.”

Canadian Evaluation Society 2008 Conference
Date: May 11 –14, 2008

Theme ‘Sharing Heritages’
Where: Quebec, Canada.

According to the conference website:

“The 2008 CES Conference theme, Sharing Heritages, speaks to the principle, if not the fact, that each nation, each region, and each cultural community possesses specific knowledge, know-how, and approaches.”

Learn more about the conference at: http://c2008.evaluationcanada.ca/index.cgi?s=2&ss=1&_lang=en

All the News that’s Fit to Print

Publications Committee Report

Dear Colleagues,

Have you tried accessing the Evaluation and Program Planning (EPP) journal page on the website now available to all paid up members of the Society? Has there been an article or edition that has been relevant to your work? If so, what are your reactions to this journal content?  Or do you plan to consult the website soon?  Are there barriers for you to gain access?

The EPP page of our website is one of several initiatives to upgrade the site and to use it to offer an additional range of services to members.  We realise that the site provides the first point of call for members to be in touch with evaluation matters, and so we plan further initiatives this year, such as a page where members can contribute evaluation reports.

We need your feedback on our website and its relevance to members. So if you want to provide an opinion on the existing site, and/or you can provide constructive criticism drop me a line at j.owen@unimelb.edu.au

Dr John Owen - Publications Committee (Chair)

PS The Evaluation Journal of Australasia should be with you within two weeks.  Apologies for its lateness, we should be on time for the next edition.

Evaluation Books and Journals

Bedside Reading

From Wiley press comes “Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications” by Daniel Stufflebeam and Anthony Shinkfield. According to the Wiley website this book is “designed for evaluators and students who need to develop a commanding knowledge of the evaluation field: its history, theory and standards, models and approaches, procedures, and inclusion of personnel as well as program evaluation. This important book shows how to choose from a growing array of program evaluation approaches.” (US $70).

Pssst: Keep in mind that the high Australian dollar is making purchases of expensive American texts much more affordable!

Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation

Most of the Academics in the Australasian evaluation scene, and AEA members would have heard of the Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation (JMDE).  But not all interested AES members would have been informed - the journal is freely available on line at http://jmde.com/ .

JMDE has recently published its 8th issue, with articles in the current edition including:

• Advocacy Impact Evaluation by Michael Q. Patton
• A Summative Evaluation of RCT Methodology: & An Alternative Approach to Causal Research by Michael Scriven

 Prior issues can be accessed by clicking on the *Archives* link on the Home page.

The editors of JMDE include our ex-pat Prof  Michael Scriven, and are contactable as follows:

Chris L. S. Coryn, Ph.D.
Interim Program Manager of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Evaluation Program The Evaluation Center Western Michigan University Editor of the Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation (JMDE) JMDE Home page: http://jmde.com/
Office:   + 1 269-387-5906
Mobile: + 1  269-267-8228
Personal Home page: http://researcheval.net/

Many thanks to Colin Sharp for providing this item.

Sites, LISTSERVS and Blogs

Evaluation Resources on the Net

‘AEA Discussion List – EVAL TALK’

A huge archive of evaluation discussions can be found at: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/evaltalk.html . Please note: you will need to have a password (easily obtained from the previous link) to access this LISTSERV.

Evaluation Café

From the extraordinary people at The Evaluation Centre, Western Michigan University, comes the ‘Evaluation Café’. This great website features streaming videos of evaluation greats such as Michael Scriven in “Lively discussions, engaging debates and dynamic presentations…”. Visit the Evaluation Café at: http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/evalcafe/

Online Evaluation Resources Library

According to this US website: “This library was developed for professionals seeking to design, conduct, document, or review project evaluations. The purpose of this system is to collect and make available evaluation plans, instruments, and reports for NSF (National Science Foundation) projects that can be used as examples by Principal Investigators, project evaluators, and others outside the NSF community as they design proposals and projects. OERL also includes professional development modules that can be used to better understand and utilize the materials made available”. Visit the library at: http://oerl.sri.com/

Movers and Shakers

News about AES Members and International Visitors

Déjà Vu for Colin Sharp (AES Fellow)

The following Item is from Dr Colin Sharp:

I have a new job as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association (ARPA).  This has a nice déjà vu sense because my first evaluation job (in fact one of the first evaluation roles in the Australian Government) was as the first Research  & Evaluation Manager for the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (now CRS Australia) back in 1983 - 86.  Of course now as CEO for an industry professional association my role is much broader than evaluation.

I retain the PERSONAL Consulting company and the long-standing contact details, but for ARPA and rehab related matters I can be contacted as follows:

Dr Colin Sharp
CEO, Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association National Branch
PO Box 6001 Hammondville, NSW, 2170 Australia
Ph:         1300 886 901
Mobile: 0400 886 901
Email: ceo@arpa.org.au

Recent Visit by Professor Helen Simons

The following Item is from Bridget Roberts (AES Victoria):

On the 27th February 2008 in Melbourne Professor Helen Simons, University of Southampton UK, ran an all-day workshop on Integrating the Creative Arts in Evaluation Methodology. The workshop was introductory and experiential. Participants worked with a wide range of art materials to explore various aspects of the evaluation process, using examples from their work. The aim was to access a different way of knowing and establishing the values of a program - through images, metaphor, sculpture and kinaesthetic understanding. According to Helen this is work in progress and there is much more to be done to explicate the approach in practice.  Could the workshop be the start of an Australian network or community of practice?

A report complete with photos will soon be appearing on the Victorian section of the AES website. http://www.aes.asn.au/regions/VIC/

Get Involved in Your Regional Branch

To contact your region representative or to access the latest reports and news on upcoming activities at your local AES branch click on the 'Regions' link on the AES website. www.aes.asn.au/regions/

Welcome New Members

Canberra

New South Wales

Queensland

South Australia

Victoria

Western Australia

Wellington

International

Contact the E-News Editor

If you have contributions or a notice for E-news please email the E-news editor, Brad Shrimpton bshrimpt@unimelb.edu.au