HHP Program Evaluation and Technical Assistance Collaborative

Evaluation of health and social service programs is critically important. Including evaluation in the design, conduct, and assessment of programs contributes to organizational learning, evidence-informed decision-making, and the improvement of social interventions and policies to improve health and wellbeing. HHP’s PETAC provides access to experienced program evaluators who can ensure that evaluations are designed and conducted in ways that meet the needs and scope of the program and the intended outcomes of the program evaluation. HHP’s PETAC is informed by the American Evaluation Association’s five competency areas for evaluation, to ensure we deliver professional evaluation using rigorous methodology, taking into account the broader context with strong planning and management as well as interpersonal skills. Partnerships with HHP’s PETAC faculty may take many forms, depending upon the nature of program evaluation stage, needs, and other contextual factors. Our approach to evaluation is based upon a model of collaborative partnership.

Elaboration of Evaluation Expertise Offered:

Formative Work and Planning:
Programs can only be effectively designed when they are based upon an understanding of the needs of a community and how the program may fit within broader, strategic goals of the community. HHP PETAC can assist with:

— The design and conduct of needs assessments
— Strategic planning to ensure that the program fits within the broader goals of the community or the organization
— Program design, including identifying evidence-based interventions, designing logic models, planning interventions and methods, and determining evaluation feasibility. — This may include elaboration of evaluation within grant applications

Program Implementation Evaluation:
Process evaluation, including measuring implementation of programs, assessing fidelity, identifying strategies for improvements, and exploring how programs are being received. This may also include program monitoring.

Program Completion Evaluation:
— Summative evaluation, including assessment of program deliverables
— Outcomes evaluation, such as designing measurement tools and strategies to assess program outcomes
— Impact evaluation looks at impacts of programs beyond those explicitly intended by the program. This may involve identifying rigorous quasi-experimental designs to   measure the impact of programs

Information on funding mechanisms for Evaluation Partnerships:

County-, state-, or agency-specific partnerships can take many forms; the mechanisms for funding will be negotiated by the requestor(s) and PETAC Faculty Affiliate. HHP PETAC recognizes that not all organizations have budgets with funding available for program evaluation; in such cases, the request may be appropriate for a student within one of the programs in the College of Health & Human Performance (particularly those needing experiential learning) or for a course-based project

Information on grant proposal collaborations:
Requests for evaluation partnerships attached to grant proposals must include adequate and appropriate funding for the level of effort required for the PETAC Faculty Affiliate in contributing to study design, training of collaborators, and data collection and analysis. PETAC faculty will negotiate appropriate FTE during proposal development and consultation discussions. While every project is different, some federal funders recommend that 10% of the project budget be allocated for evaluation

Interested in Collaborating with us? Use our Request Form! We will respond within 2 business days.

List of Faculty Affiliates: