ACET, Inc. Blog

ACET recognizes the importance of professional development in maintaining and sharpening one’s skills, and last week I had a great professional development opportunity by attending the ADARA (formerly known as the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association) 2013 national conference. This conference, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, included more than 50 sessions and welcomed 300 attendees. This conference proved to be a great and eye-opening experience. I had the opportunity to attend sessions focused upon the best utilization of American Sign Language and Certified Deaf Interpreters, the domains and competencies for those interpreting in medical or mental health settings, and the opportunities and challenges for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Not only was I able to attend those intriguing sessions, I also presented my own work. In coordination with Trudy Schafer (project coordinator) from the National Interpreter Education Center, we presented the session entitled “What do we know and how do we know it…Improving service delivery for individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.” Ms. Schafer provided background information and context for surveys used by the national center, while I presented best survey design practices and related the practices back to one of the national center surveys. Specifically, this presentation explored designing quality survey questions or items, response options, formatting strategies, and the importance of field testing. The overall intent of this session was that attendees would gain a better understanding of how to design quality surveys that are accurate, valid, reliable, and better inform future decisions. This session was important for ADARA attendees because, when assessing program effectiveness, it is important that surveys are properly designed to measure intended outcomes.

To learn more about best survey design practices, please visit the Resource section of ACET’s website for the Evaluation Take Away titled Survey Item Design Best Practices.

Dan and Trudy Schafer at the 2013 ADARA Conference

Dan

Networking is one of the most important professional skills that people can utilize today to build relationships and business, and if done well, can yield mutual benefits that last a lifetime. Likewise, too many networkers could be accused of giving the “milk” away for free, thus making the sale of the “cow” meaningless. If your networking produces too many short-lived interactions and not enough lasting ones, take a look at these tips for maintaining networking contacts with an eye toward the long term.

Keep in touch. Keeping in touch with people that you wish to develop as networking contacts on a regular basis is very important. Immediately following the initial contact, start with an email to thank your contact for their time. Don’t stop there, however. Make a point of checking in with this person again, should no immediate plans for one-on-one conversation surface, after a set period of time. Rather than limiting all contact to email, do this by phone, if possible. Regular contact, both online and off, needs to be maintained to remain in the minds of your contacts. Taking time to express your thanks for your contacts’ time and attention is not only socially polite but also functions as another point of contact.

Be ready to help. It has been said that networking has more to do with what you can do for others than what others can do for you. One way to practice this with a professional contact is by passing along an interesting article or news of note that you may come across. This not only shows that you are thinking about them, but also about what is important to them in their work. When you communicate with your contacts, ask the question, “How can I help you?” and don’t worry about who helps who more. Concerned about giving too much of yourself? Consider your advice to be free, but anything that requires your unique expertise to be worth charging for.

Take note. Starting with the initial conversation and exchange of business cards, networking contacts are sending out a steady stream of information about their lives. Asking questions and taking notes about these interactions can both enrich your own personal searches for information or business as well as your ability to remain relevant to your contact. An expressed frustration about dry cleaners or joy over a child’s progress in school can be as much of a call to action as a casual musing about a potential future project, if only to show that you listen and care (“So, how is your son doing in school?”).

Provide introductions. When you meet people in a variety of spaces, you invariably begin to see commonalities between them. Introducing people, whether on the basis of their shared work or a mutual interest in a TV show, can help strengthen your network and your image in your contacts’ minds as a valuable source of helpful connections. Be sure to ask first (“I know someone who is involved in X. Can I introduce you to them?”) and then leave it up to them to decide where to take the relationship next. The next person to receive an important introduction might be you.

Share parts of yourself with others. You don’t have to turn your LinkedIn account into a public diary! Consider simple, upbeat personal updates like life change announcements or updates about long-term projects (“I’m 20,000 words into my novel!”) to stay in your contacts’ minds. Holiday greetings can also be a fun way to reach out and stay in touch.

Good networking, like training a bonsai or cultivating vegetables, is about many regular activities performed periodically over time. Likewise, it is not about a massive single overture or making a big score that may only impress and produce results for the short term.

There are many facets of networking and I pulled just a couple of pages about them from the Internet. What networking tips have brought you success?

Mary

When ACET staff met to debrief about the recent AEA Conference in Minneapolis, they had lots of interesting and useful information that they gleaned from days of attending presentations and discussions to share. Here are some comments.

Kirsten: I gravitated towards presentations on data visualization and reporting and sessions in which a skill or technique was demonstrated. In one of the sessions, Simon Geletta (Des Moines University) showed how to build information dashboards. The software was surprisingly easy to use, primarily because it is based on a knowledge and understanding of Excel. Also, if you ever have a chance to watch an Ignite presentation, you may want to do it. Ignite speakers have 5 minutes to talk and 20 presentation slides. The catch? The slides automatically forward every 15 seconds, whether or not the speaker is ready. The result is often a polished, focused summary of the presenter’s work or position. They were inspiring to watch!

Stella: I went to a presentation about college access programs that gave me lots to think about, like the different rubrics used to measure engineering programs. I also went to a session focused on environmental impact that expanded my horizons on what indicators to include for future opportunities. I was also impressed by the work of the University of Minnesota Extension’s cohort model for building evaluation capacity.

Joseph: One presentation I thought was particularly interesting was about evaluation in a for-profit, corporate environment. It ended up being more different [from nonprofit evaluation] than I could have previously imagined. The focus is more on process over outcome, with the understanding that process will lead to outcomes (new business, repeat business, etc.). I did learn some good takeaway strategies that furthered my process evaluation knowledge and skills that will be useful for any sector.

Dan: I found a couple of presentations particularly interesting. One was about using email and postal surveys (or survey invitations) together to maximize response rates, and it went through the different combinations [the presenter] used to deliver the survey (or invite people to complete the survey). Another session I attended was about the analysis of quantitative data with different software packages, and there were some that I knew of, but others I didn’t. I found the functionality of each different software package to be of interest.

ACET Staff

Are you headed to AEA 2012? A number of related deadlines are fast approaching for the event!

After September 20, registration fees will increase ahead of the American Evaluation Association’s Annual Conference. This year’s AEA conference is being held in Minneapolis from October 24nd through the 27^th at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Professional development workshops will be held in the nearby Minneapolis Hilton from the 22nd  to the 24th.  AEA’s website also reports that many officially designated hotels are sold out for most nights, with others reporting limited availability. If you are planning to attend, now is a good time to solidify your plans.

If you are presenting at AEA, as two of ACET’s own evaluators are, we hope that your preparations are coming along smoothly. The guidelines for presenters advise, among other things, that you make any requests for audio-visual devices beyond a PC, projector, and screen at least four weeks in advance of your event, which at minimum would be the last week of September. If you wish to advertise in the official conference program, the deadline is September 21st.

Are you attending or traveling to attend AEA 2012? What are you looking forward to seeing or doing? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

ACET Staff

Here at ACET, we have the opportunity to work with a variety of education and health-related programs. As an up-and-coming public health professional, I like to keep an eye on professional development opportunities related to public health – luckily, Minnesota is home to many! Though there are several public health conferences and events scheduled throughout the state this fall, I’d like to focus on three upcoming conferences that are open to all who are interested in public health issues.

The first is the 9th Annual Women’s Health Research Conference, being held September 24th at the University of Minnesota McNamara Alumni Center. The Women’s Health Research Conference is hosted by the Deborah E. Powell Center for Women’s Health, and this year’s focus is mature women’s health. The conference features keynote speeches on various physical health issues related to aging; breakout sessions on mental, physical, and sexual health; and a poster session featuring research projects done by public health and medical professionals, researchers, and students.

The next conference I’d like to highlight is the 2012 Community Health Conference, sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Health. The focus of this year’s Community Health Conference, scheduled for October 3rd through the 5th in Brainerd, is “Strengthening Public Health: Linking Past Successes to Future Challenges.” Dr. Edward Ehlinger, the current Minnesota Commissioner of Health, will be a keynote speaker; attendees will also have the opportunity to attend a discussion headed by a panel of former Minnesota commissioners of health. Topics of discussion include health disparities and local data, public health systems research, and the building of community partnerships.

Finally, from October 25th through the 26th, the 2012 Many Faces of Community Health Conference — entitled “Stepping Up to Transform Health Care” this year — will be held in Bloomington. This conference is jointly coordinated by the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, the Minnesota Department of Health Diabetes Program and Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention Unit, and the Greater Twin Cities United Way. The 2012 Many Faces of Community Health Conference is intended to help public health professionals and health care providers reduce health disparities and improve care delivered to underserved populations. Attendees will explore challenges and opportunities in reducing health disparities, preventing chronic disease, and improving access to health care.

Registration information for these events can be found on their respective conference websites.

Are you attending any conferences or events for professional development this fall? Have you attended an event that really impaced your career or education? Please share in the comments!

Elizabeth

ACET is excited to announce that evaluators Joseph Curiel and Kirsten Rewey have been accepted to present findings at three multi-paper sessions at the 2012 American Evaluation Association’s Annual Conference held this October in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Entitled “Evaluation in Complex Ecologies: Relationships, Responsibilities, Relevance,” Joseph and Kirsten will be joining thousands of attendees for a week of workshops, networking, and capacity building.

On Thursday, October 25, Kirsten Rewey will be a part of the multi-paper session “Evaluating Programs Targeted for Populations with Disabilities.” Kirsten’s paper, entitled “Evaluating an Educational Support Program for Those Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing: Unique Needs” explores the design, implementation, and training for a group of stakeholders including deaf, hard of hearing, hearing, and multilingual individuals.

On Friday, October 26, Joseph Curiel will be chairing “The Complexity of Multi-Site Evaluations: Lessons Learned from the Evaluation of a College Access Program” alongside colleagues from the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. The session will explore the challenges encountered and solutions devised as part of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) project.

On Saturday, October 27, Kirsten will again be presenting, this time as part of the multi-paper session “Building Evaluation Capacity to Support Short and Long-term Organization Impact.” Kirsten’s presentation, “Managing the Impact of Staff Turnover on Evaluation Capacity and Quality,” includes strategies for building staff capacity for evaluations, even in the face of changing staff makeup.

We are very proud of our evaluators and invite you to attend their sessions.

ACET Staff

Hi, I’m Sandy Donovan and I was invited to guest blog on ACET Inc.’s blog this week. I’ve worked with ACET for more than a decade on various evaluation projects. I’ve also worked in the areas of workforce development and career planning for nearly that long, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to write about an important workforce topic: ongoing professional development.

I’m guessing this may be an area that many readers have often told themselves they would begin to prioritize—just as soon as things get less hectic at work. After all, keeping up with one’s day-to-day work tasks can feel like two full-time jobs. It often seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to work on projects, meet deadlines, head off crises, attend meetings, and reply to emails. . .the list can be endless.

In fact, everything we do at work builds our skills and bolsters our experience. But people with the highest career satisfaction consistently report that they also make an effort to keep one eye on the big picture of their career. This is true whether they already have a career they’re passionate about, or they’re just setting out on a path toward that career.

Why You Should. Dedicating just a few minutes, hours, days—whatever you have available—to your professional development will pay off in multiple ways. Here are just a few benefits of staying on top of your professional development:

• Be more informed about trends and issues in your field. Being aware of what’s happening in your field can keep you engaged and help grow your career.
• Gain new skills and advance in your career. Keeping your skills fresh is more important than ever as technology rapidly evolves.
• Remain passionate about the work you do. If you’re like many of ACET’s clients, chances are your career choice was driven by passion or a desire to make change. Keeping that passion alive will keep you inspired, help you to do better work, and in the end, increase your impact.

How You Can. Most of us agree we’d like to invest in professional development–but we’re not sure where to start, or if we even have the time. Here are a few simple ways to get started:

• Join a professional association. Once you join, you can determine just how involved you want to be. Find an organization in your field in this list of Professional and Trade Associations collected by the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Take a class. Some employers will help you pay for classes, some won’t. You’ll find that anything from taking a community education course to a starting a degree program can boost your career.
• Go online. Social media tools can make professional networking easier than ever. Try finding a LinkedIn group in your field or following colleagues on Twitter.

Senior Recovery Program is now offering a professional workshop series for area professionals. The workshops will start in January with the objective of sharing important information about chemical dependency among older adults, and CEUs are available.

To learn more, please visit the workshop website at: http://www.seniorrecoverymn.org/Workshops.html

As you may know, Stella and Kirsten will be making presentations at the American Evaluation Association (AEA) 2010 conference this Saturday. ACET just posted two PowerPoint presentations on AEA’s website in preparation for the conference.

Multipaper Session #798: Evaluating a Child-Welfare Demonstration Program: Evolution, Considerations, and Lessons Learned
Multipaper Session #763: The Impact of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) on Student Academic Preparedness

The presentations posted in the AEA eLibrary system are open to the public, so please feel free to check it out! To see all presentations posted for the AEA conference, please click here: http://comm.eval.org/EVAL/EVAL/Resources/LibraryDocuments/Default.aspx?LibraryKey=1eff4fd7-afa0-42e1-b275-f65881b7489b

If you have any questions or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact us!

Each year the American Evaluation Association (AEA) holds an annual conference at which evaluators from around the country gather to discuss and reflect on evaluations. A large portion of the conference is devoted to evaluators sharing their knowledge with others through poster presentations, round-tables, and paper presentations. And being a presenter at AEA’s conference is a competitive process: Evaluators submit short briefs of their proposed topic which are reviewed and rated by AEA members.

Recently ACET staff learned that two of their proposals were accepted for the November, 2010 conference in San Antonio. Kirsten will be presenting a paper on the evaluation of a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant currently implemented by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. The presentation will emphasize the initial findings of the impact of GEAR UP on student academic success, review evaluation successes and challenges, and describe lessons learned. Stella will also co-present a paper on Incarnation Family Connections, a child welfare demonstration program implemented by The Wayside House. This presentation will summarize findings from the first six months of the program, the evolution of the evaluation design, considerations made in selecting the final design, and lessons learned.