What should an evaluator understand about how a college or university works?
An evaluator working with a college or university should understand the academic calendar, the demands on faculty and staff time, and the processes that shape when a program can be evaluated. Scheduling is a practical example. An evaluator who doesn't think about the semester might plan a focus group during finals week, when students are least available.
The people running grant-funded programs are often teaching classes, supervising staff, working with partners, and recruiting participants. At the same time, they're reporting to funders and dealing with institutional processes. An evaluator who understands that plans around it. Both of Grantibly's founders have taught in higher education. Lauren has more than 14 years of academic experience and has taught more than 50 social research methods courses, and she has served on three Institutional Review Boards. Angelika is a faculty member at Madison Area Technical College.
Does an evaluator need to know our technical field?
An evaluator needs to know enough about your technical field to understand what your program prepares people for and what matters to the students, educators, and employers involved. They should also be ready to learn the field's specifics from your team. In a cybersecurity or advanced manufacturing program, for example, the evaluation depends on understanding how people are recruited into those careers, what helps them persist, and where they encounter barriers. It also depends on understanding how educators and employers work together.
Grantibly's workforce experience comes mainly from the education and training side of the workforce system. The firm has evaluated federally and privately funded programs that prepare people for high-demand careers. These include programs in advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, technical education, apprenticeships, and other career pathways, and the firm's experience also includes disability workforce development. Your faculty and industry partners still know the technical content best, and a good evaluator draws on that knowledge when designing questions and interpreting findings. Employers keep saying our graduates aren't ready. How do we find out what they actually need? looks at one question that often comes up in these programs.
How will the evaluator work with our students or participants?
The evaluator will work with your students or participants by following IRB and federal guidelines, protecting their privacy, and designing data collection that fits their schedules. An external evaluator isn't the person teaching or serving them, so involving one removes the power dynamic between program staff and participants, or between professors and students, when information is gathered.
Understanding your people also means paying attention to differences among them. A sociologist looks at who participates and who doesn't, and at the conditions that shape participation. They also ask whether different groups have different experiences of the same program. The ethics of this work is its own question, and How do we evaluate students or participants ethically? covers it.
The Grantibly perspective
Angelika's perspective
We're sociologists first. We naturally think about individuals, groups, organizations, systems, context, relationships, and patterns, and we look at who is having different experiences, and where. We're also educators as much as consultants. We don't just want to deliver findings; we want people to understand what those findings mean and how they can use them.
Our workforce evaluation work has given us a close-up view of the education-to-workforce pipeline. We've seen how people are recruited into career pathways, what helps them persist, where they encounter barriers, and how employers and educators work together. We work with clients, not around them. You're the experts in your work, your people, and your context, and the evaluation is better when we combine your knowledge with ours.
