The Graduate Student & New Evaluator 's (GS&NE) TIG of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), founded in February 2000, represent the interests of and develop activities for graduate students and new evaluators. The intent is to foster communication and networking between new evaluators, mentors/faculty, recent postgraduates, potential employers, and other AEA members who wish to support the interests of AEA's newest evaluation professionals. It is believed that these activities will (1) expand knowledge and awareness of AEA, its missions, and active use of the Guiding Principles for Evaluators, and lead to growth of the American Evaluation Association; (2) provide heightened visibility for the evaluation profession; (3) encourage diversity in the American Evaluation Association; and (4) foster increased interest in the evaluation field .

The Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) and the American Evaluation Association are jointly sponsoring a conference to be held October 24 through October 30, 2005 at The Sheraton Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The conference theme 'Crossing Borders, Crossing Boundaries' promises to provide opportunities for crossfertilization and thinking about evaluation in new ways. Evaluation 2005 will replace the 2005 annual conferences of the CES and AEA.

The GS&NE TIG intends to sponsor several sessions at Evaluation 2005, including How Do I Get a Job in Your Organization?, How to Get Published in Evaluation: What are Journal Editors Looking For?, and Presentations Skills for Evaluators. In addition to these TIG sponsored sessions, we are seeking other submissions which address: practical ethics for evaluators, evaluator competencies and professional development, putting evaluation theory to practice, and methodology , for example. Other submissions, particularly those which address the conference theme, 'Crossing Borders, Crossing Boundaries', are encouraged and welcome. Also, if you have an idea for a paper, panel, etc., that you are considering submitting to our TIG and would like feedback, please feel free to e-mail us. Previous submissions have addressed evaluation theory , practice, methodology , and the evaluation profession . Because this year's conference is co-sponsored by CES, we are particularly interested in proposals that increase the exchange of evaluation ideas across boundaries.

The deadline for proposal submissions is March 11, 2005.

Information about the conference and submission guidelines can be found at http://www.eval.org/eval2005/05.language.htm.

 

Chris L. S. Coryn
christian.coryn@mich.edu
GS&NE TIG Program Co-Chair

Tola Ewers
lmewers@wisc.edu
GS&NE TIG Program Co-Chair