BACKGROUND
ON THE AEA GSA
At the 1998 AEA
Conference, some interest was expressed in establishing an AEA Graduate
Student Association. A list was circulated at the AEA Board's Student
Reception, and signed by 33 conference attendees.
At the same time, David Bernstein organized a Doctoral Roundtable,
the purpose of which was to allow doctoral students, faculty, and
recent post-doctorates an opportunity to network and discuss their
research interests. He felt it would be in AEA's best interest to
foster and encourage doctoral student networking
and participation,
since doctoral students are a major potential contributor to the enhancement
of evaluation
practice and theory
. With a rather large percentage
of AEA's membership employed in academia, Mr. Bernstein thought the
Doctoral Roundtable might, as a permanent organization, encourage
and promote the benefits of long-term membership in AEA, and provide
the Association with a focus for developing the next generation of
evaluation
academics. A second annual AEA Doctoral Roundtable is scheduled.
THE AEA GRADUATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION
IS ESTABLISHED
In February 1999,
the Board of the American Evaluation
Association (AEA) unanimously
endorsed establishment of an AEA Graduate Student Association (AEA
GSA). The intent of this group is to develop activities for, and represent
the interests of, AEA members who are completing graduate degrees.
The AEA Board asked Charles Thomas (AEA Board Member and faculty member,
George Mason University) to be the Board's liaison to the AEA GSA.
Bob Covert (former AEA President and faculty member, University of
Virginia) also expressed interest in the group, and is especially
interested in an electronic listserv or bulletin board to support
doctoral students that are A.B.D. (All But Dissertation, a.k.a. Almost
But-never-completely Done).
The mission
, scope
, purpose, and activities of the AEA GSA is continuing
to evolve. By Laws have been drafted, distributed to the AEA GSA Board
of Directors for comment, and will soon be submitted to the AEA Board
of Directors for Approval. At the AEA Conference in Orlando in November
1999, an AEA GSA Board of Directors was established, and officers
were elected.
ORGANIZATIONAL
ISSUES/LEADERSHIP
At the urging
of Charles Thomas, a 1999 AEA Conference concurrent session to organize
the AEA GSA was conducted. The 40 or so attending members voted to
approve establishment of a Board of Directors.
1) AEA
Board of Directors: A six member Board of Directors was elected
by graduate students in attendance at the concurrent session. As approved,
the Board is as follows:
Chair: Liesel Ritchie
Chair-Elect: Catherine Elwell
Past Chair: David Bernstein
Program
Co-Chairs: Deborah Wasserman, Kerry Kriener-Althen
EVALGRAD Coordinator: Jane Davidson
The Executive Committee (Chair, Chair Elect, and Past Chair) met following
the concurrent session, and agreed that the Chair-Elect will serve
as Co-Chair.
Responsibilities of the Board and terms of office will be established
in the By Laws, once approved by the AEA Board of Directors.
2) Members:
All AEA members (both those with student memberships and
those who might be full AEA members) should be given an opportunity
to join and get on the e-mail list (EVALGRAD).
3) Mission/Purpose/TIG
Status: In order to gain some visibility within AEA, a Mission
Statement for the AEA GSA has been developed, and will be included
in the By Laws: The mission
of the AEA Graduate Student Association
is to develop activities for, and represent the interests of, AEA
members who are completing graduate degrees. The intent is to foster
communication and networking
between graduate students, interested
faculty, recent post-graduates, potential employers, and other AEA
members who wish to support the interests of AEA members who are graduate
students. It is believed that these activities will:
• expand
knowledge and awareness of AEA, its mission, and active use of the
Guiding Principles for Evaluators, and lead to growth of the American
Evaluation Association;
• provide heightened visibility for the evaluation profession;
• encourage diversity in the American Evaluation Association;
and
• foster increased interest in the evaluation field
.
Possible TIG Status:
It may be that the best way to organize the GSA would be to apply
for Topical Interest Group status. This would require development
of a mission statement, require an annual meeting, and perhaps give
us access to otherwise as yet unseen AEA resources ($$$) to support
AEA GSA activities. For the time being, this idea will continue to
be discussed pending AEA Board approval of the By Laws.
[Update: In February, the AEA Board passed a motion that gives official
recognition to the AEA Graduate Student Association. After much discussion
about how this could be accomplished under the current bylaws, it
was the unanimous decision of the Board that it would be prudent to
pass the motion for recognition as a TIG, since this provision is
already in place. Moreover, it immediately provides the GSA with the
rights and privileges that currently exist for all TIGs. The Board
also passed a motion that will reserve a place on the membership renewal
or first time membership form that would enable the identification
of graduate student status.]
4) Board
Representation: Cathy Elwell (Utah State University) indicated
that she talked to AEA President Scriven at AEA's conference in San
Diego about including a student representative on the Board. This
has not happened yet, but might once the AEA GSA is officially recognized
and its mission and organization is approved.
5) EVALGRAD
Management: EVALGRAD was established thanks to the efforts of AEA
President Scriven and Jane Davidson at Claremont Graduate University.
Jane Davidson agreed to continue to serve as the EVALGRAD Coordinator,
and was thereby elected to the AEA GSA Board. Some issues of management
of the list should be addressed, such as whether the list will be
moderated or not, and whether list membership will be limited to AEA
and/or AEA GSA members. To subscribe, new subscribers should send
an e-mail to LISTSERV@ACAD.CGU.EDU and in the body of the message,
type: subscribe evalgrad Firstname Lastname.
6) 1999
AEA CONFERENCE GSA ACTIVITIES
A. AEA GSA Organizing
Session: Friday, November 5, 1999 11:10 a.m. to 11:55 a.m., in Salon
5
B. SESSION 580:
DOCTORAL ROUNDTABLE/PANEL: Friday, November 5 from 3:20 to 4:50,
in Salon 23. Developing and Completing a Doctoral Dissertation
Chair: David J. Bernstein, Doctoral Candidate
(ABD), George Washington
University & Evaluation Manager, Montgomery County, MD Finance
Dept. Professors Nick Smith (Syracuse), Charles Thomas (George Mason),
and Bob Covert (Virginia) conducted a panel for 1/2 the session,
with the second 1/2 of the session dedicated to informal discussions
about doctoral student dissertation and research interests.
C. SESSION 560:
90 MINUTE CREATIVE FORMAT SALON 23, Friday, November 5 1999, 1:40
p.m. to 3:10 p.m. Footsteps in the Quicksand: Is the Foundation
Solid? Chair: Hallie Preskill, University of New Mexico
Presenters: Footsteps in the Quicksand: A Beginner's View of Evaluation,
Kate Mulqueen, University of New Mexico
Barbra Zuckerman, University of New Mexico
Walt Gilmore, University of New Mexico Evaluation Training Programs:
Is the Foundation Solid?
Nancy Puhlmann, Utah State University
Louise R. Moulding, Utah State University
Ken Wareham, Utah State University
D. AEA Board
Graduate Student Reception
Friday, November 5, probably around 9PM. A graduate student reception
Friday evening was held in the AEA President’s Conference
Suite. The reception appeared to be quite well attended.
Prepared by: David
J. Bernstein, AEA GSA Past Chair
Doctoral Candidate
(ABD), The George Washington University and
Evaluation Manager, Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Finance
david.bernstein@co.mo.md.us
January 18, 2000
