Conducting a Program Evaluation for a Community-Engaged Scholar Network

The Engagement Scholarship Consortium is an international association of community-engaged universities. One of its signature programs, the Emerging Engagement Scholars (EES), is aimed at preparing doctoral students and early career faculty for community-engaged scholarship. Since 2007, the EES has accepted a 20-member cohort annually, resulting in a robust national alumni network. Following the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the program’s leadership sought to undertake a comprehensive program evaluation to learn from alumni if, when, and how EES programming aligned with their needs prior to and throughout the pandemic. Through a community-university partnership, the ESC and students enrolled in the KSU Human Services Program’s HS3600: Program Development and Evaluation course, under the supervision of their professor, began the first phase of this evaluative process. Phase 1 required students to examine how the EES leadership can best determine existing program needs as well as opportunities for continuous improvement. HS3600 students were organized into evaluation teams to conduct a threefold inquiry including: (1) a targeted literature review, (2) reviewing existing qualitative and quantitative survey data, and (3) conducting virtual interviews with program stakeholders. This systematic investigation will inform Phase 2 of the study that will take place during the 2023-2024 Academic Year through a continued partnership with community-engaged researchers from KSU, Michigan State University, and the University of Colorado Boulder. A comprehensive program evaluation and implementation plan, inclusive of a program logic model and evaluation matrix, will be completed to inform EESW decision-making and strategic planning, which will be shared at the 2024 ESC Annual Conference. This poster presentation will feature preliminary findings from the evaluation research, including analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the program identified by EES stakeholders and past participants as well as the initial program logic model and program evaluation matrix informed by the study.