Evaluation

This service is external evaluation conducted by a contract consultant and hired by the grantee to do an independent evaluaiton of the project.

Project evaluation work usually entails on-site visits, once each grant year. It can be done with or without the help of the grantee, although it is almost always preferred to have an itinerary developed by the grantee. Such a calendar would include meetings with the grantee, interviews with many principals, partners, and clients, examination of the provisional or interim reports filed with the Program Office, and wrapup session with grantee and department chair, dean, and perhaps the grants officer.

Under the G.W. Bush administrations there was a substantial push for increased accountability of grantees. More stringent performance reports required of the granting agencies in turn meant more requirements of the grantees in their provisional and annual reports. One consequence of this initiative is a significant increase in the weight assigned to the plan of evaluation. For example, instead of a weight of 15 points out of 100, the evaluaiton section now is weighted at 20 or 25 points. Of course, for the grantee this translates into more emphasis on obtaining client input [surveys, assessments, ratings, etc.] on all project activities. Moreover, the project manager will now ensure that the internal and external project teams [faculty, partners, students, and college personnel] also will be asked to provide extensive reports or respond to individual questionnaires.