Issue 30: December 2009

Dear Improve Groove Readers:

At the Improve Group, we had a wonderful 2009. While our mission is to help organizations deliver effective services, our motto could be our work is a pure joy thanks to you.

Thank you for the chance to reach out to you each month over the last year. We shared ideas about getting the most out of your strategic plan, keeping sound records to help your organization and answer your evaluation questions, and using evaluation data for strong messages to your stakeholders. We also explored how evaluations of the same program can end up with different results, technology tools that can help in evaluation, and what the stimulus funds mean for program planning and evaluation. Our old newsletters are archived here, so you can always refer back to topics that interested you.

We are wrapping up the year with a light newsletter that we hope you will enjoy. It will be fun to see your contest submissions! In the New Year, look for articles on new concepts for logic models, social justice concerns in research, cultural competence in evaluation and moving from a strategic plan to strategic management.

Wishing you joy in the holiday season and a great start to 2010. Leah

~Leah~

Famous Connections Contest
by the Improve Group Staff

Evaluation is best when we make connections with interesting, insightful people. To have a little fun at the end of the year, the staff at the Improve Group would like our readers to know a little more about us and our connections. We can't say our famous connections changed the world in any way, but they added some interest. Figure them out and you can win a prize!

Contest Rules

• Read the numbered clues below.
• Try to match the number of the clue with the letter next to the Improve Group staff member name to make his or her personal famous connection.
• Email your entry (one submission per person) to leah@theimprovegroup.com. The top 3 winners who get the most correct matches will be contacted about where we can send a special prize. Famous connection answers will be revealed in the January Improve Grove newsletter.
• Entries will be accepted through Tuesday, January 19th, 2010. Now start matching and good luck!

Clues

1. Which Improve Group staffer helped organize an event attended by former mayor and spirited talk show host Jerry Springer?

2. While attending the great Minnesota State Fair, which Improve Group staff member got their photo taken with then Minnesota Governor, Rudy Perpich?

3. Which star struck Improve Grouper met Michael J. Fox at a restaurant in Thailand?

4. Which Improve Group staff member not only met, but was asked to sit on the lap of famous Star Trek cast member James (Scotty) Doohan ?

5. Which Improve Group staff member hosted a visit of William F. Buckley, former talk show host and founder of a well-known political magazine?

6. Through a good friend of a friend’s famous connection, which IG staff member got a backstage pass to meet country singer Trisha Yearwood?

7. Which Improve Group staff member likely ruined years of diplomatic relations with the newly-returned King of Bulgaria (after Communist rule) by drying off his/her hands on him?

8. Which IG staffer got to preview film documentarian Rachel Grady’s dress for the 2007 Academy Awards ceremony?

9. Which Improve Group staff member is brave enough to admit they have no famous connections at all?

IG staff

'Processing" Our Internship Experiences
by Jill Lipski Cain and Stacy Johnson

It has been a busy fall for us as we joined the Improve group team as interns. The focus of most of our work has been on various components of a needs assessment for a Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) grant.  We want to give our readers an insider’s view of our busy schedule since we joined the Improve Group but first, a little about who we are.

Stacy Johnson: I am a doctoral student in the Evaluation Studies program in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota.  I have worked in the education and non-profit field for several years and it was here where I was first exposed to evaluation through conducting internal evaluations of programs I managed.  My primary areas of interest are: 1) how the use of cost studies in evaluations can better inform program planning and the decision making process and 2) how evaluation results can be of better use and more frequently utilized in the policy and decision making process.

Jill Lipski Cain:  As a student at the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs, I am earning a Master of Public Policy and a graduate minor in Program Evaluation through Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota.  I included program evaluation in my studies because I am interested in evidence-based decision-making while being creative in the process.  Aside from graduate work, my professional background is in sexual violence prevention and student leadership in prevention at The Aurora Center (U of M).  My field relies on reputable research and evaluation to determine the best approaches to reducing sexual assault on a college campus and this has naturally led to my investment in high quality data analysis.  I also serve on the board of directors at Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault. 

We began our internships at the Improve Group working on a needs assessment.  We started with a survey of community members in various counties to gather information on what they feel their county needs in the area of programs or policies addressing tobacco use, physical activity, and nutrition. To prepare for sending the survey, we contacted various area residents to request help with distribution in hopes of a more diverse and higher response rate. As surveys flooded the inbox at the Improve Group, we got to work entering and cleaning the data. Overall, we were impressed with the response from the communities. Community members seemed to be invested in the issue of healthy behaviors in their county and a range of values and suggestions were expressed.

Another part of our work was on focus groups with community members. Jill accompanied Liz on two of the focus groups for SHIP grantees and gathered a lot of feedback on the proposed ideas for using the funds to improve the community’s health. 

Jill: It was an interesting process for me - as someone who is used to thinking in terms of being an educator, it was refreshing to reframe it as an evaluator and pay attention to data collection and what the analysis of the stated reasons for supporting or not supporting particular policy ideas might look like in the final report.  It definitely tied a lot of course concepts I’ve been learning in graduate school.  

For both of us, this fall was the first time we had seen a community mapping exercise in action. Through this experience, we were able to see the careful planning that is required to put an activity like this together. We both spent a lot of time surveying the counties, via the internet, to see what community assets existed.

Stacy: I quickly realized that, as an evaluator, you can only find out so much about a community on your own. By doing an activity like community mapping, so much valuable information is gained from the participants who live in that community and experience what it has to offer every day.

Jill:  I really liked preparing for this exercise even if I didn’t get to see it in action. My role was creating icons to represent community assets and deficits of physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco that participants would use on a map of their county (i.e. healthy foods (veggies, fruits) and not-so-healthy ones. Google Images is a great way to get ideas for making icons.  From this work I was really impressed with the relationship between the evaluator’s skills and tools with the knowledge and energy of the participants in the project.  I knew that the community members would be the best resource for accurately placing the icons on the map and the final result after the exercise proved that input from the community matters.

Stacy: Overall, this internship has been very valuable experience for me. I have been able to see and experience the process of a needs assessment from beginning to (almost) end. I have been able to try new activities and tasks which expand the tools I can use as an evaluator. Interning at the Improve Group has truly been a great opportunity to see and be part of a well run, hard working evaluation company in action.

Jill: As I look forward to graduating in May 2009 (and welcoming a baby with my husband, Josh), I reflect on the incredible learning experience I have through school and related experiences.  I have much appreciation for the staff at Improve Group for providing me with a professional and comprehensive experience in evaluation during this internship.