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Program Evaluation

Program Evaluation Core

The Office for Research has also developed the Program Evaluation Core (“PEC”) to address the program evaluation needs of training grants. The PEC provides a range of pre- and post-award services including designing evaluation plans, timelines and budgets for grant proposals, implementing the plans after the grant has been funded and works with PIs to develop changes to their programs in response to evaluation findings.

The PEC also hosts program evaluation workshops and the website contains a set of self-paced workshops on developing training program evaluation plans and tools that can be taken at any time.

REDCap

The Training Grant Support Office has created a standard set of surveys in REDCap, which can be used to evaluate key aspects of a training program’s effectiveness and inclusivity. The surveys are now administered through the Program Evaluation Core. The set of surveys include the following:

  • The Pre-Appointment Survey
  • The Post-Appointment Survey
  • The Mentor Assessment Survey
  • The Program Satisfaction Survey
  • The Alumni Tracking Survey

The Pre- and Post-Appointment Surveys are a pair of identical surveys that can be administered to trainees both at the start of their appointment to the training program and at the end of their appointment (or at the end of the year) to assess their growth in confidence in several relevant areas.

The Mentor Assessment Survey may be given at the end of a trainee’s first year or end of appointment and is designed to assess the trainee’s experience with their mentor in areas such as communication, relationship-building, motivating and building confidence, and professional development.

The Program Satisfaction Survey is designed to be given to trainees at the end of their appointment to assess their overall experience in and enjoyment of the program, including questions on inclusivity and program climate.

The Alumni Tracking Survey is designed to assist training programs in keeping track of their alumni employment, publishing and other accomplishments.

Several themes run throughout multiple surveys, including the trainee’s professional development, questions regarding how rigor and reproducibility are addressed, and on the trainee’s relationship with their mentor.  These surveys can be used by any training program and are available to training programs free of cost.