Center for Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness Makes Significant Contributions to Student Success

In March 2015, the College opened the doors of the Center for Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness (CEEE)–pronounced “C”. The center has a dual mission: to be a laboratory for students to learn about evaluation of educational programs and to serve the educational community by using evaluation to promote stronger programs and, ultimately, student success.

According to Associate Director Dr. Avery Olson, the center’s philosophy is that all evaluations are “customized to the needs of the client, with a focus on helping them get better at meeting student needs. Our goal is to collaborate with our clients and to systematically ask and answer questions about program implementation to help programs serve students.”

CEEE has quickly become a hub of activity for the campus’ programs and services that support student success. From its opening less than 2 years ago, the center has completed 2 projects with 7 more underway. Executive Director and Educational Leadership Department Chair Anna Ortiz has been “so thrilled to see the center grow. It shows we’re making a difference for our clients and for our students.” CEEE is fully staffed with Dr. Olson, Department Coordinator Makisha Glover-Hill, Project Director Alejandra Priede, Data Analyst Dr. Misty Sawatzky, and 5 Graduate Assistants (GAs) who keep the center running.

CEEE’s work requires a significant level of professionalism and commitment, and CEEE’s GAs are rising to the occasion. They work directly with clients–designing instruments, collecting and analyzing data, and writing reports–which can be both challenging and educational. Esperanza Aceves, a Social and Cultural Analysis of Education master’s student who joined CEEE in August 2015, shares that “the world of evaluation is diverse in the sense that clients will have their own set of analysis needs. This makes the job both challenging and fun in the way that it builds our ability to assess needs and then create a scope of work necessary to produce an effective evaluation plan that will assist clients to improve their product or program.”

Other CEEE GAs similarly express that they have gained important skills and perspectives. Whitney Young, a 3rd year Student Development in Higher Education (SDHE) student who recently joined the center, shares that she has “learned to ask critical questions about the purpose of a program, such as whether it is accomplishing its goal with current practices and how to determine the answers to those critical questions.” She loves putting her student development expertise to use in evaluations, noting that it is “my job to answer the evaluation questions and to disseminate information in a way the client can understand and then use to implement program changes.”

One of the first GAs hired, Jeremy Smotherman, a doctoral student in the EDD program who came to CEEE with prior professional experience, recognizes the importance of CEEE’s collaboration with clients when completing assessments and evaluations to analyze a program’s success. Working in CEEE, Jeremy has learned about the complexity of program evaluations and the level of skill it takes to complete a project.

CEEE is engaged heavily in research on supporting the success of traditionally-underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). For instance, Dr. Olson is wrapping up a 15-month study on the impact of the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)-STEM grants across 7 CSUs for the U.S. Department of Education. This project is among the first of its kind in the nation and the CSU, and has led to a new 5-year agreement for a summative evaluation of recently-funded HSI-STEM grants on 12 CSU campuses. CEEE is also the evaluator for the campus’ HSI-STEM grant and the prestigious Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) project.

According to CEEE director Don Haviland, “STEM fields are where our nation has some of its greatest needs, including the urgent need for a more diverse workforce that reflects the rest of society. We are very excited about working in this area because it gives us a chance to really help others see what is working and where we can best invest our time and resources to help students.”

Melissa Mahoney, a 3rd year SDHE student, has played a key role in CEEE’s STEM projects, working on the HSI-STEM evaluation, as well as evaluations for other programs on campus that focus on student success. She shares that this work has built her confidence and has allowed her “to apply academic and research skills” developed in her master’s program.

CEEE students are working hard while simultaneously building a collaborative and supportive culture in the center. It is this kind of environment that CEEE envisioned when it opened its doors: a dynamic research environment where students and faculty work together to develop students’ evaluation skills and serve the needs of clients.