Tasks

1.2 REQUIRED AND OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES

The evaluator’s role may be described in terms of required and optional activities. This section will provide an overview of both; detailed instructions for administering required instruments and examples of optional instruments are provided in subsequent sections of this page. A master copy of each instrument is provided in the relevant section of the webpage. Evaluators should make a copy of each instrument and maintain the master copy for subsequent years.

Required Activities

At a bare minimum, the evaluator is expected to:

  1. Attend semi-annual evaluators’ meetings (typically in January and June);
  2. Attend semi-annual Industrial Advisory Board meetings; (if unable to attend and IAB meeting, please find a substitute evaluator) Lead and/or assist in the implementation of the LIFE feedback process.
  3. Prepare an “Evaluator’s Report,” providing an annual narrative summary of significant Center developments for submission to NSF and your Center Director.
  4. Complete meeting checklists and reports for each IAB meeting. Attach a copy for both meetings to Annual Evaluator’s Report for each I/UCRC.
  5. Administer stakeholder surveys to students, faculty, and Industrial Advisory Board Members;
  6. Prepare an annual report based on the stakeholder survey data for your Center and submit to your Center Director; include a cope as an appendix to your Evaluator report.
  7. Forward stakeholder survey data to the evaluation team at NCSU;
  8. Provide information and feedback to NSF; and
  9. Provide information and feedback to your Center Director.

Directors are required to include a copy of the Evaluator’ Report (i.e., item 3 above) with their annual reports each year. A summary of required evaluation outputs is provided as Table 1. A calendar of annual evaluation activities is provided as Table 2.

Optional Activities

Evaluators may collect data in addition to the data required by the evaluation effort. For instance, in the past, questionnaires were used to collect data from Center administrators, and industry technical monitors. In addition, evaluators are free to add questions to the required instruments in order to provide data that are of local interest. A list of some of the instruments which have been used in the past or by individual evaluators can be found here.

1.3 EVALUATOR AS ADVISOR/CONSULTANT

It should be noted that the last required activity, “provide information and feedback to your Center Director”, provides an opportunity for the evaluator to become an advisor or consultant to their director. In fact, over time some directors have used their evaluator extensively in this role and value the contribution they make as advisors. However, other directors have chosen to not use their evaluators in this way. While we encourage evaluators to become advisors/consultants to their directors, the evolution of this role depends upon the needs of their Center director, the evaluator’s willingness to engage in these activities and the relationship, which develops between the director and the evaluator. Evaluators are welcome to share best practices and experiences gained from work with other Centers. Any work for hire should be discussed with NSF or its representatives to avoid conflicts of interest.

1.4 NCSU EVALUATION TEAM

The NCSU Evaluation Team is responsible for coordination of both the process/outcome questionnaire assessment and the Evaluator’s Report. If you have any questions about these elements of the evaluation effort you should contact:

Lindsey McGowen, Ph.D.
North Carolina State University
Department of Psychology
Box 7650
Raleigh, NC 27695-7650
Tel: (919) 515-1725
Fax: (919) 515-1716
E-mail: lcmcgowe@ncsu.edu

For general information about coding problems, deadlines, replacement questionnaires, and data entry please contact:

I/UCRC Project Manager
North Carolina State University
Department of Psychology
Box 7650
Raleigh, NC 27695-7650
Tel: (919) 515-3237
Fax: (919) 515-1716
E-mail: iucrc@ncsu.edu

TABLE 1:
SUMMARY OF REQUIRED EVALUATION OUTPUTS