Five doctoral students present at national conference
Feb. 1, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- Five doctoral students from Western Michigan University's Evaluation, Measurement and Research program recently were chosen to present at the American Evaluation Association's annual conference in Washington, D.C.
The five students, Dhaifallah Almatrodi, Mukaria Itang'ata, Ebrima Nying, Paula Roberts and Geraldina Villalobos, apparently received inspiration from the same source--the instructor of their evaluation practicum class, Liliana Rodriguez-Campos, assistant professor of educational studies, encouraged the students to submit proposals to AEA.
Upon submission to AEA, all five proposals were accepted for presentation at the 2002 conference, which was held in November. AEA represents scholars and evaluators from all 50 states, as well as 50 countries around the globe. The organization is devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation and technology.
Each year, during the AEA conference, outstanding contributions to the field of evaluation are honored. This year's Student Travel Award went to WMU's Itang'ata for his paper, "How Theories of Systemic Change Relate to Evaluation and the Role of Evaluators in Systemic Reform."
WMU is one of a small number of universities to offer a graduate program in evaluation. The field concentrates on the assessment of strengths and weaknesses within programs, policies, personnel and organizations, in order to improve overall effectiveness.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 269 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu