Next: Mr. Harrison goes to Washington
Posted Jan. 12/08
Is it working?” It’s a simple question with complex answers when it comes to development projects and programs. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working to increase the evaluation capacity in South Asia to ensure that programs in the public, non-profit and private sectors are achieving results—and it’s turning to Carleton for help.
Thanks to its strong global reputation in the field of program evaluation, the School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA) was the only Canadian school among a list of 20 contenders asked by UNICEF to submit a proposal. The task: to help develop programs in post-secondary institutions in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal in order to build greater capacity in the region for the evaluation of development programming.
What set SPPA apart from the schools that would deliver tried-and-true programs was a collaborative approach. “We asked how we could build a curriculum that was theirs, not ours,” says SPPA’s director Susan Phillips, PhD/90. “It was due not only to our expertise, but our approach—of asking the right questions, listening well, respecting some of the significant differences in the region—that Carleton was chosen to lead this initiative.”
Working with faculty from London Metropolitan University and an advisory panel of UNICEF staff and program deans or directors from selected universities in South Asia, the first project is to develop curriculum for an executive training program in managing evaluation that will be delivered to public managers by educational institutions. By co-producing the curriculum with the universities that will deliver it, SPPA can ensure local content and a sense of ownership.
“While the program will teach the same core evaluation skills across the region, the knowledge and experience of faculty will ensure it has local relevance,” says Phillips. “We don’t go there with all the answers. We work to provide advanced skills to faculty and build national and regional capacity.”
With the core instructor’s manual developed for December, the SPPA is helping to train instructors in half a dozen universities and institutes to deliver the executive training course, beginning in the spring. Further collaboration, including the possibility of joint diploma programs, may follow depending on funding.
“Good evaluation is crucial to governments and NGOs across the region,” says Phillips. “We are very excited about helping to build a strong evaluation profession in South Asia.”
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Fast fact…
The School of Public Policy and Administration offers a specialization in policy and program evaluation in its longstanding Graduate Diploma in Public Administration, delivered in an executive format to accommodate the schedules of working professionals. The 8th annual International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET), a four-week executive training program jointly hosted by Carleton and the World Bank, will meet at Carleton from June 9 to July 4, 2008.