Program Impact and Evaluation
Pierce County Eviction Prevention Program
How effective is rental assistance and case management for keeping renters facing eviction in their homes? For whom is case management most beneficial?
This qualitative study of Pierce County's eviction prevention program used interviews and focus groups with program clients and landlords to assess the impact of rental assistance and case management. It goes beyond purely statistical studies by illuminating clients' histories with housing stability, their views on the causes and effects of instability, and its impact on other areas of their lives. Working with people in crisis required especially sensitive and ethical research methods, so that the project humanized and gave voice to its diverse participants while still providing a rigorous evaluation of outcomes. The two-year project produced a data-rich analysis of program impact, drawing on both qualitative and quantitative evidence, along with recommendations for improving effectiveness. The final report was presented to Pierce County Human Services and the County Council.
Zina Linnik Project at McCarver
How did a participatory, collaborative community development project affect its participants and the community at large?
Following a multi-year collaboration among McCarver Elementary School, local universities, the Greater Metroparks Foundation, and other local stakeholders to promote student-led community development, Monica prepared a report documenting the project's innovative process and assessing its outcomes for both elementary and college students. The evaluation drew on interviews and focus groups with participants, an extensive literature review, and archival study of program documents. The report was circulated to stakeholders, media, and funders.
Academic Program Review and Reform [Internal]
How are academic departments meeting their educational goals in terms of appropriate disciplinary training and student learning outcomes?
As chairs of our academic departments, we have repeatedly been asked to review our departments' (a) academic structure, (b) course offerings and staffing, and (c) student learning outcomes. This work meant determining the sequence of knowledge and skills students need to achieve competency in the field, the best array of courses to teach them, and how to regularly assess the program's success through student learning. It also meant questioning whether our assessment tools were producing accurate results, which sometimes led us to adopt or reconfigure them to better fit accreditation or internal evaluation needs.
Academic Program Review and Reform [External]
How can a struggling program be improved, and what should its structure, staffing, and goals be within a changing institutional landscape?
Occasionally an academic program faces marked faculty attrition, under-enrollment, or an unclear role within the university's strategic plan, and needs an objective outside perspective. Monica has reviewed academic departments at peer universities and made clear recommendations about the future, composition, and role of a department within a changing institutional environment and mission. The work included extensive review of institutional mission and strategic planning, department history, stakeholder interviews, and department evaluation materials, and produced recommendations for short- and long-term planning.
Ongoing Assessment Capacity
Faculty Course Evaluation Reform
How can course evaluations more fairly and accurately reflect teaching, given documented patterns of bias in student ratings?
Concerns about bias in student course evaluations, including well-documented patterns by gender, race, and accent, had been building at the University of Puget Sound for years, and faculty and committees had long been working toward fairer, more valid tools for gathering student input. As Chair of the Faculty Senate, Robin coordinated the final development and campus-wide rollout of the new evaluation system, bringing together the stakeholders and prior work needed to complete a long-standing collective effort. The experience underscored that institutional change rarely moves in a straight line: it depends on sustained work by many people over time, and on someone positioned to gather the threads and see it through once the groundwork is laid.
Strategic Planning
Comprehensive Review
What is the optimal mix of programs and services to make an institution of higher education effective, sustainable, and marketable?
The University of Puget Sound commissioned a cross-institution review of all academic and non-academic programs and departments, seeking recommendations for high-quality, mission-centered, marketable strategies as well as financial efficiencies to reduce the institutional deficit. We first served on the advisory committee and then led the last six months of the process, directing a team of faculty and staff through a cross-sectoral, multi-method evaluation that included institutional data review, surveys, focus groups, and landscape analysis. The result was a full analysis and set of recommendations for the university Board of Trustees.
Advocacy Plan
How can a service organization move into advocacy to complement its existing programs and help advance its overall mission?
For Advocates for Immigrants in Detention, NW (originally the Northwest Detention Center Roundtable), an established coalition offering assistance and awareness programming around the region's immigration detention center, advocacy was the least developed leg of a three-part mission. Robin worked with coalition leadership and member organizations to turn that ambition into a concrete strategic plan, drawing on stakeholder interviews to identify shared goals, a power analysis mapping the political landscape and potential partners for each goal, and a review of comparable advocacy efforts elsewhere in the country. The result was a two-year plan with clear short- and long-term objectives, strategic partnerships and targets, and research briefs ready to support the coalition's communications and lobbying work, all while carefully navigating the coalition's need to advance policy change without jeopardizing its service relationships with the facility.
