Developing evaluation capacity while improving evaluation training in public health: the American Cancer Society's Collaborative Evaluation Fellows Project

The Collaborative Evaluation Fellows Project (CEFP) is a nationally adminis tered model for the development of program evaluation capacity. It is innov ative in that it requires collaboration between the American Cancer Society , Inc. (ACS) offices and faculty and students from local universities, One purpose of the project is to establish stronger links between the ACS and u niversity-based professional training in program evaluation, primarily in s chools of public health. Graduate students are selected according to unifor m criteria to become CEFP evaluation fellows for 1 year. In the role of eva luation fellows, they design and carry out an actual program evaluation of an agreed-upon ACS program under faculty supervision using the utilization- focused model. During the first 3 years of the five-year grant-funded proje ct, the ACS's National Home Office and all 17 ACS regional offices (divisio ns) have developed partnerships and gained experience in using program eval uation data for program improvement and decision-making purposes. In additi on, 97 students have gained practical, real-world cancer-focused program ev aluation experience. It is anticipated that through the CEFP, program evalu ation will be demystified for ACS staff and lead to the hiring of professio nals to conduct evaluations of older, new, and modified programs in communi ty cancer control. It is also anticipated that participating schools of pub lic health will enhance their program evaluation courses, especially with a topical focus on community cancer control. In these ways, it is hoped the CEFP will have an impact on a national voluntary health agency, on schools of public health and on cancer control, on how public health professionals are trained, and on others who might adapt and adopt the model. (C) 2001 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.