Using Evaluation Techniques To Improve Business Processes and Organizational Health: Best Practices from PSO
(PSO Evaluation Initiative Best Practices 2)
This session features best practices from the PSO Assessment and Evaluation Initiative and provides attendees with an opportunity to learn how two PSO units, the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel and the Small Business Development Center, use evaluation approaches for continuous improvement. The power of an evaluation approach can extend beyond assessing the impact and outcomes of programs and activities. The same principles can be applied to your organization’s operational and organizational challenges. Learn how your peers around PSO are leveraging evaluation techniques to tackle practical organizational challenges.
Target Audience: PSO faculty and staff using evaluation methods, approaches, and techniques for continuous improvement to better understand the impact of their programs or actions (i.e., managers and supervisors, program coordinators, business managers, HR managers, etc.).
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand how featured PSO units are using evaluation approaches to better evaluate business processes and organizational health.
- Understand evaluation as a system of continuous improvement.
- Understand common evaluation strategies and best practices in PSO.
Presenters:
Theresa Wright, associate director, Carl Vinson Institute of Government
Theresa leads the PSO Assessment and Evaluation Initiative and directs the Institute of Government’s Survey Research and Evaluation Support division. The Survey Research and Evaluation Support group provides systematic quantitative and qualitative data collection, research, and evaluation services for government and agency programs on an individual, agency, and system-wide scale. Theresa has more than 25 years of experience providing consulting, technical assistance, research and evaluation services to state agencies, local governments, and the higher education, justice, healthcare and child and family policy communities.
Kiel Norris, associate director of continuing education, Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel
Kiel’s 16 years of experience at UGA serving in various roles with progressively greater responsibility within continuing education have given him expertise in administration and strategic planning for continuing education programs. Kiel has also served as the chair of the USG Regents Administrative Committee on Public Service and Continuing Education and is a graduate of the UGA Public Service & Outreach Vivian H. Fisher Leadership Academy.
Beth Melnik, associate state director, Small Business Development Center
Beth serves as assistant state director for Organizational Effectiveness and Marketing for the Small Business Development Center. She conducts needs assessments for Georgia’s small businesses, coordinates the unit’s strategic planning process, and evaluates the economic impact of SBDC services. She also oversees organizational marketing and provides technical assistance to research projects for business and economic development.
Eric Bonaparte, associate state director (retired), Small Business Development Center
Eric is a retired associate state director of the Small Business Development Center, where he worked for over 31 years. He is a former Hill Award winner and was an inaugural graduate of the Vivian H. Fisher Leadership Academy.
