You're invited! Cheryl Oros will present "Influencing Evaluation Policy and Practice: The American Evaluation Association's Evaluation Policy Task Force Work and Plans" on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 from 12 - 1 pm at George Washington University.

• What: Influencing Evaluation Policy and Practice: The American Evaluation Association's Evaluation Policy Task Force Work and Plans
  
• Who: Cheryl Oros, American Evaluation Association, Evaluation Policy Task Force
• When: Tuesday, June 24, from 12 - 1 pm
  
• Where: The George Washington University Trachtenberg School (805 21st St NW, Media and Public Affairs, MPA Building, Room 305, Washington, DC 20052)
  
• Nearest Metro station: Foggy Bottom (blue/orange lines)
  
• Registration: Please RSVP in advance.

Evaluators of government programs can often find themselves affected by tight budgets; agency policies, rules and guidance regarding the conduct of evaluations; requests for proposals with timelines that do not allow quality evaluation approaches; lack of engagement by program managers or congressional staff; and inadequate use of evaluation results or understanding by the public. This session will cover the essential work of the American Evaluation Association Evaluation Policy Task Force (EPTF) to influence these constraints and enabling factors. Participants will learn about the EPTF Consultative Campaign (letting policy makers know of positions for which AEA is advocating and also supporting appropriate changes in evaluation policy) and the Public Presence Initiative (“branding” and letting policy makers and others know AEA is present and available to assist). The EPTF has influenced legislation agency policies and also produced products, such as the Evaluation Roadmap for a More Effective Government, an influential guide which has been used by a number of agencies and congressional staff. Participants are encouraged to engage in a dialogue to learn more about EPTF initiatives and to provide their insights and suggestions for future EPTF efforts. 

Cheryl J. Oros is the current consultant to the American Evaluation Association Evaluation Policy Task Force. Dr. Oros is an experienced evaluator with 35 years of experience working in a variety of settings, including: directing federal evaluation offices where she set policies and developed systems; conducting evaluations at the congressional Government Accountability Office where she also helped revise the GAO Policy manual to address its expansion into evaluation; managing large, complex, state-of-the-art studies; and teaching evaluation at Georgetown and American Universities and the GAO Training Institute. Dr. Oros served as the co-chair of the AEA Research, Technology and Development Topical Interest Group and was involved in several important efforts to define R&D policy development, including service on cross-government committees, such as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Workgroup for the Committee on the Science of Science Policy (which produced a roadmap for the development of new R&D evaluation methods, tools and metrics). Dr. Oros currently provides consulting for evaluation office creation and improvement; expansion of evaluation capacity and creation of evaluation policies and plans; program conceptualization, study design, execution, and results communication; evaluation training; and incorporation of findings in budget justifications and results-based strategic planning.

Please note: For this event, no food or drink will be allowed in the classroom.