MSERA OPERATIONS MANUAL: Committees

Evaluation Committee

Purpose

     The Evaluation Committee has the responsibilities of collecting data to evaluate the effectiveness of the Annual Meeting, collecting information regarding proposed changes to the policies or procedures of the organization, and reporting the results of the evaluation to the Board of Directors and to the membership of Mid-South Educational Research Association. The overall goal of the evaluation is to provide data for improving future sessions and for informing the actions of the Board.

Committee Selection

     The chair of the Evaluation Committee is appointed by the President of the Association. A co-chair may be appointed by the Vice President/President-Elect to provide continuity in the event that the current committee chair is not to succeed herself/himself. The remaining members of the Evaluation Committee will be selected by the current President.

Responsibilities

     The Evaluation Committee is responsible for collecting evaluation data on the Annual Meeting and for collecting information related to the individual sessions (e.g., Were all scheduled papers presented? Did presenters bring sufficient papers to distribute? Was the room appropriate for the session? etc.). To fulfill its responsibilities, the following steps are recommended:

1. Development of Instruments. The Evaluation Committee reviews the existing instruments for the collection of evaluation data and recommends changes to the Board, as appropriate. With the approval of the Board, substantive changes in the instruments may be incorporated (minor revisions may be undertaken on the authority of the Evaluation Committee chair). The Committee is responsible for reproducing a sufficient number of evaluation instruments (approximately 300 for the Annual Meeting evaluation) to fulfill their intended purpose.
2. Dissemination of Materials. The committee, under the leadership of the committee chair, is responsible for disseminating and collecting the evaluation instruments. In the case of the Annual Meeting Evaluation, two procedures are employed for distribution. The primary mechanism is to distribute the instrument during the Annual Meeting Business Session and to collect the completed instruments at the end of the session. The secondary mechanism is to make the instrument available to members at the registration desk with the explanation that those members wishing to evaluate the Annual Meeting who will not be able to attend the Business Meeting should take a questionnaire, complete it sometime before they depart the meeting, and deposit it in a box designated for that purpose at the registration desk.
3. The Session Report Form is distributed to the session chairs along with brief instructions for completing the form. The form can be sent to session chairs in advance of the meeting, given to them at registration, or brought to the meeting rooms prior to the sessions. Notification of assignment as session chairs is sent assistance of the committee members, verifies that each session chair does in fact have the Session Report Form and circulates the form to any session chairs who are late assignments or may have misplaced the original form. Session chairs deposit the completed form in a designated box at the registration desk following their respective sessions.
4. Analysis of Data. Data collected with the two forms are analyzed by the Evaluation Committee chair (or a member of the committee designated by the chair).
5. Reporting Results of Evaluation. The chair of the Evaluation Committee, or a member of the committee designated by the chair, prepares a written report to the Board based on the results of an analysis of the evaluation data. Information provided in this report should reflect demographic and professional characteristics of respondents, an assessment of the effectiveness of various session types, an assessment of the adequacy of Annual Meeting arrangements and facilities, the perceived benefits derived from participation in the Annual Meeting, and any special purpose information gathered as part of the Annual Meeting evaluation. In addition, the report to the Board should summarize the data collected in the Session Report Form, with special reference to such information as the number of scheduled papers not presented, the average attendance in sessions, and the adequacy of the meeting rooms for sessions. The written report is to be submitted to the Board at its spring meeting. A brief summary of the evaluation report is to be sent to the editor of the MSERA Researcher for inclusion in the publication.