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Evaluation: Hunter College

New Project: Evaluation: Hunter College
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Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function

Category: Evaluation ›

The Challenge:

The Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function (Gene Center) at Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) requested an evaluation of Gene Center activities and experiences in order to comply with the policy of its primary funding agency, the National Center of Research Resources (NCRR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and to provide independent information of its progress in its forthcoming competitive renewal application.

The Solution:

A team at CSI worked closely with a planning group at the Gene Center to determine the scope, parameters, and level of effort for the evaluation. The team and the planning group discussed decisions regarding the participants, data collection methods and analyses. CSI used a mixed-methods evaluation and six impact constructs promoted by NCRR served as the guiding structure for the evaluation. CSI collected the following three primary sources of information for analysis and evaluation:

  1. Interviews with key faculty and staff of the Gene Center,
  2. A review and synthesis of grant applications and reports, and
  3. An online survey to faculty and staff.

The evaluation was descriptive in nature, providing a snapshot of Gene Center activities its efforts to achieve its stated objectives. In addition, the results enabled the Gene Center to identify priorities for future focus and additional assessment.

The Results:

The evaluation findings reflected and confirmed the progress that the Gene Center reported in the first three years of the current five-year funding cycle and illustrated how the Gene Center achieved the progress noted in its annual reports. Rather than determining the effectiveness or efficiency of Gene Center activities, the evaluation on understanding the degree to which the Gene Center was making progress towards meeting its stated objectives. Overall, the Gene Center appeared to be making good progress towards meeting it established objectives, as evidenced both by faculty and staff observations, and by data reported by the Gene Center on NCRR impact parameters.

Based on the evaluation results, CSI made the following recommendations to the leadership, faculty, and staff of the Gene Center:

  • Establish a set of priorities for the next funding cycle that balances input from faculty and staff as well as institutional and management needs.
  • Define a set of key indicators upon which to measure progress across areas of focus.
  • Continue to support minority researcher development.
  • Develop ways to seek regular input from affiliated faculty and staff.
  • Consider more objective analysis to determine the impact of the science conducted at the Gene Center.