University of Delaware’s Leslie J. Cooksy Takes Reins as 2010 President of American Evaluation Association
New AEA president transitions during exciting time - growth of field, growth of organization, national and international demand and support
Fairhaven, MA (PRWEB) January 21, 2010
Leslie J. Cooksy, an Associate Professor at the University of Delaware and Founder and Director of its Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Evaluation, will preside as 2010 President of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). Cooksy has more than two decades of experience as an evaluator and educator and takes the helm at a critical juncture in the association’s history and evolution. “Being selected President of AEA is an exceptional honor,” says Cooksy, a member since 1986. “With increased demand for evaluation globally and a growing membership base, the professional community and services that AEA provides are critical.”
Cooksy transitions into the presidency during an exciting era. The President Obama administration has emphasized the importance of evaluation and the Office of Management and Budget in October 2009 outlined new program review principles and offered additional funding to agencies that choose to develop and perform high-priority evaluation activities. The field of evaluation is growing internationally and AEA’s membership base has shifted from largely academic to practicing professionals. AEA meanwhile has doubled in size in the last five years, has taken on a more visible role in the arena of federal policy development and is in the midst of a transition to policy-based governance.
AEA is a professional organization that represents approximately 6,000 members around the world and is the largest in its field. AEA’s mission is to improve evaluation practices and methods, increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession, and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. Its members are involved in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products and organizations to improve their effectiveness.
Cooksy – recipient of AEA’s 1993 Marcia Guttentag Award in recognition of contributions to evaluation practice through her work then at the U. S. General Accounting Office - currently teaches Research Methodology and Evaluation in the University of Delaware’s School of Education and leads evaluation projects in the Delaware Education Research & Development Center in the University of Delaware’s College of Education and Public Policy. She is also a member of the Canadian Evaluation Association and the Eastern Evaluation Research Society and has experience working on international projects, as an evaluation consultant to the World Bank and as a former Peace Corps volunteer.
“I’m excited about the way the field is expanding into new program areas, such as environmental protection and cultural programs,” Cooksy adds, “and about how more and more evaluation practitioners are discovering the professional development and networking resources that AEA offers.”
In the past year, AEA:
Spearheaded the development and distribution of An Evaluation Roadmap for a More Effective Government Sought and facilitated member input/feedback to the House and Senate Committees and Hosted three online webinars to update AEA members on legislative action/next steps Introduced AEA’s Thought Leader Discussion Series, an online forum offering members a chance to dialogue with pioneers in the field. Several hundred participated Rolled out AEA’s eLibrary, an online resource center that was created to serve as a knowledge management system for evaluation-relevant information, including conference materials Offered members an online-only version of its four publications, which provides a forum in which to cut paper costs and reduce environmental impact
“Leading the Board in increased member engagement and a greater use of monitoring and evaluation data in its decisions are my top priorities for the year,” says Cooksy. “A transition to policy-based governance allows AEA to focus on its future, respond to growth and anticipate needs within the organization, on behalf of the field and within the community. I am looking forward to helping bring about this new orientation for the board.”
For more information on the American Evaluation Association, visit http://www. eval. org (http://www. eval. org).
For questions, contact Gwen Fariss Newman at 717-659-0158.
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