Stephanie Evergreen

The Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group is invested in finding ways to convene evaluators and evaluation consumers from across the campus and locally to advance evaluation practice.

This semester, Dr. Stephanie Evergreen, author of Presenting Data Effectively: Communicating Your Findings for Maximum Impact, delivered the Education Series’ Keynote lecture. Dr. Evergreen is known nationally for her data visualization work and is a highly sought after speaker and consultant. The event was held in conjunction with the School of Social Work mini-course, “Program Evaluation: From Theory to Practice” taught by Sue Ann Savas, Director of the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group. 

The Program Evaluation Group structures its mini-courses around Education Series events, which highlight the theme of the courses.  It also allows students to learn hard skills alongside professionals, highlighting the relevance and importance of these skills. Dr. Evergreen taught a workshop to mini-course students the morning of the event, where she covered the importance of data visualization techniques and taught students how to design graphics using Microsoft Excel. Students practiced the methods in class with Dr. Evergreen’s assistance.

“Stephanie Evergreen's visit provided the opportunity to learn concrete skills that will be invaluable as I enter the workforce and need to effectively communicate data to inform programs and policies,” said Mary O’Brien, MSW Candidate, 2015.

In the afternoon, Dr. Evergreen delivered her keynote lecture at the Michigan League. The lecture covered best practices for data visualization, along with the importance and theory behind the techniques, which is a lot more than just creating visually pleasing reports and deliverables. “The real reason that we do it is so that people will learn and take action based on the things that we say. That’s why we are out there talking about our data in the first place,” said Dr. Evergreen.

The event was well attended. Participants included students, staff, and faculty from across the University, including from the School of Education, School of Public Health, the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, the School of Pharmacy, and the School of Natural Resources, in addition to the School of Social Work.

"Given that I am usually on the receiving end of data visualization rather than creating it, I especially appreciated Stephanie's emphasis on considering the audience when choosing how to represent data, and that all data "says" something. It's always worth considering how best to visualize that data so the message is clear to the intended audience," said Nathan Phipps, a staff member at the School of Education’s Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research.

Evaluators and organizations outside of the University attended the event as well, including Aaron Surma, Senior Evaluation Associate at the National Council for Behavioral Health. “I went home with a lot of new ideas that I can immediately use in my work. Stephanie made me rethink how I share information with colleagues and funders.”

The next event, “Walking the Talk: Ethical Issues in Program Evaluation” is on March 10th. Brian Dates, Director of Evaluation and Research at Southwest Counseling Solutions and current President of the Board of Directors for the Michigan Association for Evaluation, will be conducting a training on evaluation ethics at the School of Social Work.

Education Series events are hosted by the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group. The Program Evaluation Group trains and professional prepares students and recent Social Work graduates in program evaluation by providing comprehensive evaluation services to a broad range of community-based agencies. Established in September 2011, the Program Evaluation Group engages the community to provide evaluation services and matches students’ education goals with relevant projects. The group works with community-based agencies, local and state government, national organizations, and University departments.

For more information on the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group, please contact ssw.ccpeg@umich.edu or call (734) 764-7918.  And, if would like to be notified of future activities and news from the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group, please provide your email address by clicking here.