Photo:(left to right) Anum Irfan Khan, Renata Valaitis, Anita Myers (Coach), Sarah Sousa, Mary-Jean Costello
WATERLOO, Ont. (Wednesday, May 23, 2012) A team of University of Waterloo students returned home from Halifax this week as national champions of the Canadian Evaluation Society’s Student Case Competition.
This year’s competition, hosted by the Nova Scotia Chapter as part of the 33rd annual national Canadian Evaluation Society conference entitled “valuing difference,” had students develop a mock evaluation proposal for the Community-based Water Monitor program, and pitch it to a panel representing the senior management of the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada.
The victorious team from Waterloo’s School Public Health and Health Systems competed against nearly 100 students in the first round, advancing to the competition finals along with teams from Université Laval and the University of Ottawa. Team members Anum Irfan Khan, Mary-Jean Costello, Renata Valaitis, and Sarah Sousa were coached by professors Anita Myers and Mark Seasons.
The case competition helps students build their skills in evaluating public policies and programs. Using real life examples of public sector or community-based programs, the finalists develop recommendations for how to best go about evaluating whether the programs are “doing the right things right and making a difference”–all within the pressure of a team effort in a five-hour window. Teams are judged by a panel of experienced evaluators.
The national competition and other initiatives of the Canadian Evaluation Society shine an important spotlight on the increasing emphasis on results and accountability in public policy and programs across the country.