THE SUMMIT ON VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM EVALUATION

“Reaching the Summit: Turning Vision into Practice”

Hosted by the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation



This Summit brings together Vocational Rehabilitation Program Evaluation Specialists to create a learning community where research, expertise, ideas, and feedback from others merge to establish and develop best practices in program planning and evaluation. It will be held on September 25th and 26th, 2008 in Salt Lake City.

Goal of Summit:

To provide a forum to educate, inform, build interstate relationships and inspire others to look at improving methods, tools, processes and practices as a way of advocating that Vocational Rehabilitation consumers receive the highest quality services.

Who is it for?

• Primarily, the Summit is for Vocational Rehabilitation Program Evaluation Specialists. These specialists may have many different titles. They are people within their state agencies that administer and develop such activities as consumer satisfaction surveys, case file reviews, comprehensive needs assessments, economic impact studies and other quality assurance measures.
• Other interested parties.

Who is presenting or facilitating at the Summit?

• Vocational Rehabilitation Program Evaluation Specialists from Washington and Wyoming.
• RCEP Directors from Regions VIII, IX and X.
• Professional Educators from Rehabilitation Counseling Programs
• Presenters from other related fields.

What are some presentation, workshop or discussion titles?

• “What is Program Evaluation?”
• “A Framework for Thinking about Evaluation”
• “Using Quantitative and Statistical Measures for Program Evaluation”
• “Current Issues in Program Evaluation”
• “Program Evaluation 101: Advice to new Program Evaluation Specialists”
• “An Interstate Networking Activity”
• “Strategic Planning”
• “An Open Forum Discussion: Common Concerns of Evaluation and Possible Solutions”
• “Preventing Burnt Toast: A Report on the RSA Grant to Develop a New Model for Program Evaluation from National Clearinghouse Resources”
• “Communication of Key Measures of Vocational Rehabilitation by Using a Dashboard”
 

Where will the Summit be held?

It will be held at the Quality Inn in Salt Lake City, Utah. The website for the Quality Inn is http://www.qualityinnslc.com. The cost of lodging is $80 for single and $90 for double occupancy. When reserving a room you can refer to the “Program Evaluation Conference” to receive this rate.

The costs to attendees will include airfare, lodging, per diem for meals and ground transportation. The Quality Inn offer free shuttle service to and from the Salt Lake City Airport and also to Downtown Salt Lake City. Those that are staying over will also receive a free breakfast. If you are interested in staying over the weekend you would be assured the conference rate for those days as well.

As the sponsor of the event, USOR will cover the cost of meeting space and lunch and an afternoon snack on both days. Therefore, there will be no registration fee.

 

Who can I contact if I have further questions?

You can contact either of the Planning Committee Co-Chairs. This would either be Michael Shoemaker at mtshoemaker@utah.gov or Bertha Villegas Kinney at bkinney@azdes.gov. To register for the Summit, you can send your name, organization and where you are from to Janae Berry at jmberry@utah.gov. The deadline for registration is Friday, September 12th.