2020
Evaluators help to ensure that Canadian public programs and services are working as intended. Ensuring the effectiveness of these tax-funded programs means that we need qualified evaluators to measure their performance and contribution to sound public policy.
The problem is that there are few universities or government programs that train highly educated, geographically dispersed evaluators, many of whom are already employed in difficult jobs. This created a problem that Robert Shepherd and his skilled team at Carleton University solved using innovation.
“There’s always been a shortage of qualified evaluators, so we knew we needed to enhance our offerings,” says Dr. Shepherd, who took over as supervisor of the graduate online Diploma in Public Policy and Program Evaluation (DPPE) at Carleton in 2009, broadened its scope to be nationally and internationally focused, and moved it online in 2016.
The diploma prepares graduate students to assume the roles of evaluators by having them complete an actual evaluation practicum with a real-world client. Since it is delivered exclusively online, participants can complete it while employed without the need to relocate.