This one-day course will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded. The workshop begins at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude at 3:00 p.m., with a lunch break.

Course Summary:
This course provides training on evaluating public services and programs. At the end of the course, participants will understand and be able to describe program evaluation, and how it can help you understand the basics of assessing program impact. In addition, participants will be able to identify a variety of program evaluation tools, map out a basic evaluation plan that could be used in their office, and understand how to effectively present evaluation results. At the end of the course, participants will understand and be able to describe what program evaluation is, how it focuses on success understood as outcomes, short-term and long-term impact. Throughout the workshop, we will be referring to your own situation and you will be asked to apply the ideas to the program, policy, or process that you want to evaluate in your own organization. The goal of the workshop is to let you leave with a solid ‘takeaway’ of how to start your evaluation planning.

No prior experience is necessary. This course will not teach specific statistical or qualitative methods, but how to best determine which might be the best for measuring success as you have defined it.

Instructor: Maureen Berner
Maureen Berner first joined the School of Government in 1998. She teaches evaluation and analysis courses for MPA students and provides similar training and advising to state and local government officials throughout North Carolina. Her personal research focuses on the ability of local organizations to address food insecurity, poverty, and income inequality. She has worked with nonprofits, food banks, local governments, and state agencies. Berner was a 2014–2016 UNC Thorp Engaged Faculty Fellow, a Visiting Scholar with the University of Ghent in Belgium in the fall of 2017, and recipient of numerous academic awards. She began her career as an Evaluator for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, serving as a Presidential Management Fellow. She has conducted major evaluations for the Federal government, statewide agencies, non-profits and foundations over the past 30 years. She earned a PhD in public policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas at Austin; an MPP from Georgetown University; and a BA in global studies from the University of Iowa.

Register

This interactive online workshop will provide an introduction to focus groups, a data collection method used in qualitative research. Attendees will also observe or participate in a mini "mock" virtual focus group session.

Topics:

• Focus group methodology
• Considerations for planning a focus group
• Development of focus group discussion guides
• Focus group facilitation skills
• Tips for conducting virtual focus groups

Presenters:
MaryBeth Grewe, MPH
Engagement and Qualitative Research Specialist
NC TraCS Institute
Simone Frank, MPH
Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist
NC TraCS Institute

Register

How a Values-Based Approach Advances DEI

Please join the UNC Network of Research Professionals and Albert "Al" Segars, PhD, PNC Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan Flagler School of Business, for a seminar on a new model for developing diversity, equity and inclusion in today’s organizations. It is an innovation-based approach that increases employee satisfaction and reveals new frontiers of opportunity.

- To understand DEI as a transformative force within the organization.

- To understand a leader’s role in driving DEI so that everyone is part of the solution.

- To understand and manage the benefits that accompany innovative DEI efforts.

Register

This one-day course will be offered via Zoom only. Attendance is required as it will not be recorded. Course schedule will be 9:00am – 4:00pm, with a 1-hour lunch and (3) 10-minute breaks.

There is a substantial gap between the development of innovations in medicine, public health, education, and other fields and their delivery in hospitals, communities, and schools. Implementation science is an emerging field that is dedicated to the study of closing this gap by scientifically identifying the factors that facilitate and impede the systematic uptake of knowledge and evidence. It includes the study of how individual, organizational and environmental behavior impact implementation effectiveness, and how to develop and test strategies to change these behaviors. This course will provide an overview of the core theories and methods in implementation research and practice. Students will have opportunities to apply these principles through a case study.

Learning Objectives:
- Define implementation science
- Describe how implementation science connects to allied fields such as quality improvement and design thinking
- Define implementation outcomes are how they are connected to and different from health outcomes
- Describe key implementation models, theories, and frameworks, their application in various settings, and how they can be used to guide implementation efforts
- Identify individual, organizational, and systems-level determinants affecting the quality of implementation
- Understand how to develop effective strategies for sustainable and scalable implementation
- Describe the most common research designs and evaluation approaches in implementation science

Instructor: Rohit Ramaswamy, PhD, MPH
Rohit Ramaswamy, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence. Prior to joining Cincinnati Children’s, he was the Associate Director of the Public Health Leadership Program and a Professor in Maternal and Child Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ramaswamy’s area of expertise is in Implementation and Improvement science, which deals with the development and evaluation of systematic methods and tools to sustainably implement and improve complex interventions. His work blends the tools of systems science, design thinking, implementation science and continuous quality improvement to build capacity for implementation. His global projects include the improvement of clinical and operational processes in tertiary maternity hospitals in Ghana, integrating mental health service delivery into the district primary health care system in India. He has developed and taught Implementation Science programs in South Africa and in Zambia. In the US, he has led the development of innovative methods to evaluate complex community transformation initiatives.

Register

Best Practices for the Preparation, Submission, and Maintenance of Sponsor-Investigator Investigational Device Exemptions (IDEs)

The Duke University School of Medicine Office of Regulatory Affairs and Quality is conducting an IDE Workshop.

This workshop will:

• Discuss FDA’s approach to regulation of devices in clinical studies and for marketing
• Provide guidance on when the IDE regulations apply and discuss possible exemptions
• Review significant risk and non-significant risk device studies
• Discuss the preparation, submission, and maintenance of IDE applications
• Encourage participant discussion of case scenarios

Speakers: Kylie Opel, JD and David Jensen, PhD, RAC

Register

NC TraCS Regulatory Support is available to provide guidance and assistance with IND and IDE submissions and understanding the regulatory requirements for Federally-regulated studies. UNC Investigators and study teams with questions about regulatory submissions and pathways can submit a request to speak with an expert.

See also: IND workshop February 10

The Heartline Trial: A New Paradigm in Conducting Virtual Clinical Trials

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Michael Gibson, MS, MD
Professor of Medicine, Harvard
Interventional Cardiologist, BI Lahey
CEO & President, Baim Institute for Clinical Research & PERFUSE Study Group

Learn More