Negotiating Membership Roles and Resolving Conflict in Participatory Evaluation with Non-profit Organizations

• In Event: 2481 - Sociology in Practice Settings Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 06. Evaluation as Practice

Abstract

Specific practice-setting problem/challenge to be addressed: This roundtable discussion will address the practice-setting challenge of developing appropriate, ethical membership roles and resolving associated conflicts when academics are engaged in participatory evaluation with non-profit organizations. Conducting intensive evaluation research of nascent programs housed in non-profit organizations requires building long-term relationships with organizational staff and leadership as well as negotiating for necessary time, space, and access in competition with a constrained programming schedule and limited resources. Approach used to address the problem: The presenter will discuss how participatory evaluators can approach cultivating partnerships with non-profit governing bodies (i.e., Boards of Directors) and organizational staff who may not understand or value evaluation research. Key to this approach is making an effective case to stakeholders that competing for the programmatic grants on which non-profit organizations depend necessitates evaluation and quality improvement. However, in order for the participatory evaluator to implement cycles of evaluation and quality improvement in non-profit organizations, they must continuously negotiate appropriate membership roles in consideration of their ethical responsibility not to burden the non-profit with additional time and resource demands. Emphasizing the ethical advantages of adopting a participatory model in which the evaluator becomes part of the organization’s infrastructure, this approach involves employing facilitation techniques to build capacity for strategic planning and organizational development as programs evolve, which mitigates potential conflicts surrounding allocations of resources as well as evolutions in team-member roles and responsibilities. How the presentation will be useful to audience members: This presentation will provide audience members with an approach to negotiating membership roles and resolving conflict based on the “case study” of the presenter’s five-year relationship as a participatory evaluator with a non-profit organization. Audience members will gain practical insights regarding how to resolve ethical dilemmas and conflicts by proactively anticipating the needs and priorities of organizational stakeholders.

Author

• Margaret McGladrey, University of Kentucky