Evaluation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Evaluation Fellowship Program

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Program Evaluation
• Workforce Development

Background:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established an Evaluation Fellowship Program to enhance evaluation capacity.
• This 2-year fellowship offers training, practical experience, and professional development for fellows.
• The program aims to build evaluation skills within the public health workforce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of the CDC's Evaluation Fellowship Program over its first 10 years.
• To determine if the program improved CDC's overall evaluation capacity.
• To evaluate the program's effectiveness in preparing fellows for evaluation roles and advancing their careers.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining online surveys and telephone interviews.
• Surveys were distributed to 152 alumni and 123 mentors from the first 8 cohorts (2011-2020).
• External evaluators conducted interviews with 9 mentors and 15 alumni.

Main Results:

• Survey response rates were 72.4% for alumni (110) and 35.8% for mentors (44).
• A high percentage of mentors (90.9%) and alumni (84.2%-88.1%) affirmed the program's success in building evaluation capacity and skills.
• Fellowship office support and host program mentoring were significantly correlated with performing evaluation tasks and securing initial employment.

Conclusions:

• The CDC's Evaluation Fellowship Program effectively contributes to building evaluation capacity at the CDC.
• The program successfully prepares a public health workforce equipped with essential evaluation skills.
• A service-learning model integrating training and practical application is key to developing evaluation capacity.