Opportunities and Challenges Ahead for University-Based Evaluator Education Programs, Faculty, and Students

The profession of evaluation continues to grow, generating more demand for evaluation services than can be fulfilled by the supply of well-trained evaluation practitioners. In this brief forum article, we discuss the current state of evaluator education in the United States and the ways in which university-based programs support the development of evaluation practitioners and scholars. We then discuss the opportunities and challenges university-based programs face, focusing on program design, the challenges of being an evaluation-focused faculty member, and the specific needs of evaluation graduate students. We conclude by providing a research agenda for evaluation scholars interested in advancing the knowledge base about university-based evaluator education.