The CSC hosted a workshop on 16-18 March 2012 at Cumberland Lodge for around 45-50 representatives from scholarship providers, funders and NGOs, as well as current Commonwealth Scholars. The aim of the event was to share knowledge and experience of good practice in evaluating international scholarships and to identify the best methods for measuring impact.
A similar event was held at Cumberland Lodge in May 2007 which resulted in the first three phases of the CSC Evaluation Programme. As the CSC moves into a new stage of activity, the aim of the 2012 event was to strengthen its relationships with similar programmes and funding bodies, and also to generate mutually useful discussions on the best way to tackle impact evaluation in scholarship programmes.
The core objectives of the seminar were to:
- share knowledge and experience relating to existing impact evaluations of scholarship and fellowship programmes
- discuss issues arising from the challenges of evaluating scholarship programmes and similar capacity building programmes, and identify potential benchmark indicators for future comparisons
- learn more about the various evaluation methodologies that can be used by such programmes and identify those which are the most appropriate
- explore the possibility of establishing a forum of like-minded professionals that allows for future collaboration between different organisations, so that best practice and experiences can continue to be shared
Many participants also attended a complementary event, Measuring Impact of Higher Education for Development – organised by the London International Development Centre (LIDC), in partnership with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), and held on 19-20 March 2012 at Birkbeck College, University of London. The conference looked at the broader picture of higher education and development impact.
For further information, please contact evaluation@cscuk.org.uk
