Newly formed Hawaii-Pacific Evaluation Association elects officers

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

HONOLULU — The first Hawaiʻi-Pacific-based affiliate of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) recently held its first evaluation conference in Honolulu and elected its first slate of officers, giving the organization many "firsts" to celebrate.

The Hawaiʻi-Pacific Evaluation Association (H-PEA) has elected the following individuals to serve as officers for its inaugural year:

• President — Judith K. Inazu, PhD, Associate Director, Social Science Research Institute and Director, Office for Evaluation and Needs Assessment Services, UH Mānoa
  
• Vice President — Sonja Evensen, MPH, Evaluation Specialist, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL)
  
• Treasurer — Gerald M. Meredith, PhD, Interim Chair, Office of Faculty Development and Academic Support (OFDAS), UH Mānoa
  
• Secretary — Lisa M. Watkins-Victorino, PhD, Evaluation Specialist, Department of Education
  

"This will be an exciting time to head the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Evaluation Association, given the increasing demand for high quality evaluation of publicly- and privately-funded programs," said Inazu.

All of the elected officers were members of the original planning committee to get the association off the ground. Inazu initiated the petition to become a recognized AEA affiliate, and took the lead in organizing the group and planning for the inaugural conference.

"Her vision and excellent leadership made it clear to the group that she should continue to serve in this role," said Evensen, also a member of the planning group.


ABOUT THE HAWAIʻI-PACIFIC EVALUATION ASSOCIATION

The Hawaiʻi-Pacific Evaluation Association, or H-PEA, was organized in 2005 by a group of faculty members from the University of Hawaiʻi and evaluators in educational, for-profit and non-profit organizations. It became an official affiliate of the American Evaluation Association in October 2005. H-PEA‘s mission is to foster a culture of excellence and ethics in evaluation in the Pacific region by improving evaluation practices and methods, increasing evaluation use, promoting evaluation as a profession, and supporting the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. Its current membership includes evaluators from local universities, educational and governmental agencies, and from the private sector. For more information, email hpea@hawaii.edu.