In addition to contributing their leadership and talent to center projects and contributing to evaluation scholarship, center staff built upon their records of awards and service in 2024-25.
Lori Wingate
Executive Director
I'm especially proud of the work that center staff have done for the evaluation of the Empowering Futures initiative at WMU. Alongside our exceptional colleagues from Institutional Research and Student Affairs, we’re helping the University use data to enhance our students' experiences and outcomes. I'm also extremely pleased that Lyssa Wilson Becho was recognized for her outstanding achievement as an early-career evaluator.
Service
- Lead, Empowering Futures Evaluation Workgroup
- Member, Empowering Futures Steering Committee
- Member, Student Success Team Empowering Futures implementation
Brad Watts
Assistant Director
"The accomplishment I am most proud of during 2024-25 was the progress my fellow co-authors and I made in developing an official first draft of the revised Program Evaluation Standards. Although this has been an intense workload, we remain on schedule to publish a new, fourth edition in 2026."
Service
- Executive Committee Treasurer, Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation
- Secretary and Board Member, Meadows Homeowners Association
Maureen Green
Project Assistant Senior
"This year, I enjoyed sharing my knowledge of accessibility with students and colleagues, helping to ensure our materials are usable by a broader audience. I am also proud to have contributed to the successful launch of the ATE Evaluation Fellowship, supporting evaluators in gaining the skills and insights needed to engage effectively with ATE projects."
Samantha Hooker
Marketing Specialist Senior
"One of the best parts of my job is spreading the word about all the amazing things happening at The Evaluation Center. It’s been exciting to tailor content for different audiences, highlighting the important work being done at the center."
Brianna Hooks Singletary
Senior Research Associate
"This year, I’m proud of how I created opportunities for evaluators to connect, share what they’ve learned, and build confidence in their own approaches, especially through conversations that felt real and supportive."
Megan Lopez
Senior Research Associate
"In the past year, I am proud to have been involved in the guest editing of an open access issue on New Directions for Evaluation on Evaluating Evaluation Capacity Building. Through this, I had the opportunity to work with and learn from evaluation capacity builders across the world who are all working to understand what meaningful evaluation capacity building practice looks like. I’ve enjoyed spending the last several months sharing out key findings and takeaways to advance practice!"
Service
- Judge, American Evaluation Association Student Evaluation Case Competition
- Co-guest Editor, New Directions for Evaluation
- Member, American Evaluation Association, Professional Development Networking Group
Valerie Marshall
Senior Research Associate
"I am proud of the work we accomplished in designing the evaluation use study for EvaluATE, which will launch this fall."
Service
- Activities Coordinator, American Evaluation Association Research on Evaluation Topical Interest Group
- Board Member, Michigan Association for Evaluation
- Junior Editor, New Directions for Evaluation
- Reviewer, American Journal of Evaluation
- Research Article Section Editor, Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation
- Reviewer, Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation
- Reviewer, Substance Use and Misuse
Lee McClure
Project Manager
"I am proud of this year’s ATE Survey, which provides a detailed look at the ATE community and can be used by 300 ATE projects, evaluators, researchers, and administrators to inspire project innovation."
Kelly Robertson
Principal Research Associate
"I’m proud of how the ATE Evaluation Fellowship has come together, in terms of the resulting bonds formed among evaluators and connects we helped fellows make with ATE projects looking for evaluators."
Rebecca Ruiz
Administrative Assistant II
"Over the past year, I’ve strengthened my confidence and proficiency with the WMU contract system. I have consistently supported staff and contributed to efficiently managing day-to-day office operations. I embraced new learning opportunities throughout the year and navigated challenges with adaptability and a solutions-focused mindset.”
Tina Smith-Balanda
Budget Analyst
"This fiscal year, I was very pleased with the accuracy of my budget forecast."
Erika Sturgis
Project Manager
"I am most proud of my involvement and growth in the professional development opportunities I was able to participate in throughout the year, thanks to benefits offered by The Evaluation Center. This year was a year filled with conference attendance. I was able to network with so many new people and build on existing relationships that will further my career as an evaluator.
Lyssa Wilson Becho
Principal Research Associate
“Reflecting on the past year, I’m particularly grateful for my colleagues at The Evaluation Center and external to WMU for their dedication to the field of evaluation and persistence in advocating for meaningful and impactful evaluations despite challenges and barriers.”
Awards
- 2024 Excellence in Discovery Award, Western Michigan University
- 2024 American Evaluation Association Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award
Service
- Webmaster, STEM Education and Training Topical Interest Group, American Evaluation Association
- Panel Reviewer, National Science Foundation
Brandon Youker
Evaluation Lab Director
"I’m most proud of the consistency of the Evaluation Lab, and the relationships I've developed with the lab staff.
Ruqayyah Abu-Obaid, Research Associate
Ernest Au, Senior Data Analyst
Cecilia Chapleau, Research Associate
Melissa Dancy, Principal Research Associate
Arlen Gullickson, Emeritus Researcher
Archer Lee-Easton, Senior Research Associate
Stephen Magura, Emeritus Researcher
Student Employees
Shelby Hagle, doctoral student in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research
Michael Hart, doctoral student in Interdisciplinary Evaluation
J. Hyde, doctoral student in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research