Programs

CES/CESEF Student Excellence advancing
Evaluation Knowledge (SEEK) Award

Overview
The Student Excellence advancing Evaluation Knowledge (SEEK) Award builds on the previous Student Paper Contest and recognizes student excellence contributing to the advancement of evaluation theory and/or practice. SEEK is a joint initiative of the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) and the Canadian Evaluation Society Educational Fund (CESEF) designed to foster student engagement in evaluation, profile evaluation-related work conducted by students studying within Canadian post-secondary institutions and advance excellence in student evaluation projects.

Benefits
These SEEK Award honours up to two exemplar student recipients per year, one overall Winner and one Honourable Mention, as follows:

SEEK Award Winner

• Cash award of $500.00;
• Registration fees, travel, accommodation and meals to attend the annual national Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Conference with costs reimbursed per CES travel guidelines;
• One-year CESEF membership;
• Presentation of Award at a plenary session at the CES Conference;
• Publication of project abstract in a CES Web news broadcast;
• Invitation to present a paper session at the CES Conference; and
• Automatic consideration for publication in the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation (CJPE), conditional on meeting CJPE standards and securing approval by CJPE editors.

SEEK Award Honourable Mention

• Cash award of $300.00;
• Registration fees, travel, accommodation and meals to attend the annual national Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Conference with costs reimbursed per CES travel guidelines;
• One-year CESEF membership;
• Presentation of Award at a plenary session at the CES Conference;
• Publication of project abstract in a CES Web news broadcast; and
• Automatic consideration for publication in the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation (CJPE), conditional on meeting CJPE standards and securing approval by CJPE editors.

Objectives
The SEEK Award is intended to increase evaluation capacity in Canada by fostering student involvement, profiling new and exceptional contributions to the field, considering diverse contributions that advance evaluation theory and/or practice, and providing exposure to promising students.

Eligibility
Applicants must:

• Be registered at the time of application as a full- or part-time student in a Canadian post-secondary institution;
• Be registered in or completed an evaluation course, evaluation-related course and/or thesis course with an evaluation focus;
• Be nominated by the course professor or academic supervisor (maximum of two nominations per professor/supervisor per year);
• Submit an evaluation project completed as part of a course requirement. A range of mediums and types of project submissions are permissible (e.g., paper, thesis summary, video, art-based communication, evaluation plan);
• Submit work completed within 2 years prior to the time of application; and
• If submitting a paper, submit a document of no more than 25-pages, double-spaced, 12-point font.

Individual or group projects will be considered. In the case of group projects, the cash award is shared. If a group project is selected to receive a SEEK Award, one member of the group will be financially supported to attend the CES Conference and receive the Award on behalf of the group. One member of the group, selected by the group, will receive the one-year CESEF membership.

Applications
Applicants must send the completed Application Form and Nomination Form to secretariat@evaluation-education.org by March 31st. Receipt of applications will be acknowledged.

Review & Decision Process
Applications are peer-reviewed by a selection panel appointed by the Board of CESEF. Funding recommendations of the panel are presented to representatives of the CESEF Board and CES National Council for final approval.

Key review criteria include: qualifications of the applicant in evaluation; originality of the project submission; clarity and quality of the submission; contribution to evaluation theory and/or practice; and strength of the nomination.

Decisions by the CESEF Board and CES National Council will take into consideration the recommendations of the selection panel and the availability of resources. All decisions are final.

SEEK Award recipients will be required to sign a letter of acceptance.