FAQs About Certificates

Questions about the Institutes' Certificates for Evaluators

Questions about the Institutes' Certificates for Evaluators
Please send questions/comments to Dr. Midge Smith, Director: MFSmith@EvaluatorsInstitute.com.

A. Is the Certificate Program of The Evaluators’ Institute a substitute for a university degree?
No, the Certificate program of TEI is not a substitute for university experience. The Certificates are meant to augment and enhance the learning students acquire from institutions of higher education, and to offer alternative ways for individuals to add to their knowledge and skills for practicing evaluation. The Certificates and supporting curricula identify a range of subject matter needed for the conduct of high quality evaluations and TEI provides courses to help evaluators acquire knowledge and skills in those content areas. Students are able to pursue the courses as they have time and in the order that best fits their specific interests and their most immediate needs. It is true, however, that the subject matter provided in many TEI courses are not available in university departments/colleges that offer degree programs in evaluation. (See next question.)

B. What are some benefits of attending TEI courses as compared to university work?
Some of the benefits include:
(1) access to courses not offered through most universities,
(2) instruction from faculty who are nationally or internationally recognized for their expertise in evaluation theory and practice and who continue to teach TEI courses because participants give them outstanding marks as teachers. Within one week, a TEI student may have personal access to the knowledge and experience of as many as 15 different faculty members from different universities and countries as a result of in-class time and after-class consultations;
(3) opportunities to interact with the remarkably diverse group of professionals who attend the classes plus others who come to the evening sessions provided at TEI programs. Participants are affiliated with many different organizations in the U.S. and abroad, work on a wide variety of programs, and represent a rich mix of personal and cultural backgrounds and experiences as program developers, administrators, and evaluators. (Over 70 countries are homes of TEI students.) Click here for details on previous participants.
The bottom line here is that you will have access to the most respected scholars/practitioners in evaluation and you will attend courses that are continually assessed and updated...and on many topics not found elsewhere.

C. How much time must one commit to complete the requirements for a TEI certificate?
The Master Evaluator Certificate (MEC) requires the completion of the Certificate in Evaluation Practice (CEP) and the Certificate in Advanced Evaluation Practices (CAEP), plus evidence portfolio. An individual can complete the first MEC requirement—the CEP—after 30 days in class, and the CAEP after an additional 30 days of class time. There is no overlap of coursework between the CEP and CAEP. The Certificate in Quantitative Evaluation Methods (CQEM) requires 30 days of instruction, but all of these days can be duplicates of the CEP and CAEP, i.e., by selecting electives carefully for the CEP and CAEP, one can at the same time, and with no additional coursework, also complete the CQEM.
The actual amount of time required to complete a certificate depends upon (a) whether one has previously taken courses through TEI, (b) how many courses an individual takes each time he attends a TEI program (c) how many programs per year are attended, and (d) whether university credit is used to substitute for some of the TEI courses.
In April 2006 TEI added a third program site. This makes it possible for one to complete 27 days of instruction in 2006: 9 days in January in San Francisco, 6 days in April in Chicago, and 12 days in July in Washington, DC. (More days of instruction will most likely be added in 2007 and beyond.)

D. Will the courses taken in previous TEI programs count toward the requirements for these certificates?
Yes. This means that many TEI past participants have already satisfied a number of the requirements for one or more certificates.

E. How can previous participants receive a record of attendance in previous TEI courses AND determine their current status in terms of meeting requirements for one or more of the certificates?
Send a stamped ($0.63) and self-addressed envelope to the TEI office: 116 Front Street, Federal Building, Rm 236, Lewes, DE 19958. Transcripts will be provided at no cost as long as these can be provided as time is available to do them, i.e., within a couple of weeks of receipt of request. For rush orders, send a check for $10 along with a stamped and self-addressed envelope.

F. What is meant by a day of TEI class time and how does this work in terms of calculating transfer of credit from a university?
One semester hour of university credit will offset two days of TEI class time, up to a maximum of one third of the requirements for any one certificate

G. Can the same course count toward more than one Certificate?
The answer is No and Yes. The same course cannot count toward both the CEP and the CAEP, but the same course can count toward one of these plus the CQEM. Let’s use the course Applied Measurement as an example. This course is one of the Group B electives for the CEP and/or the CAEP, plus it is a required course for the CQEM. If one completes this course and has not completed the 9 days of electives for Group B of the CEP, then the course will count for the CEP; if one has already completed the 9 days of electives in Group B, then the course will roll over into the electives for the CAEP. And, in either case, it will also count for the CQEM. So, there is no overlap between the CEP and CAEP but there is between them and the CQEM. Note, too, please, that all the courses will count toward the Master Evaluator Certificate, given that both the CEP and CAEP are requirements for the MEC.

H. Do the courses have to be completed in any order?
No, but there is rationale for some courses to be taken before others and some courses do have prerequisites. The courses were grouped within the Certificate curricula to enable one to learn the most essential and most commonly used skills before going in depth with more specialized content. Thus, the first six courses of the CEP make sense for one to complete in the early part of ones preparation, but a Certificate candidate may have a very pressing need for the content of a particular course at a particular time. In this instance, motivation to learn may outweigh any order that is suggested by a particular Certificate. It may be the case, too, that scheduling of courses will not match every single Candidate’s time table. Not all the courses can be scheduled at each program of the Institute, thus if one is needing one course to complete the CEP and that course isn’t offered at the upcoming program, then the individual can enroll in another course. The important thing to note here is that all the courses count toward the Master Evaluator Certificate.

I. Can one take courses that count toward the CAEP before finishing the CEP courses?
Yes. However, the CAEP will not be awarded until all the CEP coursework has been completed.

J. Can the CQEM be awarded before the CAEP?
Yes. The CQEM can be completed absent completion of the CEP and CAEP. However, while it is not required, we do recommend that the Candidate complete at least the core required courses of the CEP before completing the CQEM. Note: Courses taken for the CQEM will also count toward either the CEP or the CAEP. And, if one chooses electives carefully, she/he can finish all three of the course-based certificates in the amount of days of instruction for two. If you wish help in thinking about how to accomplish this objective, contact Midge (TEI Director) at MFSmith@EvaluatorsInstitute.com.

K. What does one have to do to begin the Certificate program?
Let us know that you are pursuing one/more of the Certificates and we will flag your information in our data base. Then, whenever you wish to receive a report showing progress to date, we are able to prepare a transcript for you and for anyone else you might designate to receive that information.

L. Can one substitute college credit for some of the requirements for a TEI certificate?
Yes. In certain instances, to be determined on an individual basis, college credit for a semester length course may be substituted for TEI credit. Substitutions may be permitted for up to one third (10 days) of the requirements for a particular TEI certificate. Note: University coursework should be recent, i.e., for most topics, within the past 5 years. TEI courses for a certificate and university credit should expand a time no greater than 10 years.

M. What is the time limit for completion of a certificate?
10 years maximum for combined TEI courses and any university work transferred in to substitute for TEI courses.

N. What must one do to request college credit substitutes for TEI Certificate requirements?

1. Provide an official university transcript that shows completion of courses one wishes to substitute. Send to:

2. For each course one wishes to have credited to a Certificate, please provide the following:

3. Please provide all information requested in 2, above; that is, do not refer a reviewer of your request to some additional source to secure information.  It is the requester's responsibility to provide all needed information for a decision to be made on the substitution.

4. An example: Assume one wants to substitute a university course to fulfill a required or elective course for the Certificate in Evaluation Practice (CEP).

5. Repeat 4.a-d for each course desired to be substituted.

Send additional questions and comments to Dr. Midge Smith, Director: MFSmith@EvaluatorsInstitute.com.