Evaluation Specialist

Dr. Jeantyl Norze Joins Extension as Evaluation Specialist

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Jeantyl NorzeDr. Jeantyl Norze joined Extension as our Evaluation Specialist in January of 2022. “I am very excited to join the UConn CAHNR Extension and hopeful about my contributions to help advance the land grant mission of the university. CAHNR Extension has an amazing dynamic team who is knowledgeable and open to new ideas that help further improve the lives of the residents and communities in the state through better programming,” Dr. Norze says. He is looking forward to meeting everyone to learn more about their work and determine how he can best assist them.

Jeantyl Norze, is a Program Development and Evaluation Specialist who have authored and co-authored numerous publications in a variety of refereed national and international journals. Dr. Norze earned his DVM degree at the Universidad Agraria de La Habana (UNAH) and his master’s degree and Ph.D. degree at Louisiana Sate University where he worked as a graduate research student, post-doctoral fellow, and adjunct faculty. During his tenure at Louisiana State University, he was involved in several research and evaluation projects and taught several courses including leadership development, program development, and program evaluation to undergraduate students, graduate students, and extension educators.

Later, in 2019, Dr. Norze joined the University of Neva Reno Extension as the Program Evaluation Coordinator. In this role, he assisted Extension faculty and staff from a variety of departments including Horticulture, Health and Nutrition, Children, Youth, and Family, Natural Resources, and Economic Development with program evaluation, reporting, and needs assessments. He helped with strengthening the evaluation methods and designs, selecting and developing appropriate evaluation tools to gather credible evidence that demonstrates the contributions of each program. In addition, he participated in multiple evaluation and research projects including food insecurity among college students, educational and mental health needs among Nevadan youth, Tufts longitudinal 4-H study, HANRE needs assessment, and so forth.

He developed, in collaboration with his former colleagues, a needs assessment framework to guide statewide needs assessment efforts that seek to meet and understand the changing needs of the communities. He was also the principal investigator for a national research project sponsored by the Western Center for Metropolitan Extension and Research and the University of Nevada, Reno Extension that sought to examine career progression for urban extension professionals in the country.

Job Opening: Evaluation Specialist/Academic Assistant II

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venn diagram of Extension programs with food, health and sustainabilityPosition Location: Storrs, CT

Position Description: Reporting to the CAHNR Associate Dean for Extension, the Evaluation Specialist works with an interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff in UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR). The Evaluation Specialist provides leadership to build Cooperative Extension’s capacity to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of Extension’s instructional programs in achieving desired results and to contribute to individual, community and organizational learning and performance improvement. Capacity building includes initiatives such as conducting evaluation studies, facilitating professional development opportunities, supporting program accountability and reporting functions.

Duties and Responsibilities:
• Conduct program evaluations for multiple purposes, i.e. reporting requirements for granting agencies, and audiences on an ongoing basis.
• Provide leadership for Cooperative Extension’s internal efforts to build individual, team, and organizational evaluation capacity to improve program effectiveness through professional development including technical assistance, training, resource development and dissemination.
• Lead CAHNR initiatives specific to evaluation to programs.
• Collaborate and provide technical support to Extension faculty and staff delivering programming to local and statewide communities, groups, agencies, organizations and individuals.
• Independently travel to and carry out field work throughout the geographic region including urban, rural and remote locations and work and/or programming sites.
• Provide leadership for annual planning and reporting of Extension programs to federal funding partners.
• Advance CAHNR’s commitment to equity and inclusion by 1) considering sources of bias and structural inequity based on race, ethnicity, disability, gender, and sexual orientation, and 2) facilitating and evaluating programs that address the burden these injustices impose on members of the campus community and residents of the state where appropriate.
• Write, publish and share articles, curricula and program designs that contribute to understanding and support the scholarly practices of evaluation.
• Cooperate with other research and Extension personnel to develop strong, integrated programs.
• Collaborate on and submit grant proposals for initiatives consistent with and in support of the purpose of this position.
• Provide relevant information to public officials, legislators, the general public, and other interested parties to communicate Extension’s value.
• Develop and use an appropriate system for reporting and evaluating programs to UConn Extension and to clients, colleagues and other Extension collaborators as needed.
• Research, gather and compile information from multiple sources utilizing various systems and techniques to conduct qualitative and quantitative data analyses and reporting.
• Attend and participate in state and national program activities as appropriate, meetings, committees and local, state and national conferences; represent and serve as a representative of the Department of Extension.

Read more information, including application instructions – search 495055.