The Practice of Evaluation: Partnership Approaches for Community Change

James R. (Jim) Cook, Professor of Psychology, has been on the faculty at UNC Charlotte since 1980, after receiving his PhD from Indiana University. Consistent with his identity as a community psychologist, he has worked to foster community change that improves the lives of people who (1) are economically and socially disadvantaged; and (2) have disabilities, with special emphasis on the needs of children and families. With faculty and students, he works in partnership with community programs, to help them collect, manage, and use data to improve their ability to address peoples’ needs.

Dr. Cook has led government- and foundation-funded community–university partnerships that foster and sustain change efforts. He headed a HUD-funded Community Outreach Partnership Center and has co-led (with Ryan Kilmer) efforts to evaluate and support early childhood education, mental health, and neighborhood improvement programs. In addition, he led the effort to create the UNC Charlotte Institute for Social Capital, which brings together university researchers and community agencies to use data to inform and guide services.

In recognition of his efforts, Dr. Cook has received awards from local nonprofit organizations. He has also been honored with the UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Public Service, for demonstrating “sustained, distinguished, and superb achievement in university public service and outreach ... improving the quality of life of the citizens of North Carolina”; the inaugural UNC Charlotte Provost’s Faculty Award for Community Engagement, for work that embodies “the University’s commitment to civic involvement”; and the Outstanding Educator Award from the Society of Community Research and Action, in recognition of “exemplary and innovative contributions to the education of students about community psychology and community research and action.”

P. Kilmer is Professor of Psychology and Director of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Social Aspects of Health Initiative at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has been on the faculty since receiving his PhD from the University of Rochester in 1999. A community and child clinical psychologist, his work has focused on children and families and (1) using evaluation to refine programs, improve service delivery, and guide system change and local policy; and (2) understanding factors influencing the development of children at risk for emotional, behavioral, and/or academic difficulties, particularly risk and resilience and youngsters’ adjustment to trauma.

Dr. Kilmer has partnered with diverse community stakeholders, directing or co-directing (with Jim Cook) projects that respond to community needs, functioning on collaborative teams, and mentoring early career professionals and students. His evaluation and applied research experience includes efforts funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Institute of Education Sciences and extends across areas and populations, including mental health, child welfare, education, public housing, early childhood, and integrated care. Across these efforts, many of them multi-year collaborations, he has sought to improve the services and supports provided to children and families, many of whom have traditionally been marginalized or underserved.

His broader professional involvements―including as President of the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice―demonstrate his investment in social justice and child and family well-being. At UNC Charlotte, he has been honored for his teaching, training, and community engagement with the Bonnie E. Cone Early-Career Professorship in Teaching, the Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentoring Award, and the Provost’s Faculty Award for Community Engagement.