ACET, Inc. Blog

Here is a link that highlights a variety of webinar hosts for small businesses.  This is a great place to start if you’re looking to add webinars as an option in your program.

Last Thursday we piled into the conference room for our monthly employee wellness lunch!  We all had a fantastic time relaxing, chatting, eating delicious Chinese take-out and watching an episode of Firefly.  Since I’m the newbie, I missed the first episode and had no idea what was going on—so I spent the beginning of the show with my face pretty deep in my egg foo young.  But by the end, I basically knew what was going on and definitely look forward to episode three.

The delightful Cassie (a.k.a. the woman whose shoes I’m trying to fill) joined us as well!  It was great to catch up with her and she seems to be thriving in her new job.

Our tasty and entertaining hour ended on a bittersweet note, however, as it was Rachel’s last day with us.  We are so grateful for all she’s done here at ACET and wish her only the best as she takes on Washington, D.C.!

I guess our lunch seemed to revolve a little around new beginnings—me here at ACET, Cassie at West Suburban Teen Clinic and Rachel in our nation’s capitol.  Well, new beginnings and sci-fi.

Kate

At ACET, we occasionally have employee appreciation days, such as having catered pizza for lunch or sharing bagels in the morning. Recently, ACET staff gathered together for lunch and a show.

Each staff member ordered Chinese food from one of our traditional work haunts and we settled in to relax with an episode of “Firefly,” a show that’s well-loved by a few staff. This was the first of a monthly employee wellness activity created to show appreciation for staff.

Everyone, including myself, enjoyed the activity, but I was a bit disgruntled (and amused) to receive the following fortune cookie message:

How does your company show appreciation?

Cassie

The ACET team posed for new company photos last week, which include a team photo for the first time. We were very pleased with the results and have posted our new smiling faces on the ACET team page – feel free to check them out.

We are looking to add to our team! We have an opening at ACET and would love to review your application. To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to stella@acetinc.com.

Want to join our team in a leadership role? ACET is currently looking to hire a Senior Research Associate. Please click here to review the posting: Senior Research Associate

As you may know, Stella and Kirsten will be making presentations at the American Evaluation Association (AEA) 2010 conference this Saturday. ACET just posted two PowerPoint presentations on AEA’s website in preparation for the conference.

Multipaper Session #798: Evaluating a Child-Welfare Demonstration Program: Evolution, Considerations, and Lessons Learned
Multipaper Session #763: The Impact of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) on Student Academic Preparedness

The presentations posted in the AEA eLibrary system are open to the public, so please feel free to check it out! To see all presentations posted for the AEA conference, please click here: http://comm.eval.org/EVAL/EVAL/Resources/LibraryDocuments/Default.aspx?LibraryKey=1eff4fd7-afa0-42e1-b275-f65881b7489b

If you have any questions or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact us!

Recently, my husband and I attended the Annual Training for Life dinner for Bolder Options, an activity-based one-on-one youth mentoring organization based in Minnesota. Bolder Options works to build self-esteem and promote healthy behaviors in youth through running and biking, academic goal setting, and volunteerism. The video shown below highlights the key components of Bolder Options, which include empowering youth to focus on the positives in life. In the video, Dr. Peter Benson, CEO of Search Institute, names Bolder Options as “one of the best in America” in helping youth to achieve their goals. ACET has been contracted to evaluate the program and document successes since 2005.

This video from the National Medical Report describes Bolder Options in detail and was played at the Annual Training for Life dinner this year:

Stella

Recently, I attended the Combined Discretionary Grantee Meeting in Washington D.C. with The Wayside House, Inc., a chemical health organization dedicated to providing treatment for chemical abuse exclusively to women. They received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families Children’s Bureau, to create a residential family treatment program. The program, Incarnation Family Connections (IFC), is a family treatment program with housing options. IFC enables parents and their children to live in a safe environment for a period of not less than six months. IFC provides onsite substance abuse treatment services and children’s early intervention services that are designed to provide comprehensive treatment that supports the whole family unit. ACET was contracted to evaluate the IFC program, implement a quasi-experimental design to measure impact, and contribute to cross-site evaluation efforts.

This video, which describes Wayside House and its programs in detail, was played for a national audience at the Grantee Meeting:

Heather

Words Work!™ is an early literacy program developed by The Saint Paul Foundation to increase children’s literacy skills and improve family involvement. ACET has provided evaluation services to Words Work! since 1999, which included multi-site analyses and a longitudinal quasi-experimental research project whose positive results were recently published in a peer-reviewed journal. Today, we are very pleased to see such a successful project highlighted in the Star Tribune.

The April 20th edition of the Star Tribune featured a letter to the editor written by Carleen Rhodes, President and CEO of The Saint Paul Foundation. The letter attests to the “results of positive early intervention via our Words Work! program.” She encourages “legislators and other Minnesota leaders to continue to invest in early childhood programs.”

You can access the Star Tribune article here: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/91549969.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUqEiaDUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

For more information on the Words Works! program, see The Saint Paul Foundation’s website: (http://www.saintpaulfoundation.org) or watch the video below:

Joseph

The Minnesota Department of Administration recently released their Joint Availability and Disparity Study, which affects minority- or women-owned (M/WBE) and targeted group business enterprises. The Commissioner of Administration in Minnesota contracted with an outside agency to conduct the study, who examined barriers that resulted in disparity for targeted groups and recommended solutions to remedy the effects of any disparity identified.

The latest evaluation of M/WBE programs has shown that some targeted group business enterprises have changed status in the communities, and therefore, their eligibility for preferences or subcontracting has changed (see 1-page summary from the Department of Administration). The report identifies target groups in set business areas and includes tables to show disparity rates.

The report also details the history of disparity studies and introduction of M/WBE programs in Minnesota, as well as gives many nationwide examples of programs set in place to alleviate M/WBE discriminations and prevent future abuses.

To view the targeted group business eligibility table, please click here: TG Eligibility Table

To view the full study, please click: http://www.mmd.admin.state.mn.us/disparity/Revised2009AdminDisparityStudy.pdf

Cassie