| Topic |
Question |
Date |
| REPORT
RELEASE PRACTICES |
What are your agency´s practices for releasing program evaluation
reports to the press and public? |
September-October 2006 |
| RECENT
STAFFING TRENDS |
What were your office's number of permanent, full-time staff in the
most recent three years (2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07) in each of the
following areas: (a) program evaluation/ performance auditing, (b)
financial auditing, and (c) support staff. |
June-August 2006 |
| CONTRACTING
FOR PROGRAM EVALUATIONS |
Has your office contracted out any of its performance audit work to private firms? (Why or why not? If you have contracted,
what types of work have you contracted for? How have you identified
potential bidders for RFPs? How have you monitored the work and workpapers
of the contractors?) |
June-August 2006 |
| INTEREST
IN WEBCAST TRAINING |
What would be the potential benefits if ncsl were to produce "webcasts"
or "podcasts" for your staff's professional development, and what concerns/questions
about this approach do you have? |
March/April 2006 |
| FOLLOW-UP
ON PAST REPORTS |
How does your agency follow up on the recommendations of previous reports? |
January-February 2006 |
| QUALITY
CONTROL PROCEDURES |
What quality control procedures does your office use to ensure the
accuracy of your reports? |
October-December 2005 |
| EVALUATING
CONTRACTING PRACTICES |
Has your office developed standards for evaluating state agencies'
contract management practices? |
July-September 2005 |
| USE
OF GIS FOR EVALUATION PURPOSES |
How can geographic information system (GIS) tools be used in program
evaluation work? |
May-June 2005 |
| CHALLENGES
TO DATA ACCESS |
How have you addressed situations where your access to evaluation data
has been challenged? |
April-June 2005 |
| INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS FOR JOB APPLICANTS |
When hiring new staff, what are some examples of interview
questions that have been effective in helping you identify great candidates? |
January March 2005 |
| CONFIDENTIALITY
OF SURVEY RESPONSES |
When conducting surveys, do you promise confidentiality to potential
respondents? (If so, in what circumstances do you do so? And how do you
word your pledge of confidentiality? If you don't promise confidentiality,
why don't you do this?) |
January-February 2005 |
| DEALING
WITH THE PRESS |
What suggestions do you have for dealing with the press? (What
bad experiences have you had, and what lessons have you learned?
Do you have suggestions for ensuring that the press accurately conveys
the messages in your reports?) |
October-December 2004 |
| ONLINE
SURVEYS |
What’s been your experience with online surveys? (Have you conducted
surveys online? If so, what lessons have you learned? If not,
why haven’t you done so, and would you consider doing online surveys?
Do you have any observations about the components of a well-designed online
survey? |
July-August 2004 |
| WORKPAPER
CONFIDENTIALITY |
How do you ensure that sensitive information collected for your evaluations
is not exposed to public view? (Does state law allow you to keep
certain work papers confidential? Do you redact documents that you
think should not be available for public review? How do you determine
which work papers will not be public?) |
April-June 2004 |
| REVIEWING
AUDITEES' E-MAILS OR HARD DRIVES |
"Do you have tips for accessing auditees' e-mails or hard drives, in
cases where review of this information is necessary?" |
February-March 2004 |
| FINANCIAL
AUDITORS IN EVALUATION PROCESS |
How, if at all, does your program evaluation staff use the expertise
of financial auditors during the evaluation process? |
November-December 2003 |
| MINORITY
RECRUITMENT |
Do you have any suggestions for ways that nlpes offices could improve
the recruitment of minorities for program evaluation positions? |
August-October 2003 |
| WRITING
EXERCISES FOR JOB APPLICANTS |
What's your opinion about requiring job applicants to complete a writing
exam or writing exercise? |
August-October 2003 |
| IMPACT
OF STATE BUDGET CUTS |
Have state budget problems had a direct effect on your office or day-to-day
work this year-and what specific impacts do you anticipate in coming months? |
May-July 2003 |
| POLICIES
FOR DISTRIBUTING HARD COPIES OF REPORTS |
What are your office's policies for distributing hard-copy
versions of your reports? |
March/April 2003 |
| AGENCY
WEB SITES |
How has your agency's web site improved your work and your ability
to serve the public? |
January/February 2003 |
| WORKPAPER
RETENTION |
How does your office retain its workpapers? |
October/November 2002 |
| TAPE RECORDING
AUDIT-RELATED INTERVIEWS |
Do you ever tape record interviews during your program evaluations/audits--and,
if so, in what circumstances? |
August/September 2002 |
| DESKTOP
PUBLISHING SOFTWARE |
Based on your agency's experience, what are the pros and
Cons of various desktop publishing programs (such as Microsoft
Publisher, Adobe Pagemaker, Ventura, etc.)? |
June/July 2002 |
| COST
SAVINGS REPORTS |
How, if at all, does your office report estimates of cost Savings that
have resulted from your recommendations? |
May/July 2002 |
| IMPROVING
RELATIONSHIPS WITH AGENCIES EVALUATED |
What steps does your office take to improve working relationships
with the agencies you're evaluating? |
March/April 2002 |
| REPORT
FORMAT |
What do your office's written reports look like, and what are you trying
to accomplish with your format(s)? |
January/February 2002 |
| INTERN
USE |
Does your office have internships--and, if so, how have you incorporated
interns into your evaluation and performance audit work? |
November/December 2001 |
| RESPONDING
TO POLICY QUESTIONS |
When your legislators ask you, as an audit or program evaluation office,
for answers to policy questions, how do you respond? |
October 2001 |
| WORK
ATTRACTIONS & CHALLENGES |
Based on your experience in legislative program evaluation so far,
what are the most significant attractions and the most difficult challenges
of your daily work? (This is intended for staff who have been working in
a legislative program evaluation office for 5 years or less) |
August/September 2001 |
| FLEXIBLE
WORK OPTIONS |
What flexible work schedule options does your office offer, and how
important have they been in helping you attract and retain employees? |
July 2001 |
| INTERNET
RESEARCH TOOLS |
What tools or resources for program evaluation research have you found
on the Internet that might be useful to colleagues in other states? |
May/June 2001 |
| HIRING
PRACTICES |
What approaches has your office used to screen and hire the best candidates
for employment as evaluators? |
April 2001 |
| EVALUATIONS
OF THE JUDICIAL BRANCH |
What role, if any, has your office had in evaluating services provided
by your state's judicial branch of government, and are there legal or other
impediments to doing such studies in your state? |
February 2001 |
| TIMELY
COMPLETION OF PROJECTS |
What steps does your office take to ensure that projects finish on
time? |
January 2001 |
| TRAITS
OF AN OUTSTANDING PROGRAM EVALUATOR |
Beyond the skills acquired through formal education, what are the most
important traits of an outstanding program evaluator (or performance auditor)? |
September 2000 |
| WEBPAGE
IMPACT ON REPORT WRITING, DISTRIBUTION |
How, if at all, has the development of your agency's web page changed
the way that you write reports, distribute reports, or present information
to your audience? |
August 2000 |
| WAYS TO
IMPROVE SURVEY RESPONSE RATES |
What approaches has your office used to try to increase response rates
for surveys--and do you have any benchmarks for minimally-acceptable survey
response rates? |
June 2000 |
| WAYS TO
IMPROVE TEAMWORK AND COLLEGIALITY |
What interesting approach (or approaches) has your office used to improve
teamwork and collegiality among staff? |
May 2000 |
