20 Years Later: Reflections on the CES Student Evaluation Case Competition

Since 1996, the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) has held an annual case competition for college and university students. By 2016, a total of 1,132 students had participated. An online questionnaire was sent to 768 participants with available email addresses; eight additional participants entered the study after viewing an online posting. The questionnaire was completed by 112 former participants (response rate: 14%). Findings suggest that participating in the case competition was a positive experience that led to an appreciation of evaluation, increased teamwork skills, and provided stronger resumes. Some indicated that participating influenced their choice of evaluation as a focus for their career.