This doctoral-level course is designed to build the knowledge and skills necessary to  conduct and interpret program evaluation. For our purposes, program evaluation is  defined as “a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using data to examine  the effectiveness and efficiency of programs and, as importantly, to contribute to  continuous program improvement”1(CDC, 1999). A program is loosely defined as any  set of related activities undertaken to achieve an intended outcome. Regardless of  whether you choose to conduct your own evaluations in the future, this course will  support you in your future role as you may expect to communicate with professional  evaluators and critically appraise evaluation plans and reports. Notably, a working  knowledge of program evaluation is a key competency for today’s leaders as it  provides valuable tools to inform management decisions, guide process and  organizational change, and help generate data relevant to solving pressing problems  so that resources can be allocated most effectively.