MEC’s Research and Evaluation Services
Dawn Zimmaro, right, and Joel Heikes, left, are the dynamic duo behind DIIA’s Research and Evaluation Services. Their small team within DIIA’s Measurement and Evaluation Center provides
consultation and technical assistance in the areas of evaluation and research design, sampling, construction of tests and survey instruments, academic placement studies, and institutional research on students.
Joel believes their complementary skills are at the core of their success. “Dawn is a psychometrician and well versed in statistical analysis where I have more experience in qualitative analysis such as focus groups, interviews and larger evaluation projects.” Dawn concurs: “We ask each other to consult on the projects we are managing due to our balance of capabilities. Joel has the bigger picture of qualitative analysis and I bring the quantitative strategies such as statistical analysis, project design and measurement.”
The diversity in their perspectives is a good meld as they collaborate on varied projects. Theirs is a team relationship: they attend each other’s client meetings to cover all the bases and even ask each other to critique their work to gain insight. Personally, Joel and Dawn have found this collaboration to be very rewarding.
Joel has held his position at the MEC for less than a year but he is a veteran to the UT Austin campus having received his PhD in Sociology at UT Austin. Dawn received her PhD from the Penn State and worked for the Scheyer Institute there before coming to DIIA.