Sandra Ayoo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Information, Library, and Research Sciences
Email Address: sjayoo@uncg.edu
Phone: 336.256.1417
Education
- Ph.D., Evaluation Studies, University of Minnesota
- M.A., Rural Development (Planning), University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
- B.A., Social Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Leadership & Professional Engagement
National Service and Leadership (Selected)
- Chair, AEA Research on Evaluation Topical Interest Group (2024- present)
- Judge, the AEA Student Evaluation Case Competition (2023 – present)
- Member of the International Society for Evaluation Education (ISEE) (2017- present)
Honors and Awards (Selected)
- Evaluation Journal of Australasia (EJA) Publication Award for Excellence for lead author article “Meta-evaluation: Validating program evaluation standards through the United Nations Evaluation Quality Assessment (EQAs)” (2025)
Licenses & Certifications
- Promoting Active Learning Online, Association of College and University Educators (ACUE)
- Licensed financial literacy trainer
Research & Publications (selected)
Research Interest
- Professionalization of program evaluation in North America
- Assessment of evaluator competencies and evaluator professionalism
- Evaluator education and AEA competencies
- Meta-evaluation and assessing the quality of evaluations
- Credentialing/certification of program evaluators Professionalization of evaluation
Ayoo, N. S., He, Y., & LaVelle, M. J. (2026). Building evaluator competencies through graduate education: Promising results from a small-scale study. University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC. (Peer-reviewed). https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/R5TSTFDMXBJRYERS3TD4/full
Ayoo, N. S., Tovey, S.T., Boyce, A., Reid, A., Clark, T., Huff, R. S., Omodolapo, S., Moller, J. R. (2026). Producing Competent Evaluators: A Self-Study of a Graduate Evaluation Program. University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC. (Peer-reviewed). https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/EGK4GYHDMFEQZZFYX7GD/full
Ayoo, N. S. (2025). Ayoo, S. (2025). Professionalism in evaluation: Development and validation of a theory-based assessment tool in the US context. Evaluation and Program Planning, 102613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2025.102613 (Peer-reviewed)
Ayoo, S., Leeming, M., & Huff, S. R. (2024). Meta-evaluation: Validating program evaluation standards through the United Nations Evaluation Quality Assessment (EQAs). Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 24(1), 14-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X231220979 (Peer-reviewed)
Ayoo, S. (2023). Perceptions of Evaluator Professional Autonomy in North American Evaluation Practice. Evaluation and Program Planning, 2023(98). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2023.102269 (Peer-reviewed)
Ayoo, S. (2022). Professionalism in Program Evaluators: A comparison of American and Canadian Evaluators. University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation (CJPE). DOI: 10.3138/cjpe.71300. (Peer-reviewed)
Ayoo, S., Wilcox, Y., LaVelle, J. M., Podems, D., & Barrington, G. V. (2020). Grounding the 2018 AEA Evaluator Competencies in the broader context of professionalization. New Directions for Evaluation, 2020(168), 13-30. https://doi.org/10.1002/ev.20440 (Peer-reviewed)
King, J. A, & Ayoo, S. (2020). What Do We Know about Evaluator Education? A Review of Publications (1978-2018). Evaluation and Program Planning. Manuscript ID: EPP_2019_299.