Brief Biography

Fred Evers is a Professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology and Director of the Educational Research & Development Unit. He has been with the University of Guelph since 1985. Evers received his MSc and PhD from Iowa State University and his Baccalaureate from Cornell University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in research methods, quantitative analysis techniques and statistics, the sociology of organizations, and a capstone course entitled, "Transition from School to Work."

Dr. Evers was one of 10 professors from across Canada to receive the prestigious 3M Teaching Fellowship in 2001. He was also awarded a University of Guelph President's Distinguished Professor Award in 2001. The Peer Helper Program Partnership Award for 2001 was presented to Dr. Evers in recognition of his outstanding contributions in support of the mission, the goals, and the people of the Peer Helper Program, University of Guelph. The University of Guelph Faculty Association also honoured Dr. Evers with the Distinguished Professor Award for the College of Social Science in 1997.

Currently, Fred is the Curriculum Co-Director for the University of Guelph Nancy Burt from Humber College is serving as the other Curriculum Co-Director. Nancy and Fred co-chair the Curriculum Development Committee, which is charged with coordinating the entire curriculum for the new University of Guelph-Humber

Areas of Interest

Evers' research interests are in the areas of higher education, work, and change in complex organizations. Along with Drs. James Rush and Iris Berdrow he published The Bases of Competence: Skills for Lifelong Learning and Employability in 1998 (Jossey-Bass Publishers, Inc., San Francisco). There are two follow-up projects related to The Bases of Competence. The first is a resource for capstone courses and students dealing with the transition from university to the workplace. Fred is working with Dr. Phil Gardner, Michigan State University on this book, tentatively entitled From Backpacks to Briefcases. This book is under contract with Jossey-Bass Publishers, Inc. The second follow-up project is with Dr. Iris Berdrow. Fred and Iris have applied for an SSHRC grant in the Initiative on the New Economy program to study the relationship between organizational core competencies and the base competencies of employees. Case studies of work organizations and educational institutions will be employed in this research. The outcome of this research will be a Fieldbook of best practices, case studies, and exemplars.

© 2006, University of Guelph