Rhyan had the opportunity to speak with Kate Akers, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advanced Data Analytics at Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. Her office coordinates with ins...

There are so many leadership models out there—in the business literature, in the psychology literature, in education to name a few—and the models range from servant leadership to autocratic to charismat...

Data governance structures in higher education can lead to a lack of understanding of the value of data within an institution. According to the most recent American College President Study, college and un...

We are often asked, "How many staff should our IR/IE office have?" In the 2018 AIR National Survey of Institutional Research Offices, we asked Office Leaders to provide the average staff FTE per type of staff role (see b...

While the office routinely uses Tableau dashboards to share data with the campus community, there are also projects where an infographic may be a more visually compelling alternative. The office has invested in two tools...

Sudden change and its impact on the way we go about business highlight existing challenges and yet can give rise to new opportunities, too. Learn More

There are many features in Microsoft Excel that go unnoticed. One of these features allows you to add flair to your data visualization with relative ease. When creating column charts in Excel, we often utilize the defaul...

Debbie Dailey retired as Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Birmingham-Southern College. Read more about her accomplishments by viewing her 2020 AIR Outstanding Service Award profile.  ...

In these uncertain times you should know that you are not alone. Whether your concerns center around the pandemic, financial constraints, enrollment matters, or social unrest, AIR is here to support you and your work. As...

One of my favorite books is “The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right” by Atul Gawande. In this book, Dr. Gawande explains that in our ever-changing world, many processes are complicated with inter-co...

Whether beginning a new position or continuing in an established one, data and information expectations for Institutional Research (IR) offices continue to expand at an accelerated pace. Open source availability of tools...

Following the recent killing of George Floyd while he was in police custody, AIR released a Statement on Racial Injustice and announced a coffee chat focused on advancing equity and inclusion in highe...

A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about a fire at the AIR Executive Offices in Tallahassee caused by a lightning strike. At that time, I asked for your patience while we took the necessary steps to resume operations. Today...

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." —Ralph Waldo Emerson Three things come to mind immediately when we think of the Association for Institutional Research: ...

New Best Colleges Unpublished Rankings and Excel Data Files Available from U.S. News U.S. News is again providing, free of charge to any institutional researcher, Excel spreadsheets with ranking data that appear in the m...

Organizational and institutional commitments to ethical action are indispensable at a time when our larger societal commitment to values-based action appears to be in the throes of a volatile period of fractiousness and ...

In summer 2020, Stony Brook University’s Senior Executive team requested the development and launch of a public-facing dashboard to display information about COVID-19 on the campus. The Office of Institutional Rese...

Did you know there are many keyboard shortcuts built into Microsoft Office that can save you time and make your life easier? It’s time to get friendly with your Control key! Here are 25 “Ctrl&n...

Mark Your Calendar for the Enterprise Experience Summit Enterprise Experience Summit  November 5 | 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET The year's challenges have highlighted the need for colleges and universities to m...

We lost a prolific scholar, influential thought leader and innovator on August 15, 2020, with the passing of Arthur Wright Chickering. His distinguished career spanned more than six decades and is marked by a long-standi...