From Members to Leaders
Every year, Association for Institutional Research (AIR) members are encouraged to nominate themselves or a colleague for leadership opportunities. Yet many members hesitate—not because they lack the qualifications, but because they aren't sure whether they're the right fit or whether they’re ready to serve at the national level.
As new members of the Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC), we have the opportunity to see the nominations process from a different perspective. We're learning that effective leadership isn't about having every credential or checking every box. It's about a willingness to serve, collaborate, and help move our profession forward.
Leadership Begins with Representation
As Institutional Researchers, we often talk about the importance of representative data and diverse perspectives when making decisions. Effective leadership is no different.
AIR is strongest when its leadership reflects the breadth of its membership. Institutional Researchers serve public and private institutions, community colleges, research universities, system offices, and organizations that support higher education. Across those settings, we bring different professional experiences, institutional missions, and perspectives. That diversity is one of AIR’s greatest strengths, and it should be reflected in the people who help guide the association.
The Board of Directors and the NEC play different but complementary roles in supporting AIR. The Board provides strategic leadership and governance, while the NEC recruits and nominates qualified candidates who will help guide AIR's future. Both rely on members who bring different perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the table—and are willing to raise their hands to volunteer.
What We're Learning on the NEC
Although we're still early in our own service on the NEC, we've gained a deeper appreciation for the intentionality behind AIR's leadership process. We've seen firsthand the commitment to transparency, fairness, and thoughtful discussion that guides candidate recruitment. Candidate materials are reviewed with attention to substance over reputation, reinforcing the committee’s commitment to fairness and thoughtful evaluation.
The biggest lesson we’ve learned is that effective leadership isn't about having the loudest voice. It's about listening carefully, considering multiple perspectives, asking thoughtful questions, and making decisions that serve the broader membership.
You Don't Need to Check Every Box
Many members assume they need extensive volunteer experience or a long list of leadership roles before considering service. In reality, there isn't a single profile of an “ideal” AIR leader.
You don't need to have held multiple leadership positions or be a longtime volunteer to make a meaningful contribution.
What matters most is a commitment to the profession, a willingness to collaborate, and an interest in helping shape AIR's future. Strong leaders represent a wide range of career stages, institution types, functional areas, geographic regions, and lived experiences.
If you've wondered whether you belong in an AIR leadership role, we encourage you not to count yourself out.
Why Consider Serving?
Like many AIR members, we've benefited from conference sessions, publications, webinars, volunteer leaders, and a community willing to share knowledge. Serving on the NEC has become one way to contribute to that same community.
Serving can help you:
Network
Expand your professional network across institution types and functional areas.
Grow
Develop leadership, governance, and collaborative decision-making skills.
Understand
Deepen your understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing institutional research and higher education.
Contribute
Help ensure AIR's leadership reflects the diversity of its membership and professional experiences.
Impact
Contribute to the long-term strength of an organization that supports thousands of higher education professionals.
One thing we've come to appreciate is that serving doesn't just benefit AIR—it changes your perspective as a professional. Working alongside colleagues from different institutions and backgrounds broadens your understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing higher education and institutional research.
Every AIR leader started exactly where you are now: as a member who decided to become involved.
Help Shape AIR's Future
Leadership doesn't require you to have all the answers. It begins with a willingness to contribute, to listen, and to serve.
The nomination period is already open for 2027, so we encourage you to think about the colleagues whose perspectives would strengthen AIR’s future. Perhaps one of those colleagues is you.
To be considered, nominees must be current AIR members with at least three years of membership (consecutive or nonconsecutive). Nominations close September 18, 2026. Visit the Leadership Opportunities Guide to learn more about the process.
We hope you'll consider nominating yourself or encouraging someone else to take that next step. Our profession grows stronger when more voices are represented at the table, and AIR benefits when its leadership reflects the diverse experiences, perspectives, and talents of its members.
In service,
Smriti & Christine
Smriti Ingrole, Ph.D. is Decision Support, Team Lead at Emory University. Smriti has spent over eight years in institutional research and decision analytics in higher education, currently leading a decision support team at Emory University. Through her work with AIR, she serves as a member of the Nominations & Elections Committee and has presented at the AIR Forum on topics including data governance and AI adoption in institutional research. She has also taken an active role at Emory in advancing AI governance and integration across the university's analytics work.
Christine Pacheco, Ph.D. is Assistant Provost for Institutional Research at Southern Arkansas University. After beginning her career in registrar services, Christine has spent more than a decade in institutional research. Through her work with AIR, she delivers professional development on the foundational concepts and practices of data-informed decision-making and the recently implemented IPEDS ACTS component, supports institutions through AIR consulting engagements, and is developing a consulting framework for institutional reviews of IPEDS submission processes.