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Order Up! Everything I Learned About Institutional Research Came from Working in Restaurants
The few of us in this world who have endeavored to hone our skills and talents in the field of institutional research (IR) do so with the thought that ours is a truly unique profession. I mean, if one thinks about it, th...Read Moreabout: Order Up! Everything I Learned About Institutional Research Came from Working in Restaurants -
The Provision of PII Data on Faculty and Staff by Institutional Researchers
One of the primary responsibilities of offices of Institutional Research (IR) is responding to ad hoc requests for data on students, faculty, and staff at their institutions. Some of these ad hoc requests are for persona...Read Moreabout: The Provision of PII Data on Faculty and Staff by Institutional Researchers -
Conducting Generalizability Studies with Unbalanced Data
In a recently published article in AIR Professional File (Sturgis, Marchand, Miller, Xu, and Castiglioni, 2022), I, along with my co-authors, introduce generalizability theory (G-theory) to institutional research (IR) pr...Read Moreabout: Conducting Generalizability Studies with Unbalanced Data -
A Message from Christine M. Keller, Ph.D., AIR Executive Director & CEO
As we enter these final days of 2022, I extend warm greetings to the AIR community. It is a time of year to celebrate, to appreciate, and to anticipate. And as I reflect back on the last year at AIR, we have much to cele...Read Moreabout: A Message from Christine M. Keller, Ph.D., AIR Executive Director & CEO -
Request for Proposal: Data and Analytics for Transformation
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR), EDUCAUSE, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) seek a consultant to lead a project to develop a succinct, actionable guide to...Read Moreabout: Request for Proposal: Data and Analytics for Transformation -
With $500,000 Grant, Higher Education Associations Will Help Colleges and Universities Accelerate Analytics Use
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR), EDUCAUSE, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) have been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio...Read Moreabout: With $500,000 Grant, Higher Education Associations Will Help Colleges and Universities Accelerate Analytics Use -
With $500,000 Grant, Higher Education Associations Will Help Colleges and Universities Accelerate Analytics Use
Funding from the Gates Foundation will support student success effortsNovember 21, 2022 (Washington, DC)—The Association for Institutional Research (AIR), EDUCAUSE, and the National Association of College and Unive...Read Moreabout: With $500,000 Grant, Higher Education Associations Will Help Colleges and Universities Accelerate Analytics Use -
An IR Offices Reflection: Responding to Annual Reporting for Year Two of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF)
Recently, the federal government asked institutions that received Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funding to report data for year two of the reporting cycle. The request this year included multiple items t...Read Moreabout: An IR Offices Reflection: Responding to Annual Reporting for Year Two of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) -
Good Institutional Research Is More About Managing People than Managing Data
Performance management and professional development are frequently discussed interchangeably, yet one is a reflection on the past while the other is forward looking. When I think of performance management, I think ab...Read Moreabout: Good Institutional Research Is More About Managing People than Managing Data -
Creating a Common Data Language on Campus
A former provost, who is now a college president, told me that IR is “The Keeper of Truth.” This seems logical, as IR should be the point of contact for both internal data analysis and external data repor...Read Moreabout: Creating a Common Data Language on Campus -
Using HTML Widgets for R to Create Interactive Reports
Institutional researchers are often tasked with synthesizing large amounts of data, perhaps by visualizing it in charts or summarizing it in tabular format. Allowing users to interact with these charts or tables by sorti...Read Moreabout: Using HTML Widgets for R to Create Interactive Reports -
Seize the Day: AIR Board of Directors Updates
Summer passed by way too quickly!With many warm feelings remaining from the AIR Forum in June, we now gear up for a new academic year. As we move toward closing the pandemic (perhaps a wishful hope?), it is even clearer ...Read Moreabout: Seize the Day: AIR Board of Directors Updates -
Average IR Office Staff FTE by Total Institutional Enrollment
Institutional data capacity is largely dependent on the IR Office. And the amount of information that an IR Office can produce is strongly tied to the size of that office. So, what drives the size of the IR Office? In sh...Read Moreabout: Average IR Office Staff FTE by Total Institutional Enrollment -
IR Focus Group Opportunity: Understanding Faculty, Academic Careers, and Environments in Service of Equity
Institutional researchers (IR) are invited to participate in a recently launched study, Understanding Faculty, Academic Careers, and Environments in Service of Equity. In particular, IR professionals are asked to partici...Read Moreabout: IR Focus Group Opportunity: Understanding Faculty, Academic Careers, and Environments in Service of Equity -
New Best Colleges Unpublished Rankings and Excel Data Files Available From U.S. News
U.S. News is providing, free of charge to any institutional researcher, Excel spreadsheets with ranking data that appear in the main rankings tables in the Best Colleges 2022-2023 Edition guide book. These spreadshe...Read Moreabout: New Best Colleges Unpublished Rankings and Excel Data Files Available From U.S. News -
AIR Graduate Student Members Can Now Vote in AIR Leadership Elections
The AIR Bylaws were updated by a vote of the members present at the AIR Annual Business Meeting on Wednesday, June 8, in Phoenix. Following the 2021 AIR leadership elections, the 2020-2021 Nomination and Elections Commit...Read Moreabout: AIR Graduate Student Members Can Now Vote in AIR Leadership Elections -
AIR Updates Mission to Highlight Commitment to Equity
On May 9, the AIR Board of Directors voted to amend its Ends policy, which serves as the organization’s mission statement. The Board added just 8 words, but those additions communicate the organization’s exis...Read Moreabout: AIR Updates Mission to Highlight Commitment to Equity -
5 Tips for Implementing a Data and Analytics Culture
When I hear “data and analytics culture,” I immediately think of the work Jason Simon and his team are doing at the University of North Texas (UNT). Jason Simon, Ph.D., Associate Vice President of ...Read Moreabout: 5 Tips for Implementing a Data and Analytics Culture -
IR Professionals as Change Agents
When I began working in the field of institutional research (IR) in 2010, my daily tasks consisted of completing some externally mandated reports and a few ad hoc internal requests. Today, there are daily data requests, ...Read Moreabout: IR Professionals as Change Agents -
Admissions Research Consortium Releases Report: New Evidence on Recent Changes in College Applications, Admissions, and Enrollments
The Admissions Research Consortium (ARC) aims to help colleges understand how the impacts of the pandemic are shaping their incoming classes, and how these impacts might continue to affect college performance outcomes in...Read Moreabout: Admissions Research Consortium Releases Report: New Evidence on Recent Changes in College Applications, Admissions, and Enrollments