This course prepares higher education data professionals to make the jump to serve as leaders within their institutions, the profession, and beyond.
Overview
Our field and our institutions require leaders who understand, embrace, and contribute to data-informed decision-making with urgency, care, and evidence. Developing as leaders and growing beyond management roles requires time and dedication to cultivate knowledge, skills, mindsets, and habits.
In this course, we explore how higher education data professionals—including those from institutional research (IR), institutional effectiveness (IE), and assessment—can prepare to make the jump to serve as leaders within their institutions, the profession, and beyond.
This type of leadership development requires dedication and time to learn new things and to unlearn what we think we already know. This course incorporates both virtual and face-to-face opportunities to provide that time and space for participants with the guidance of experienced facilitator-mentors.
Quick Links
Is this course a good fit for you? Find out here.
"AIR LEADs has been a game-changer" —Data Professional
Course Topics
This course is designed to prepare IR, IE, and assessment professionals for leadership today and into the future. The content spans a variety of topics that coalesce to prepare an individual for taking on leadership roles beyond their current purviews:
- Political savviness, including attentiveness to nuance, navigation of difficult conversations, working effectively with difficult people and in difficult situations, inspiring others, and developing strategy
- Effective communication and collaboration, including conveying information, active and engaged listening, navigation of complex and uncomfortable conversations, and traversing difference
- Intentionality, including the complex interactions of ethics, empathy, collaboration, building alliances, taking risks, and decision making
- Vision and strategy, including the creation of bridges between understanding the past and looking forward, deployment of resources, clarity in the process of budget and finance-related matters, and pursuit of a future that is proactively shaped rather than a world in which we simply react
- Advocacy, including support and expansion of data democratization and data literacy across the institution, highlighting the contributions and value of the data function while contributing to decision making, and mitigating the quest for perfect versus the need for good or “good enough”
- Care of oneself, including self-reflection, mindfulness, and crafting a plan for what your path forward with leadership might look like
Course Experience
Pre-Seminar
1.5-Hour Virtual Meeting
Participants will attend a virtual gathering to understand what to expect, become familiar with the learning portal, and connect with cohort members and facilitators. Participants will also engage in various activities as they anticipate the seminar, including readings, online videos, and a self-assessment.
Seminar
1.5-Day In-Person Gathering
At the in-person seminar, participants will explore core leadership concepts and deepen their knowledge, skills, perspectives, and mindsets. Learning will take place through facilitated discussions, collaborative conversations, and interactive exercises designed to encourage reflection, practice, and meaningful peer engagement.
Post-Seminar
Monthly 2-Hour Virtual Meetings
Participants will engage in monthly virtual meetings over four months to reinforce and extend their learning. These sessions will incorporate participant-driven topics and provide structured opportunities to reflect on experiences, share insights, and discuss how course ideas are being tested and applied in real work settings.
Course Value
Participants in this course will:
- Be poised to think differently about their roles, career trajectories, and contributions to their institutions
- Be well-suited to assist in leadership of their institutions as higher education continues to adapt and mature with approaches to data
- Be encouraged to form professional relationships with one another to build trusted networks for future conversations and opportunities
- Receive certificates of completion and formal letters of acknowledgement to their institution leaders
2026 Schedule
All times are listed in U.S. Eastern Time Zone.
May 12
Virtual course kickoff; 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
May 25–26
1.5-day in-person gathering. Seminar events will take place at the Marriott Marquis in Downtown Washington, D.C., at the same location and during pre-conference education sessions of the 2026 AIR Forum.*
Monday, May 25
- 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. check-in
- 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. seminar
Tuesday, May 26
- 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. seminar
*Please note: AIR LEADs is a separate program from the AIR Forum. Registration for AIR LEADs does not include AIR Forum registration, and AIR Forum registration does not include AIR LEADs. If you plan to attend both, you must register separately for each event.
Monthly Virtual Meetings
2-hour virtual meetings for four consecutive months; 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, June 9
- Tuesday, July 14
- Tuesday, August 11
- Tuesday, September 8
Host Hotel and Event Site
Marriott Marquis Washington, DC
901 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Special group rate: $210 single/double (available until May 4)
Note: Reservations are booked under a 2026 AIR Forum hotel room block.
“The AIR LEADs seminar was a challenging and rewarding experience. Scenario-based learning and discussions led to many lessons learned that will help ensure I am the leader my team deserves. This program truly provokes participants to consider what values-centered leadership looks like and how to implement intentional strategies grounded in political savviness and advocacy. The days were structured in a way that gives attendees a glimpse into what a day in the life of a higher-level leader could look like, which was insightful in a way I was not anticipating. I highly recommend this seminar to anyone considering a leadership role in IR/IE."
—Ashley M. Browning, M.A., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Registration
At the time of registration, participants are invited to provide the names of supervisors who are supporting them with the time and resources necessary to complete the course successfully. Supervisors' contact information is gathered to notify them of their colleagues' successful completion of the course.
Keep in mind that space is limited, and seating is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
2026 Pricing
| AIR Member | Nonmember | |
|---|---|---|
| Early (through March 31) | $850 | $1,050 |
| Regular (April 1 – April 30) | $975 | $1,175 |
| Late (May 1 – May 24) | $1,075 | $1,275 |
Note: Be sure to review the 2026 course schedule before registering.
Resources
- AIR Course and Workshop Registration Cancellation Policy
- Event Terms and Conditions
- Accommodations: If you have any special needs addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact the AIR Education Team at 850-385-4155 or email training@airweb.org.
- Questions: Please email training@airweb.org
Instructors
The course facilitators bring a wealth of experience to AIR LEADs. They have worked at a wide variety of institutions and organizations throughout the U.S. in an array of roles, including IR and adjacent fields, and each has more than 30 years of experience in higher education.
Jeremy Goodman
Founder and Principal
Jeremy Goodman Consulting
Jason F. Simon
Independent Consultant
SCL Impact
Leah Ewing Ross
Associate Deputy Director
Association for Institutional Research (AIR)
Alumni Testimonials
"Working in assessment can feel isolating—I've never had a shop to be mentored in or many colleagues within my institution to lean on. AIR LEADs has been a game-changer. It's not just about learning leadership; it's about learning leadership in the exact context I live and breathe every day." —Data Professional
"The examples used and the way information was packaged gave me dozens of ideas. I also have some new tools or new ways to use tools. I met some great colleagues from institutions across the country, and I believe I've made some long-term connections." —Danielle Eastup, University of North Carolina Wilmington
"This seminar took concepts that many of us know, but presented it in a way that makes the concepts applicable in situations that are very familiar to us in IR/IE roles. Taking back the tools and the knowledge knowing we'll get more time together makes me confident I can go back to my campus leading to promote myself, my office, and the culture of IR." —Data Professional
"The LEADs seminar created the perfect space to step back, reflect, and grow as a data-informed leader. It challenged my thinking and expanded my confidence in navigating complexity."—André Henrique, Data and Reporting Analyst Langara College, Vancouver, BC
"The AIR LEADs seminar gave me excellent tools to move from reacting to hurdles thrust before me to directing situations to bring about positive outcomes in my office and in my institution." —Brian Niemeier, California Baptist University
“AIR LEADs brings together the person and the professional to contribute to a balanced individual that takes care of self, their team, and the others around them with both traditional intelligence and emotional intelligence, that I feel is missing in so many leadership trainings.” —AIR Member, Data Professional