Overview
The Edward Delaney Scholarship facilitates the professional growth and development of early-career institutional research professionals by providing assistance to attend the AIR Forum.
The benefactor of the award, Edward Delaney, served as AIR President from 1992–1993, AIR Forum Chair for the 1990 AIR Forum, and as an NCES/AIR Senior Fellow. One scholarship in the amount of $1,000 may be awarded to support costs associated with attending the AIR Forum.
The deadline to apply for this scholarship is 11:59 p.m. ET on January 26, 2024.
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Application Criteria
To be considered for the award, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Hold current year AIR membership
- Be currently employed in the IR field
- Have worked for less than three years in a campus-based IR/assessment office (full- or part-time)
- Have never attended the AIR Forum
Application Process
In addition to verifying personal, demographic, and eligibility information, the following three documents are required for a complete application:
- Essay (limit: 750 words) addressing the impact this award is expected to have on your professional development. It should be written for a blind review, which means it should not include information that would personally identify you or your institutional affiliation. The essay should be presented in three parts to answer each of the following prompts:
- Briefly describe your current work in IR and provide a summary of your current skills.
- What are three outcomes you hope to accomplish from your participation at the AIR Forum?
- What are your long-term career goals and how will your involvement with AIR and the AIR Forum benefit you in this journey?
- A statement (limit: 200 words) indicating whether you have other sources funding your participation at the AIR Forum (example: institutional travel funds or other scholarship/grant). Applicants with additional funding sources are still eligible for this award.
- Letter of support from your supervisor on institutional letterhead. The letter should support your application, and it should indicate how the scholarship will meet larger goals. The letter must acknowledge that your participation in the AIR Forum will be approved as an "on-the-clock" activity.
Previous Recipients
- Benjamin Pichlmaier, Research Analyst, Lehigh University (2023)
- Kyle Diep, Director of Institutional Research, Lake Forest College (2020)
- Joanna Timmerman, Assistant Director of Institutional Research, Eastern University (2020)
- Samantha Rogers, Senior Institutional Researcher, Georgia Highlands College (2019)
- Melinda Whitford, Research Analyst, Office of Institutional Analysis, University at Buffalo (2018)
- Steven Babbin, Research Analyst, Tufts University (2017)
- Ross Conover, Associate Director of Institutional Research, St. Mary's College of Maryland (2016)
- Tony Romero, Research Associate, Howard Community College (2015)
- Jill Meyer, Director of Institutional Research, Mount Mary University (2014)
- Natalie Walleser Solverson, Director of Institutional Research, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (2013)
What surprised you the most about AIR Forum?
"The vast differences in IR office structure but the similarities that we share in terms of striving for excellence in our work and wanting to make a difference for our campuses and our students. And it is always fun to get together with people who like data as much as you do." —Natalie Solverson, 2013 Delaney Scholarship Recipient