Special Features

Institutional research (IR) offices are often tasked with providing information about student progression towards a degree. The nature of the institutional data available lends itself to providing significant insigh...

Data science and advanced analytics capabilities generally refer to a set of methods, skills, and tools aimed at extracting actionable insights and knowledge from enterprise and external data resources to inform decision...

We caught up with Dr. Elizabeth Jach, guest editor of Building More Inclusive Systems for Who Counts, Special Issue of the AIR Professional File, Summer 2024, to learn more about the issue, how it came to be, and wha...

The AIR National Survey is a comprehensive, longitudinal study of the data function within U.S. higher education institutions. The current iteration of the survey is open now until January 15, 2025. Darlena Jones, Ph.D....

This piece was adapted from a presentation at the SouthEast SAS Users Group (SESUG) 2024 conference. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is 4.3% and there are more than 8.2 million job open...

In 2007, I moved from a tenured faculty position into higher ed administration; namely, I became a Director of Institutional Research (IR). The move was sudden, and I had no prior knowledge of IR as a field and no prior ...

While universities have experienced increased diversity in access over time, there continues to be a large disparity in educational attainment among students of different socioeconomic statuses, parental education levels...

“If service is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you.” This powerful quote is attributed to Bishop Dale Bronner, a well-known pastor and speaker who has emphasized the importance of servant leadership. S...

Data-informed decision making continues to be a focal point for higher education leaders around the world and colleagues across the globe work hard in this area. Although it may be called by a slightly different name or ...

As part of an international master’s program in Research and Innovation in Higher Ed., we had the opportunity to explore the most salient aspects of institutional research (IR) from valuable professionals in the f...

If you work in higher education administration or institutional research (IR), you've probably heard rumblings about new federal regulations around "financial value transparency" and "gainful employment" that are set to ...

Each year, AIR recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the success of the association and the profession through their leadership, service, and scholarship. AIR is also pleased ...

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) have become increasingly essential in enhancing college accessibility and degree completion for Hispanic students, particularly within community colleges (Laden, 2010). These HSIs are...

I was fortunate to join the wonderful world of Institutional Research (IR) in October 2022. While it is hard to believe, my first year serving as an IR Analyst has already passed, and as cliché as it sounds, &ldq...

Institutional research (IR) practitioners are often at the forefront of their campus’s strategic planning and monitoring efforts. Yet, IR departments may not have a strategic plan for their department. Strategic pl...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) is releasing content related to generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in the higher education, institutional research (IR), and institutional effect...

The year 2023 was a time of rapid changes for higher education. Central to the changes was the integration of Generative AI (GenAI) in the already fast-moving digital transformation, reshaping the educational experience ...

Have you ever thought about volunteering for AIR and, instead of pushing the submit button on the application, you instead took a step back and said, “Nope, not this year.”? We have all been at points in our...

In January 2017, I moved from a medium IR office to a one-person office; specifically, from Office of Institutional Research and Planning at The Ohio State University, to the one and only IR role for the College of Arts ...

During the beginning of September when I was a child, I could count on two things with certainty. First was the start of the new school year. Second was the arrival of the much-anticipated Sears and Roebuck’s annua...