Blog

The Mid-America Association for Institutional Research (MidAIR) annual conference took place earlier this month in Columbia, one of Missouri’s fastest growing cities.  The theme of the conference was IR in Action. A week prior to this, the Association for Institutional Research Upper Midwest (AIRUM) conference took place in Minneapolis, MN. Institutional Research professionals from across the Midwest region were afforded many engaging conversations surrounding the state of IR in the current higher educational environment, strategies in assessment, efficiency, policy, and equity.

The Southeast Association of Institutional Research (SAIR) conference was held in Greenville, SC from September 29 – October 1, 2019. The SAIR Conference is an excellent forum for the dissemination of information and interchange of ideas on problems of common interest in the field of institutional research. The theme of the conference was “Tools for Transformation,” and, naturally, data analytics was a hot topic.

Last week, representatives from more than 40 institutions across North Carolina convened at Wrightsville Beach for the annual NCAIR conference. Located in a beach town near waters once frequented by the infamous privateer Blackbeard, this year’s event was piratically titled “Finding Your Treasure." Directors, researchers, and analysts discussed how they discover hidden gems and insights among the sometimes-overwhelming amounts of institutional data.

The rise of data analytics. Government efforts to introduce accountability stats for colleges and universities. Students’ increased voice in institutions of higher education. These are a few of the forces revolutionizing the field of institutional research. This shift is already underway, but what is leading it? Experts point to these five developing trends as informing and shaping the transformation.

Institutions of higher learning continue to move rapidly toward data-informed decision making, and this movement was strongly reflected at the 45th annual North East Association for Institutional Research conference. The City of Bridges played host to almost 400 representatives from over 200 institutions and associations to better understand methods and best practices for Creating the Bridge to Data-Informed Decision Making.

Last week the HelioCampus team visited sunny Orlando for the AIR Forum. This is an important event that brings together higher education professionals working in institutional research, assessment, planning, and related postsecondary education fields. We spent two jam packed days talking to attendees about their analytics efforts, supporting our client partner presentations and getting feedback on our IPEDS Explorer tool.

I recently attended the 28th Annual Ithaca College EdTech Day with HelioCampus Director of Implementation Services, Susie Chang.   Ithaca College made its campus available to over 60 vendors and 200 attendees, ranging from regional vo-tech schools, local high schools and regional community colleges, as well as many of New York’s public and private colleges and universities.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Orlando, FL to attend the Enterprise IT Summit with HelioCampus CEO, Darren Catalano.  The conference brought together members of the NACUBO, EDUCAUSE & AIR Associations, and the impetus behind the conference was to bring together leaders from across IT, IR and Finance to discuss ways they can work together to address institutional challenges. It suffices to say that challenges and opportunities abound.

An interview with HelioCampus Analysts, Doug Nutter, Ph.D. and Matt Hendrickson, LPD.