AAIR
  • Join
  • Jobs Board
MENU
  • Join
  • Jobs Board
  • About
    • Rules
    • Mission, Vision, Values and Strategy
    • Objectives
    • Code of Ethics
    • Organisational Structure
    • Executive Committee
      • Portfolios
      • Position Descriptions
      • Meeting Schedule
    • Annual Statements
    • Timeline
  • Membership
    • Join
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Membership Categories
    • Members
    • Life Members
    • Honorary Members
    • Fellowships
  • Events
    • Past AAIR Events
    • Awards
  • SIGs
    • Academic Research Institutional Analytics
    • Business Intelligence & Analytics
    • Government Reporting
    • Load Management & Planning
    • Surveys & Evaluation
  • Experts
    • Experts Search
  • Resources
    • What is Institutional Research?
      • IR Job Roles
    • Newsletter
      • Newsletter Signup
    • JIR
    • Other Journals
    • Useful Links
  • Blog
    • From the President
    • Newsletter Editorials
    • Institutional Researcher’s Corner
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Soapbox
  • Contact

From the President

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you managed to rest and recharge over the Christmas holiday and summer break. For me, it has been a good opportunity to focus attention away from the stresses and challenges of work, as I have taken the opportunity to spend time with family and friends, read books, and explore the areas south of where I live, while enjoying long hot sunny summer days. I know many of you may have experienced or continue to experience the effects of the La Niña weather patterns, with more storms, heavy rain and flooding, which cause additional stress that is never wanted at holiday time. However, for those of us in the lower South Island of New Zealand La Niña has bought many clear warm sunny days and very little rain. While the sun and heat have been very welcomed, the lack of rain is cause for concern with potential drought for farmers and increased risk of forest fires. These weather patterns and ever-increasing effects of climate change provide both risks and opportunities that require more planning and thinking about the future.

Diagram showing the AAIR focus

At the end of last year—and immediately before the 2022 AAIR Forum—the Executive Committee meet face-to-face for the first time in many years to review our strategic direction. We looked back at our past and where we were in 2022 and focused on the future to keep AAIR relevant to all our members.

Our intention was to review:

  • Our mission – what are we here for?
  • Our vision – where are we going?

Our updated purpose and vision are:

Our Mission

We believe in building a confident and connected community that advances tertiary education and research success through useful institutional research.

Our Vision

We aim to be the pre-eminent Australasian association that empowers a professional institutional research community to be influential thought leaders.

This year our themes of focus are building our capability and building our community. These themes underpin the events and activities we are planning through 2023, ending with the Forum in late November. Keep an eye out for information in our newsletters, emails, and on our website for upcoming events that will build our community. We’re here to support you to build your capability as a professional institutional researcher, and to help you become an influential thought leader in your institution and across the higher education sector.

We ended 2022 with our first hybrid Forum and our first time being face-to-face since 2019. It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends and meet so many new friends. There were thought-provoking and varied presentations from keynote speakers, and engaging and informative sessions from all our presenters. The generous sharing of knowledge and experience to a supportive group of passionate professionals is what makes the AAIR Forum so very special.

We were fortunate to have the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MSGM) to both host and support the 2022 AAIR forum. A big thank you to Andrew Bradshaw and Chandrama Acharya who did so much work liaising with MSGM to ensure that we held a successful Forum. Don Johnston, our Vice President, again did a brilliant job coordinating and leading the Forum. Our own Executive Committee also made up the Forum organising committee. We continue to be thankful for the outstanding support from Victoria McIver and Brittany Lee from Leishman and Associates who continue to ensure our Forum runs seamlessly and is cost-effective. If you didn’t get the opportunity to attend the 2022 AAIR Forum, I would encourage you to plan to be with us in Melbourne later this year.

To reflect our themes of building our capability and building our community we welcomed Ilse Hogendorf (Honorary Secretary), and Pallavi Khanna (committee member) to the Executive Committee, as well as some role changes for existing committee members. Andrew Bradshaw has taken on the role of Newsletter Editor and Dr Lizzie Li is our new Honorary Treasurer. Supporting our Special interest groups (SIGs) as SIG Chairs are:

  • Cassie Saunders
    Surveys and Evaluation SIG Chair
  • Jason Mazanov
    Surveys and Evaluation – Qualitative Research and Analysis SIG Lead
  • Juan Laverde Velasco and Alex Sieniarski
    Load Management and Planning Co-SIG Chairs

We ended 2022 by saying goodbye to AAIR Honorary Treasurer and life member Greg Jakob, Past President Kathie Rabel, and Honorary Secretary, Pam Rayner. They have all retired from the committee after providing considerable value and regarded service.

As you return to work mode for 2023, you might have a burning question you want answered about institutional research, or perhaps you have a story from your own institution to share. Please let us know by contacting any of our committee members (please refer to our committee on our website), or go directly to our Executive Officer, Liesha Northover, at info@aair.org.au.

Photo of Stuart Terry wearing a black leather jacket

Na te whakarongo me te titiro ka puta mai te korero

Through looking and listening we gain wisdom

Stuart Terry

President, AAIR

 

Newsletter

Read the January 2023 AAIR newsletter Right Here, Right Now!

January 2023 Newsletter

Subscribe to our Newsletter

About

  • Rules
  • Mission
  • Objectives
  • Code of ethics
  • Org structure
  • Committee
  • Portfolios
  • Annual statements
  • Timeline

Membership

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Categories
  • Members
  • Life members
  • Honorary members
  • Fellowships

SIGs

  • Academic research institutional analytics
  • BI & analytics
  • Government reporting
  • Load management & planning
  • Surveys & evaluation

Resources

  • Jobs board
  • What is IR?
  • IR job roles
  • Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • JIR
  • Other journals
  • Useful links

Blog

  • President's desk
  • Editorials
  • IR corner
  • Events
  • Publications
  • Soapbox

Australasian Association for Institutional Research Inc.
Suite 204, 585 Little Collins Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
info@aair.org.au

twitter facebook linkedin twitter
  • © Australasian Association for Institutional Research 2022
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Disclaimer

Read next article ...

Photo of the AAIR Executive Committee at the conclusion of the 2023 strategic planning session. All committee members are around a boardroom table, with some joining via Zoom on a screen in the background. Renewed Focus on AAIR Strategy
  • About
    • Rules
    • Mission, Vision, Values and Strategy
    • Objectives
    • Code of Ethics
    • Organisational Structure
    • Executive Committee
      • Portfolios
      • Position Descriptions
      • Meeting Schedule
    • Annual Statements
    • Timeline
  • Membership
    • Join
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Membership Categories
    • Members
    • Life Members
    • Honorary Members
    • Fellowships
  • Events
    • Past AAIR Events
    • Awards
  • SIGs
    • Academic Research Institutional Analytics
    • Business Intelligence & Analytics
    • Government Reporting
    • Load Management & Planning
    • Surveys & Evaluation
  • Experts
    • Experts Search
  • Resources
    • What is Institutional Research?
      • IR Job Roles
    • Newsletter
      • Newsletter Signup
    • JIR
    • Other Journals
    • Useful Links
  • Blog
    • From the President
    • Newsletter Editorials
    • Institutional Researcher’s Corner
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Soapbox
  • Contact