Welcome Back to AAIR’s Second Newsletter Edition of 2025
Hello AAIR community
We’re thrilled to welcome you back to our second newsletter edition of 2025! It’s a pleasure to continue providing you with updates, sharing knowledge, and staying connected across our vibrant network.
Since our last edition, we’ve launched our online forums—open to both our established community and those eager to join the conversation. These forums have already sparked meaningful exchanges and helped us better understand your interests and priorities.
We introduced the AAIR Executive Committee, giving you a chance to meet the team behind the scenes. Your feedback on future conversations and events has been invaluable. The Executive team has carefully reviewed your input and is now shaping a planned calendar of events that will carry us through to the end of next year. Some of these events have already been announced, and we’re excited to see many of you participating. Stay tuned for a calendar release soon!
Forum Update: Where Will We Meet This Year?
Many of you have been wondering where the AAIR Forum will be held in 2025. While we had hoped to reconnect in New Zealand this year—bringing our community back together in a place we’ve missed—we weren’t able to make it work this time around. That said, we’re optimistic about visiting our neighbours in the near future.
Instead, we’re in the process of securing a location in SE Queensland that’s both accessible and central. We’ll share the details as soon as they’re finalised (unless they’ve already been announced before this newsletter reaches you). No matter where we gather, we can’t wait to see many of you there!
Community Conversations: Generative AI in Institutional Research
We’re excited to share that we’ve kicked off a community conversation around our collective use of AI—specifically generative AI. In an online session, we explored how the AAIR community is leveraging these technologies to work smarter.
One of the most exciting revelations was the surge in using generative AI to enhance qualitative institutional research. We’re now able to quickly quantify and derive insights from emerging themes in text data—tasks that traditionally required far more time than most of us could spare.
However, as we embrace these tools, we must also proceed with caution. Building skills in data literacy, tool proficiency, and interpretation is essential to ensure we’re drawing accurate insights. After all, the last thing we data gurus want is misinterpreted data!
The session was a fantastic learning experience, and we’re pleased to hear that the community is keen to continue this conversation in future events.
Thank You and Until Next Time
Before you dive into the rest of the newsletter, I’d like to extend heartfelt thanks to our community for your ongoing involvement, for helping build our collective capability, and for generously sharing your knowledge and experiences.
A special thank you also goes to the AAIR Executive Committee, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep AAIR thriving.
Wishing you all the best as we reach the halfway mark to Christmas—and on that note … until next time!
Warm regards
Photo of a person surfing by Thomas Ashlock on Unsplash
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