|
July 2001
The 2001 ALAIR Conference, "Data Driven Decisions," was a success despite proration and major construction obstacles. I thoroughly enjoyed the conference, thanks to the conference committee chaired by Kathy Robbins, along with Gail Overby and Todd Stanfield. A special thanks goes to Glenda Colagross from Northwest/Shoals and Carol Chenault from Calhoun for their assistance and to all who answered the call to present papers and work in the Tools and Techniques session. Dr. Kaylene Gebert, VPAA and Provost of UNA, keynote speaker, provided welcomed affirmation that the work we do as Institutional Researchers, is important. We appreciate Sandy Woodley, from ACHE, for taking time to update us on the status of the Statewide Faculty Database. Mimi Johnson just completed a most successful year as President of ALAIR. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mimi for all her hard work and look forward to her sage advice as she chairs several important committees and continues to serve on the Executive Committee in the coming year. The list of the Executive Committee for 2001 - 2002 can be found at the Leadership section of the ALAIR website ( www.alair.org ). Cara Mia Braswell will continue as Secretary, while Steve Fancher has accepted the Treasurer's job. Janette Newhouse and Dan Tennimon will continue to serve as Members-at-large along with new appointee, Diane Sherman. The Nominating Committee Members, Chaired by Past President Mimi Johnson, are Kelly D'Eath and Marvalene Freeman. I look forward to working with each member and with Jim Eck, President Elect and Program Chair of the 2002 Conference. The 2002 ALAIR Annual Conference dates and site have been set…see inside article by Jim Eck. Given proration, ALAIR has been affected in its membership numbers. One of the goals for the coming year is to get our membership back up to the usual level and also recruit new members. Dan Tennimon has graciously agreed to continue his role as Membership Coordinator. ALAIR will sponsor a regional workshop in early 2002. Kelly D'Eath and her institution, Snead State, will host the event. The one-day free regional workshop is for professional development of ALAIR members and is open to everyone. One of ALAIR's Executive Committee's goals is to meet the needs of its members. In this we welcome any suggestions as to ways to be more responsive to each of you. I am honored and excited to serve as ALAIR's 2001-2002 President. Check out the ALAIR web page…we will have pictures from the Conference up soon! See you at SAIR! |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
Member News
Congratulations to: Marvalene Freeman who was promoted to Institutional Research Manager, at Talladega College; Jim Eck and his wife, Wendy, who are expecting their second child near November 16th; and to Carolyn Barnett who received her Juris Doctor in May of 2000, from Miles Law School. Dr. Green has served as President of ALAIR, Secretary of SAIR, and is currently Chair of the AIR membership committee and President of TCBU (Traditionally Black Colleges and University Group). Prior to assuming these professional leadership roles, years of committee memberships and chairmanships provided the necessary training. Beyond her association involvement, Dr. Green has served on numerous SACS committees; serves as a consultant through Associates for Institutional Development; and is a contributing author to Dr. Jim Nichols' book, Assessment Case Studies . Dr. Green has served in various capacities at Stillman College, including Director of Institutional Research, Asst. to the President for Institutional Effectiveness, VP for Planning and Evaluation, and Associate VP for Academic Affairs. She presently serves as the Dean of Education and Director of Planning at Stillman. With great pride, ALAIR members honored a dedicated and long-standing member that has been a source of motivation and encouragement to all. – Teresa Hall ALAIR and Samford: A Match Made in Heaven Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama will host the 2002 Annual Conference of the Alabama Association for Institutional Research. Preconference workshops, including an introduction to FOCUS, will take place on Thursday, April 11, on the Samford University campus. Local institutional researchers (with their minivans and SUVs) will then carry us to dinner at Sarris Seafood and Steak Restaurant. ALAIR has a room at the restaurant reserved just for our use. Overnight lodging will be available at the Courtyard by Marriott (at an ALAIR rate of $75/night) located about one mile from the Samford University campus. The daylong conference gets underway on Friday, April 12. ALAIR members will enjoy a renovated dining area on the Samford campus and will have the opportunity to enjoy a breakfast buffet prior to our keynote address. The keynote address will be given by Dr. Thomas E. Corts, president of Samford University. A former president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Dr. Corts currently chairs the steering committee of the Accreditation Review Project of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The meeting will consist of a variety of sessions in the morning, followed by a lunch buffet on-campus, and then afternoon sessions that will end around 3:00 p.m. We know that this is a tight fiscal year, especially for public institutions, within Alabama. We will make every effort, therefore, to keep conference expenses to a minimum. We are hopeful that many of you will make the commitment now to attend ALAIR in April. We will have more details about the conference at the beginning of 2002. In the meantime, if you have any ideas for the conference, please share those with me ( jceck@samford.edu ). I will look forward to welcoming each of you to the Samford University campus on April 11 - 12, 2002. – Jim Eck, Vice President/President Elect. |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
ALAIR members and friends: We have two new categories of membership in ALAIR. Full time graduate students can now join ALAIR for just $10.00 a year. If you know students who are interested in research or participating in research, please tell them about our organization and the opportunities they would have to associate with professional institutional researchers and perhaps be able to present their research at our annual conference. Consider posting a notice about our organization with your graduate school, in your schools of education and other appropriate schools that conduct institutional research. Information, such as the newsletter, or a membership application could easily be downloaded from our web site. Additionally, individuals who are retired from institutional research may be interested in taking advantage of the emeritus membership also for $10.00 a year. This is an opportunity to pull former members back into our network and enjoy their expertise and company at our annual conferences again. -- Dan Tennimon 2000-2001 President's Farewell Message By Mimi McDaniel Johnson Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. – Arthur Ashe What a powerful and eloquent quote from Arthur Ashe, tennis champion and AIDS spokesperson. As institutional researchers our focus is on the outcome, however, we ensure that the methodology used is appropriate and accurate for a reliable and valid outcome. Consequently, the processes (or journey, if you may) we utilize to arrive at the outcome are so very important in our day-to-day work. Congratulations are extended to ALAIR Incoming President, Priscilla Holland and her team (Kathy Robbins, Todd Stanfield, and Gail Overby), for a successful and professionally enriching ALAIR conference at the University of North Alabama in April. I wish to thank the 2000-2001 ALAIR Executive Committee (Priscilla Holland, Brenda L. Bryant, Cara Mia Braswell, Teresa Hall, Dan Tennimon, Janette Newhouse, Roderick McSwain, Kris Mascetti, and Tim Vick) for the dedication, cooperative spirits and hard work this past year. As a direct result of their support, we achieved the initiatives set forth at the beginning of our term. Job well done, everyone! To the members of ALAIR, thank you for your activism in ALAIR, SAIR, and AIR. You are ALAIR and YOUR efforts make it a great state association. May you be blessed more abundantly than you could ever imagine. I know that I am. Warm Regards, – Mimi McDaniel Johnson Forget proration. Preparations are proceeding rapidly for SAIR ‘01, IR-Relevance: Positioning Institutional Research for Maximum Impact, to be held October 13-16 in Panama City Beach, FL. Response to the call for participation was excellent and we anticipate a very strong set of papers, panels, demonstrations and table topics. I encourage all ALAIR members to make every effort to attend, not just to support your fellow Alabamians who are deeply involved in planning and putting on the conference, but for the great professional value it will provide at reasonable cost. SAIR ‘01 is an opportunity to interact with colleagues from not just the south, but from around the country. Pre-conference workshops provide an ideal opportunity to obtain in-depth instruction from some of the leading people in their fields, at a fraction of the cost elsewhere. Our guest speakers should provide plenty of food for thought. Sunday night's opening address will be presented by Joseph M. Stevenson, vice president for academic affairs at Jackson State University. Dr. Stevenson is a leading authority in the application of knowledge management techniques in higher education, and has recently been featured in Knowledge Management magazine. The general session on Monday morning will feature James T. Rogers, executive director of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Given the recent proposed changes in the SACS Criteria and the conference's special focus on assessment, you can expect a relevant address and a rousing discussion. Add in a beachfront special event, the "Miracle Strip" and its sugar-white beaches, excellent restaurants and the splendid Edgewater Beach Resort and you have the makings of a memorable experience. When you consider that PC is in reasonable driving distance, conference registration is only $95 and the fact that most of the rooms are two-bedroom, two-bath condos (making sharing accommodations and room costs very desirable), you can't afford not to go. ALAIR is always heavily represented at SAIR and we expect this year to be no different, proration notwithstanding. Start making your plans now to attend. Registration materials will be mailed to you around the first of August, but you can review preliminary information and make reservations on the conference website at www.ir.fsu.edu/sair. If you have any questions, contact Sam Lowther, program chair, at lowthgs@auburn.edu or 334-844-4765 . – Sam Lowther Institutional Research at ACHE Dr. William O. Blow has assumed the responsibilities as Interim Executive Director at ACHE, bringing along some organizational changes. One of these changes is of particular interest to ALAIR members. Financial Affairs has evolved into the Division of Finance and Institution Research. Sandra Woodley is Division Head of Finance and Institutional Research, Susan Cagle is Director of Finance, and Diane Sherman is Director of Institutional Research. The creation of an Institutional Research unit includes support from Subrena Simpkins, Institutional Research Analyst; Janis Lowther; Institutional Research Associate; and Willie Darden, Institutional Research Programmer. One of the primary objectives of the IR unit will be to review institutional reporting requirements, eliminate duplicate reporting of data and to automate reporting to ACHE. These changes certainly won't happen overnight, but hopefully they will prove beneficial both to the Institutions and to ACHE staff as well. – Diane Sherman |
|||||||||||
|
Renew Your ALAIR Membership and Receive the New Resource Diresctory **************************** For a copy of the new membership application: see the ALAIR web site: www.alair.org *************************** |
|||||||||||
