First and foremost, are you ready for the ALAIR Conference? Well, you should be; Dan Tennimon is putting together what I believe will be a memorable program. A record attendance is expected! Included with this newsletter are several forms that need your attention—the Conference Registration form, the Joseph Sutton Award Nomination form, the AIR Travel Grant form, the ALAIR Officer Nomination form, and, most importantly, the Call for Proposals. All of these forms are available on the ALAIR website as well. In fact, please visit the website…….www.alair.org………. Please share your comments or suggestions for the website with any one of the ALAIR officers. Plus, please note that the ALAIR directory is now online. Janis and Sam Lowther have done an excellent job pulling together this information and making it available on the website. Check your institution and let Janis know if you have changes.

I would like to tell you more about the AIR Forum in Tampa (May 18-21), the summer workshops and institutes this summer, and the SAIR Conference in San Antonio (October 11-14), but I'll wait until the ALAIR Conference and the next newsletter. [Actually I'm stalling until I can give you more and better specifics.]

Let me close this note by telling you just a little about the successful ALAIR workshop held at Jefferson State Community College (Scrushy campus) in January. Yes, successful! The workshop program and agenda received very high marks through the evaluations. Some northern Alabama registrants were ‘snowed or iced in', but thirty others weathered the cold (outside AND inside) and were treated to a great workshop on Crystal Decisions, which was arranged by Diane Sherman and her planning committee. And many thanks Harriott (Calhoun) for hosting the workshop and the tasty lunch from Heavenly Ham. [I've been told that Diane is planning a repeat of the workshop on Crystal Decisions at the ALAIR Conference in April; and I believe Mark Hillam from Crystal Decisions will have a little more to share on Crystal Enterprise.]

I look forward to seeing you at the Conference. Plan to attend. And GET INVOLVED.

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Welcome New Members:

• Josh Bain, Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham, AL.
  
• Randy Bowman, Department of Postsecondary Education, Montgomery, AL.
  
• Joyce M. Davis, Senior Secretary for Institutional Research, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL.
  
• Walter Hutchinson, Alabama Commission on Higher Education, Montgomery, AL.
  
• Chih Loo, University of Alabama-Huntsville, Huntsville, AL.
  
• Daniel Nichols, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL.
  
• Debbie Stowers, University of Alabama-Huntsville, Huntsville, AL.
  
• Peggy Vandergrift, Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham, AL.
  
• Jennifer Warren, University of Alabama-Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Welcome Returning Members:

• Dr. Charles H. Blackledge, Director of Institutional Research at Bishop State community College in Mobile, AL.
  
• Kim Thoma, University of Alabama System, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Congratulations:

• Kris Reed Mascetti was recently appointed the Director of Institutional Research at Auburn University Montgomery.

• Mr. & Mrs. Carlos Jones (nee Kimberly Brinkley) were married on December 21, 2002. Kimberly is Director of Institutional Research at Troy State University in Troy, Alabama. The couple will reside in Troy. Best Wishes to Kim and Carlos from your colleagues of ALAIR!

ALAIR Annual Conference

The Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Alabama Association for Institutional Research will be held at Troy State University Montgomery (TSUM) on April 3-4, 2003. The conference theme is Non-Traditional: The New Majority. Workshops on Crystal Decisions and the NCES/Peer Analysis System (PAS) will be offered to the membership at no additional charge. Make plans now to attend the 2003 ALAIR Conference in our state's capitol. The conference registration form is included in this mailing.

February 14, 2003, is the deadline for submitting corrections/additions/deletions for the next publication of the ALAIR Directory. The Directories will be distributed at the ALAIR Conference in April. Contact Janis Colee Lowther at 334-242-2106 for more information.

Forms are enclosed with this mailing that will allow you to nominate ALAIR members for election to office and for our highest honor, the Joseph T. Sutton Leadership Award.

The Sutton Award is presented to individuals who distinguish themselves in one or more of the following ways: 1) service to ALAIR, SAIR, or AIR; 2) a career of leadership, accomplishment, and innovation in institutional research or a related field; 3) specific accomplishments and innovative endeavors that enhance the field of IR, an institution, or the community. The recipient must have been involved in institutional research or a related field in the state of Alabama. Current or past membership in ALAIR is not a requirement, nor is current residence in Alabama. You are encouraged to nominate any and all deserving individuals.

We also solicit nominations for ALAIR elected offices. Serving as an ALAIR officer is both a duty and a pleasure. It affords you the opportunity to benefit both the organization and yourself and to work with an excellent group of people.

This year we are electing a vice president/president-elect, a treasurer and two members of the nominating committee. Nominate as many people as you like for each or any office, and especially yourself, if your are interested in serving. If you have any questions, contact Priscilla Holland at 256-765-4222 or email apholland@una.edu for more information.

Both these forms must be submitted by February 24, 2003.

Enclosed with this newsletter is an application form for the annual travel grant that ALAIR awards to a member for travel to the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Annual Forum. The amount is $300, and it is always surprising that we have so few applicants. You do not have to be presenting a paper (although that certainly would be a consideration), and you do not have to be a long-term member of ALAIR. Indeed, the award originally was conceived to encourage members with limited travel resources, or persons new to the profession, to access the benefits that can be received by attending a national conference. The 43RD Annual AIR Forum is scheduled for May 18-21, 2003, in Tampa, Florida. The Program and registration materials will be mailed soon. If you are not a member, contact the AIR Executive Office at 850-644-4470, fax 850-644-8824, or e-mail air@mailer.fsu.edu, or visit the AIR Forum web site at: http://www.airweb.org for more information.

GUIDELINES FOR THE ALAIR TRAVEL GRANT
FOR AIR ($300)

The ALAIR travel grant is awarded to a member in order to promote the three major purposes of ALAIR:

• the advancement of institutional research leading to improved understanding, planning, and operation of Alabama institutions of higher education;
  
• the dissemination of information and interchange of ideas on problems of common interest; and
  
• the continued professional development of ALAIR members.

The Executive Committee of ALAIR, based upon the recommendation of the Awards Committee, will select a travel grant recipient from among applications received.

Guidelines for application are as follows:

• Applicant must be a member of ALAIR.
  Current Executive Committee members are not eligible to receive a travel grant.
  
• Applicant must have attended at least one ALAIR conference.
  
• Application must be received by published due date.
  
• Applicant must provide a brief statement describing financial need for the grant.
  
• Applicant must describe the ways in which conference attendance will contribute to professional development in general and to the recipient's participation in ALAIR.

The Special Event: "A Capitol Affair"

Jane Mathis-Hopson and Mary Beth Adams of the University of Alabama at Birmingham received the Unsung Hero Award at the 2002 SAIR Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jane and Mary Beth served the Association as editors of the SAIR Newsletter.

The University of Alabama received the SAIR 2002 Best Paper Award (William ‘Bill' Fendley, John Acker, and William ‘Billy' Hughes pictured). The University of Alabama also received 2nd Place in the SAIR 2002 Factbook Contest.

Harriott Calhoun (Jefferson State Community College) completes term as Immediate Past President on the SAIR Board.	Sam Lowther (Auburn University) completes year as SAIR President and will continue on the Board as Immediate Past President.	Teresa Hall (University of Alabama at Birmingham) served on the Roundtables Committee and serves as SAIR Secretary.