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Latest Conference NewsThere are -969 days left until the conference!LAST ENTRY BEFORE THE 2010 SAIR CONFERENCE STARTS Travel safely! See you there! No Hurricane on the Horizon The weather in New Orleans for Thursday through Sunday looks like we would expect it to be in the Deep South. Warm with rain likely. The following is the NOAA forecast: Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. Friday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. Saturday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. Sunday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Attendee List Are you interested in finding out who has registered for the SAIR 2010 Conference? An up-to-date listing can be found on the Cvent site: Registration. Once in the site choose Attendees and scroll through the list. It is also printer friendly. News Flash The entire TENTATIVE program for the 2010 SAIR Conference is now available at: http://www.louisianau.com/sair10/ You are invited to peruse it in detail in hopes that everyone can have a chance to plan their individual schedule for the conference. You can select live links within the tentative program or by Track at the top of the page. Enjoy! The only thing that is missing are the facilitators for each session. FACILITATORS ARE NEEDED. Please contact Sandi Bramblett: sandi.bramblett@irp.gatech.edu to volunteer…Please. Conference Factbook and IR Website Competition The 2010 SAIR conference is right around the corner. I would like to urge anyone interested in entering their institution’s PRINT Factbook considered in the annual competition to bring 3 copies of the documents to the conference. These can be dropped off at the registration desk. As in the past, we will be judging in the following categories: Best Factbook Best Mini Factbook Best IR Website ( Please submit the URL) Deadline for submission is noon Monday, September 27th. Winners for the 3 categories above and for E-Factbook will be announced at the Awards Breakfast Tuesday, September 28th. Good luck to all! EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION Early Bird Registration is scheduled to close on August 28, 2010. That is four weeks from the time the 2010 SAIR Conference is scheduled to begin. Prior to that date you may register for the conference for $150; after the 28th, it will increase to $175. MONDAY NIGHT EVENT The Monday Night Event (aka) Special Event on the registration page still has tickets available. You don't want to miss the chance to network with the new friends you met at the Newcomers Reception on Sunday afternoon and the old friends we all cherish. This may be the best time to "Pay It Forward". And you won't get the variety of food in any restaurant in the city that you will have at the Rock-n-Bowl. PROGRAM For a listing of all concurrent sessions, click on the concurrent sessions by day and time in the Tentative Conference Schedule under the Program Page. REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Please go to the Registration page on the Home page and register for the 2010 SAIR Conference, workshops and special event. You may also follow the Hotel link (above) for room reservations at the InterContinental – New Orleans. SPECIAL SESSION Dr. George Kuh, our keynote speaker will host a substantive session on assessment (Workshop #17) will be from 8:30 to 10:00am Sunday and carries a $30 fee. Dr. Kuh will review what matters to student success, examine some key indicators of quality such as student engagement, and illustrate the kinds of policies and “high impact” practices that channel student and institutional effort toward educationally purposeful activities and often boost the performance of historically underrepresented students and the less well-prepared. FYI Sunday September 26, 2010 The Saints will be playing Atlanta in New Orleans at noon. Hotel space that has not been reserved will be at a premium and will cost much more than $149 per night. Please consider making your reservation now for the entire time you intend to stay at the New Orleans InterContinental Hotel. Bernie assures me that hotel prices will be very high for that weekend in all New Orleans hotels so plan ahead and click on the link above. Traffic before and after the game will be horrendous, especially on Canal Street, so if you are driving allow plenty of time. ALERT Proposal submission is closed! Call for Participation Dear SAIR Colleagues: This is a two part message: 1.) a call for participation and 2.) a call for proposal submission; the proposal submission site for the 2010 SAIR Conference is now open! Please make every effort to be a participant in the 2010 SAIR Conference. The Board has agreed that we will not raise the registration fee this year; it is still $150 for early bird registration and $175 for those registering late. Previous messages (below) have indicated that the InterContinental New Orleans has reduced our room charge to $149 for the evenings of the 23rd through the 28th of September. It is with that reduced rate in mind that I invite you to come in a couple of days early and enjoy New Orleans. The Crescent City is a wonderful, rowdy, beautiful Southern city with the most colorful locals of any city in the world. The Ain’ts are gone and the Saints reign supreme! The city is still recovering from Katrina, but you wouldn’t know it in the French Quarter! Oh, have I mentioned the food? You might want to do some palate and taste bud cross-training to get said body parts ready for a cornucopia of tantalizing entrees and desserts. Your attendance at our conference is extremely important, thus I invite you to participate in our 37th annual conference by submitting one or more proposals. Presenting a paper, work share session, or workshop will be beneficial to many of your SAIR friends (“Pay It Forward”). Your presence at the conference will almost certainly guarantee opportunities for “Networking for the Future”. I look forward to seeing you in New Orleans in September! Roy “Ike” Ikenberry Program Chair – 2010 SAIR Conference Program Tracks The Accreditation Track welcomes proposals that address the revised principles of accreditation adopted by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Our members will gain valuable insights into how your knowledge and expertise informs this important process of external peer review. The Assessment Track addresses authentic approaches to evaluating administrative, support and learning outcomes. Whether reflecting upon insights gained from national surveys or highlighting improved learning outcomes based upon locally developed assessment measures, these sessions will highlight best practices. The Community College Track is a growing area of interest at SAIR. The size and diversity of the community college sector requires us to learn as much as we can about these institutions. The Institutional Research Track addresses the effective and efficient collection of data to inform college and university decisions. In addition to data collection, sessions may also address data analysis and dissemination to various stakeholders. The Planning Track welcomes proposals that address how legitimate planning processes shape the agenda for your institution. The Technology Track demonstrates creative and innovative uses of information technology to support institutional research and effectiveness activities. The Pre-Conference Workshop Track provides the opportunity for in-depth discussion and instruction on a single topic. Demonstrations, exercises, group activities, and other methods of experiential learning are appropriate and desirable. Proposals should outline the specific objectives of the workshop, the intended audience (novice or experienced researchers, prerequisite knowledge/skills, etc.), the instructional techniques, and the qualifications of the instructor(s). Proposals also must include an estimate of the reimbursable expenses and the minimum and maximum number of participants allowed. The Roundtable activity allows for discussion on a variety of topics of interest to conference participants. It is a unique opportunity to make new acquaintances and to take part in a free-wheeling discussion of a single topic over lunch. Networking at its best! The Special Interest Groups activity allows conference participants to meet together as an affiliated group, a state association meeting, or a specific hardware/software users group. Presentation Formats Papers (45 minutes) Papers should describe a research study or an effective process or technique (quantitative or qualitative), present a theoretical approach to a problem or issue, or review the literature on a topic of interest to institutional researchers. Panels (45 minutes) Panel presentations involve three or more individuals who present different perspectives on a common theme or topic. The proposal should describe the common theme/topic and the major points of discussion. The proposal should also describe how each panelist contributes a different perspective to the session. Roundtables (60 minutes) Roundtable sessions occur during lunch on Monday, October 19 and offer an opportunity for a convener to give a brief overview of a relevant topic that leads to an engaged and lively discussion. A proposal should include a description of the topic and the convener's relevant expertise and experience. Software Demonstrations (45 minutes) Presentations should demonstrate one or more software packages or programming solutions that are applicable to the work of institutional researchers. The proposal should describe the relative strengths, weaknesses, and special features of the product or solution. The presenter should also discuss the hardware required for the software/solution. If Internet access is needed, please request such access during the proposal process. Workshare (45 minutes) Workshare sessions provide an opportunity to share professional work products, effective practices, innovative applications, and creative solutions that are not ready to be presented as a paper. A proposal should include a description of the topic and its applicability to other institutions. Workshops (3 or 6 hours) Workshops provide the opportunity for in-depth discussion and instruction on a single topic. Demonstrations, exercises, group activities, and other methods of experiential learning are appropriate and desirable. Proposals should outline the specific objectives of the workshop, the intended audience (novice or experienced researchers, prerequisite knowledge/skills, etc.), the instructional techniques, and the qualifications of the instructor(s). Proposals also must include an estimate of the reimbursable expenses and the minimum and maximum number of participants allowed. Workshops occur on Saturday and Sunday, September 25 & 26. Workshops which require a computer lab will be held off site at Delgado Community College. Transportation will be provided from the hotel to Delgado Community College and back. All other workshops will be held at the Executive Conference Center in the InterContinental New Orleans. Proposal Submission Instructions An abstract of no more than 100 words is required. Although some editing may occur, most abstracts of accepted presentations will appear verbatim in the conference program. A narrative representing the body of the proposal should cover the following: a) significance of timeliness of the topic; b) historical, theoretical, and/or conceptual framework; c) method of inquiry; d) analytical method; and e) intended audience. No reference to authors or their institutions should appear in the body of the proposal. SAIR will notify primary presenters in late July about the status of their proposals. Equipment: Each session room will have a computer projector and a screen. Please submit all requests and justifications for other equipment during the proposal process. SAIR will make every effort to accommodate reasonable requests. For additional information, please contact Program Chair, Ike Ikenberry (roy.ikenberry@belmont.edu). Please note that all participants are expected to pay conference registration fees, and those submitting proposals acknowledge their intent to register by submitting a proposal. Honoraria are not paid to presenters, although reasonable expenses are reimbursed for pre-conference workshop materials. If you are interested in becoming a member of SAIR, contact: Ruth Salter, SAIR Treasurer Albany State University 504 College Drive Albany, GA Ph: (229) 430-3986; FAX: (229) 430-3691 E-mail: Ruth.Salter@asurams.edu Theme An explanation may be in order for the theme: Pay it Forward: Networking for the Future. Evaluations of our state group and those available from SAIR have indicated an interest in more networking during the meeting. We know we have limited time for such activities but if we couch it in terms of ”pay it forward" everyone is or can be a participant. Pay It Forward, a novel published in 2000 by Catherine Ryan Hyde (later made into a movie of the same name), describes it as an obligation to do three good deeds for others in repayment of a good deed that one receives. We all have been recipients of good deeds by someone in the IR profession and we in turn should be willing to help others (pay it forward). Our Newcomers need to know that those of us who have been up on the porch with the "big dogs" for a while started under it! And maybe some of us that have been on the porch too long need to remember our humble beginnings. There are several IR professionals, living and in the eternal IR office, who helped me a very great deal and I want to pay it forward. How about you? Board Members Nerissa Rivera and Cara Mia Braswell have created a Facebook group called “SAIR 2010”. For those of you, who already have a Facebook account, simply search for the group and request to be added to the group. For those of you who haven’t set up a Facebook account, please take this as a prompt or an invitation to do so. Setting up a new Facebook account is a relatively simple matter. Go to Facebook and complete name, email, password and some demographic data (very little required). Once you’ve established your account you can search in “GROUPS” or in the search box in the upper left corner for “SAIR 2010” and request to become a member. You must have a Facebook account in order to access the SAIR2010 group. You do not have to add any other personal information to your page. You will be able to read News Feeds and post public comments and questions. In keeping with the theme of SAIR 2010 “Pay it Forward: Networking for the Future”, we hope to use the great networking facets of Facebook to bring our members together. It provides a forum to discuss the upcoming conference in New Orleans, and the many volunteer opportunities available to get involved in the annual conference and this outstanding organization. SAIR 2010 will give us a forum, before and during the conference, where members can touch base, ask questions, and share ideas. In addition, members can also use the site to make dinner plans or share favorite restaurants in the area. We hope to post some pictures on the group page very soon showing the beautiful New Orleans InterContinental Hotel where the conference will be held. BTW, we were able to negotiate with the hotel to get a $149 room charge. And we hope to set up the conference registration process that will link you directly to the hotel registration site. |
Local Arrangementsby Allen Gale Well, we cheered for the Saints and buried the Aints, and now the Louisiana AIR krewe is gearing up for SAIR in New Orleans in September 2010. We’re making lists to share with you of all our favorite places to dine and visit (our recommendations are divided into the categories of EATS, BEATS, and FAMILY TREATS), and we’ll be working on the rest of the details to make SAIR 2010 memorable and productive for all, as we “Pay It Forward” in New Orleans! Monday Night |
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