North East Association for Institutional Research

Calendar of Events - North East Association for Institutional Research (NEAIR), Inc.

Event	Date	Time	Contact

Working with Flawed Survey Data In the real world of IR/IE, perfect survey data do not exist. Low response rates, disengaged respondents, and unrepresentative samples are common challenges that can compromise survey validity — yet these issues are often ignored. This workshop equips IR/IE professionals with strategies to analyze flawed survey data and extract meaningful insights. This workshop is primarily designed for folks who analyze survey data in Excel or R, but can benefit others. Key topics include: Detecting and managing low-effort survey responses Addressing small sample sizes, unrepresentative samples, and omitted variable bias Selecting surveys with higher likelihood of yielding valid insights Communicating data limitations to stakeholders Presenter: Steve Sherrin, Wentworth Institute of Technology Virtual Webinar --- Thursday, June 5, 2025; 10:30 AM - NOON Members - $40 Non-Members - $75 more info...	6/5/2025	10:30am to 12:00pm

Survey Design Essentials: Avoiding Bias and Maximizing Validity Surveys are a powerful tool for gathering data, but they are only as good as their design. Bias in surveys can lead to misleading results, poor decision-making, and wasted resources. In this webinar, you’ll learn practical strategies to design surveys that minimize bias and produce more accurate data. Through engaging examples and quizzes, you’ll explore common pitfalls in survey design and how to avoid them. What You’ll Learn: How to identify and mitigate common sources of survey bias. Techniques for writing clear, unbiased, and effective survey questions. Best practices for designing response options and rating scales. Strategies to improve the overall reliability and validity of your surveys. Technology requirements: A computer or device with internet access to join the webinar. A willingness to participate in interactive quizzes (no special software required). Members: $40 Non-Members: $75 Presenter: Lynda Zhang, Harvard University Virtual Webinar: Wednesday, June 11, 2025; 2:00-3:30 PM more info...	6/11/2025	2:00pm to 3:30pm

Integrating Quarto with RStudio: A Roadmap to Streamline Institutional Research Operations This workshop offers a comprehensive overview of integrating Quarto within RStudio to optimize institutional research workflows. Quarto is an open-source tool that allows for the creation of dynamic, reproducible reports and documents, combining code, text, and visualizations in a single document. This virtual webinar will provide a clear roadmap for streamlining data analysis, automating reporting processes, and creating dynamic, reproducible reports using Quarto. The session will also cover best practices for effectively incorporating Quarto into institutional research operations. Participants Will Come Away With: · Proficiency in using Quarto with RStudio to automate and streamline data analysis and reporting. · Techniques for creating dynamic and reproducible reports. · Skills in enhancing data visualizations for better insights. Members: $40 Non-Members: $75 Presenter: James Salamon, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Virtual Webinar -- Wednesday, June 25, 2025; 2:00-3:30 PM more info...	6/25/2025	2:00pm to 3:30pm

Developing a Data Literacy Program Using a Data Governance Lens Data literacy programs frequently focus on the latter part of the data lifecycle – e.g., data analysis, visualization, and interpretation. However, a more expansive view of data literacy – from data creation to data destruction/archiving – is needed to be data literate in modern organizations. Experts require a depth of knowledge in selected areas to perform their job duties well. Alternatively, today’s employees generally need a breadth of knowledge about data processes at critical junctures (along the data lifecycle) to do their jobs more efficiently. Empowering data users/consumers to understand better, for example, how to submit solid data requests, explore data via self-service platforms, read reports/visualizations, and better understand the infrastructure and applications that power today’s institution increases data literacy across the board and fulfills a key component of data governance. In this workshop, we’ll explore how a data governance lens streamlines data conversations between units, why a data literacy program functions best within a data governance program, and how attendees might consider creating a data literacy program with a data governance lens. Members: $40 Non-Members: $75 Presenter: Melissa Barnett, Harvard University Zoom Webinar -- Wednesday, July 23, 2025; 2:00-3:30 PM more info...	7/23/2025	2:00pm to 3:30pm

Integrating Generative AI into the Institutional Research Workflow Have you wondered how you can embed AI into your daily IR work? In this workshop, attendees will learn about specific ways institutional research professionals can integrate the use of generative AI tools into their workflows based on current practices in a small institutional research office. A hands-on portion of the workshop will offer attendees the opportunity to try out two different project ideas. Users will be asked to generate free accounts with a few AI companies to support testing. This workshop is designed for beginner-to-early/intermediate users of generative AI. Members: $40 Non-Members: $75 Presenters: Elissa Lu, Clark University and Skye Wu, Clark University Virtual Webinar -- Wednesday, July 30, 2025; 10:30 AM - NOON more info...	7/30/2025	10:30am to 12:00pm

A Strengths-based Approach to Retention through Microsurveys University of Findlay’s Student Success Champions initiative bridges student and academic affairs, incorporating several projects that endeavor to understand retention through a more authentic student experience picture. Using microsurveys, we have shifted the data focus from why students leave to examine why they stay. The presentation will begin with an overview of the UF Student Success Champion project, including two-year benchmarks. The survey research will then take center stage, with an outline of the instruments used, the student populations surveyed, how participation was boosted via Student Success Center outreach, and how the results were shared and reported out. The presenter will then cover how the research was incorporated into the UF Gap Preparedness Summit meetings, shared with the Board of Trustees, as well as how it continues to drive course-level goals and strategies. The final segment of time will be allotted for question and answer, engaging the audience in discussion on how to adapt these strategies on their own campus. By the end of the session, participants will be able to describe how a battery of survey instruments can be strategically utilized to paint a more accurate picture of student experience. They will also be able to illustrate how to use assessment data to guide faculty and staff in developing retention strategies. Lastly, participants will be able to translate these initiatives into projects that would be better adapted for their own campus population / environment. The project has direct applicability for fellow institutions that are examining retention and have reviewed why students leave but have not focused attention on why students stay and complete. Colleagues will also learn more about microsurveys along with the questions used and the information gleaned and will see examples of how data can be used and shared in unique ways. Members: $40 Non-Members: $75 Presenter: Kristen Lindsay, University of Findlay Zoom Webinar -- Wednesday, August 6, 2025; 2:00-3:30 PM more info...	8/6/2025	2:00pm to 3:30pm

How to Access, Manage, and Analyze Data to Improve Student Success This webinar will help you understand your institution’s data ecosystem and review how to gather, analyze, and interpret data to address a student success problem. The first half of the webinar (Data 101) will deconstruct a common data infrastructure model to conceptualize how data are collected and moved through various systems to serve data consumers. The second half of the webinar (Data Analytics 101) will identify a student success problem, develop a research question, gather data, examine analytical options, run the analysis, interpret the results, and communicate the findings to key stakeholders. For this seminar, you will be invited to answer a short questionnaire in advance and identify a student success problem at your institution. Presenter: Denise Nadasen, Consultant Zoom Webinar -- Thursday, August 21, 2025; 10:00-11:30 AM more info...	8/21/2025	10:00am to 11:30am

Build your own IR AI assistant - Where Innovation Meets Data Security Discover how to harness AI's potential while respecting data security limits. This webinar will dive into the practical steps of building an AI assistant using a local LLM model, as well as existing AI such as ChatGPT, Grok, etc., that can search, retrieve, and manage information efficiently. Importantly, it also introduces the steps for setting up your in-house IR specialized chatbot - make your organization's knowledge at your fingertips. However, with great power comes great responsibility; we will also learn how to balance innovation with data protection, understand compliance with privacy laws, and implement security measures to safeguard user data. Members: $40 Non-Members: $75 Presenter: Xilin Zhang, New Jersey Institute of Technology Virtual Webinar -- Tuesday, August 26, 2025; 2:00 - 3:30 PM more info...	8/26/2025	2:00pm to 3:30pm

Writing Feasibility Studies for Institutional Growth A streamlined, standardized process for writing feasibility studies was developed at Ashland University. This methodology has also been utilized at Purdue University, demonstrating adaptability across different institutional contexts. This approach features a universal template that enhances collaboration between faculty and administrators, ensuring clarity and consistency across departments, and provides comparisons across institutions. The process not only simplifies feasibility studies but also extends to evaluating the viability of existing programs. Incorporating key resources such as IPEDS, CUDAS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job boards, and state-level labor data, this approach effectively navigates change and informs decision-making. Each state maintains its own Labor Market Information (LMI) website, ensuring access to comparable data across the nation. Labor Market Information This presentation will explore how leveraging these resources facilitates the management of change and optimization of program offerings in higher education. This presentation is suitable for all skill levels but will be especially great for beginners learning to utilize IPEDS and labor market information. All resources utilized are open source. A process document will be provided. Members: $40.00 Non-Members: $75.00 Presenter: Kristy Tipton, Purdue University Zoom Webinar -- Tuesday, September 23, 2025; 2:00-3:30 PM more info...	9/23/2025	2:00pm to 3:30pm

Data Visualization and Dashboard with Datawrapper In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to create compelling and interactive data visualizations using Datawrapper, a user-friendly tool for designing charts, maps, and tables without any programming. By the end of the session, learners will be able to: Design bar charts, multiple bar charts, and line charts to compare trends and categories. Build 4-dimensional scatter plots to explore relationships between variables. Create and customize tables, including the unique feature of embedding bar and line charts directly within table cells to create visually rich data displays. Use range charts to visualize data with upper and lower bounds. Create maps to display geographic data effectively. Combine these visualizations into a dashboard. Flexible Participation: Participants are encouraged to follow along hands-on during the workshop. If you prefer to watch and learn without actively participating, that’s completely fine! The session will be equally valuable as a demonstration. Technology Requirements: A web browser and a free Datawrapper.de account (participants can also create one during the workshop). A Google account to access the sample data. Members: $40 Non-Members: $75 Presenter: Lynda Zhang, Harvard University Virtual Webinar -- Thursday, September 25, 2025; 1:30 - 3:00 PM more info...	9/25/2025	1:30pm to 3:00pm

Purchase a Sponsorship for 2025 NEAIR Annual Conference Welcome to NEAIR Sponsorship! NEAIR relies on sponsor support of the Annual Conference. In return, NEAIR works hard to promote our sponsors extensively through a variety of mediums prior to and during our conference. We recommend purchasing a sponsorship early for best booth location and top choice of presentation time! Regular Sponsorship ends October 1st. For complete information about NEAIR Sponsorship, please go to our Sponsor Tab. Questions? Shirley Wong, shirleywong@mit.edu more info...	11/8/2025 -11/11/2025	Exhibit Area will be open from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday NOON.

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Welcome to NEAIR Sponsorship!

NEAIR relies on sponsor support of the Annual Conference. In return, NEAIR works hard to promote our sponsors extensively through a variety of mediums prior to and during our conference.