TCS Hosts Inaugural Meeting of CAAIR

The Chicago School’s Office of Institutional Research hosted the inaugural meeting of the Chicago Area Association for Institutional Research (CAAIR) on October 24. Established this year, CAAIR serves as a working group/idea exchange/professional development opportunity for individuals working in institutional research.

Sixteen persons attended, in addition to the school’s three IR staff members, for a total of 19. Attendees came from such varied institutions as the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Argosy, ACE, Governors State University, UIC, Morton College, and Elgin Community College. Doug Franklin, assistant director of information systems at the Illinois Board of Higher Education also attended.

The topic of the day was new IPEDS Race/Ethnicity categories and how the different institutions are handling the re-surveying of students and staff required by the U.S. Department of Education.

“In only its first meeting, CAAIR proved essential,” said TCS IR Director Kathryn Talley, Ph.D. “The group discussion cleared up potential misunderstandings in regard to Department of Education regulatory requirements. In addition, we simply enjoyed each other’s company!”