2019-2021 Strategic Plan
MISSION
NEAIR is an individual membership driven organization, serving primarily the northeast region, promoting effectiveness in postsecondary education through excellence in the field of institutional research. As such, NEAIR focuses on facilitating the professional development of its members while promoting best practices and ensuring integrity in institutional research. Central to the fulfillment of this mission are the following core values:
VALUES
We value: (1) a rich and diverse community of members that reflect the various sectors of postsecondary education and is welcoming to individuals with different backgrounds, experiences, and skills; (2) the open exchange of ideas through collegiality and networking; and (3) the ongoing professional development of members throughout the span of their careers.
VISION
NEAIR aspires to be a premier member services organization by providing the best possible programming, services, and networking opportunities that promote and strengthen the skills and knowledge of the institutional research and effectiveness profession in an ever-changing world.
Core Competencies
CC #1: Provide high quality, relevant, and timely professional development opportunities for members at all career levels to support their competence and advancement in the professional field.
CC #2: Provide opportunities for members to develop mutually beneficial and supportive relationships to cultivate a strong professional network where mentoring is valued and where communities of practice are formed to support learning and innovation in the field.
CC #3: Provide leadership opportunities to raise members’ and our profession’s profiles inside and outside of our institutions.
CC #4: Provide an inclusive and welcoming community for all of its members to support their lifelong learning and development.
North East Association for Institutional Research NEAIR Strategic Plan (2019 – 2021)
| Goal #1: Provide high quality, timely, and relevant professional development, at an affordable cost, to enhance the skills and competencies required of high-performing institutional research and effectiveness professionals. | |||
| 1.1 | Objective: Understand members’ preferences and needs for professional development opportunities. | ||
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | |
| 1.1A | Ad Hoc Research, Membership, Finance, Professional Development, Grants, Conference Team | Conduct a Member Survey to ascertain preferences regarding the current standard conference experience as well as the value, offerings, and price sensitivity associated with attending the summer Professional Development Series (PDS), Pre-Conference Workshops (PCW), and attending the annual conference. Also explore the needs and preferences for the financial support of professional development opportunities (e.g., to attend conferences, to support taking coursework, etc.). | Spring 19 – plan Jun/Jul – Field Aug – Analyze results Sept – Rpt to SC Oct – Rpt to membership |
| 1.1B | Ad Hoc Research, Conference Team | Use the annual poster session with PDS, PCW, and conference results to solicit real-time feedback about members’ needs for professional development at the annual conference. | Summer/Fall 2019 |
| 1.2 | Objective: Offer a broad range of professional development opportunities for institutional researchers at all stages of their careers. | ||
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | |
| 1.2A | Ad Hoc Strategic Planning, Professional Development, Conference Team | Conduct an annual environmental scan to highlight trending topics in higher education, analytics, and information technology to inform a needs analysis for professional development opportunities. Use those results to inform program development each year. | Nov – Dec 2018; put on annual cycle |
| 1.2B | Incoming/Outgoing Conference Teams; Ad Hoc Research | Review PDS, PCW, and conference evaluation results on an annual basis to inform the next cycle of offerings. | Every Jan/Feb |
| 1.2C | Conference Team | Develop Invited Sessions for the Annual Conference to meet the needs of professionals at different stages of their career. Assess the usefulness of this to membership on the annual conference evaluation. | Spring 2019 – develop; Fall 2019 – assess; Winter 2020 – next steps for 2020 conference |
| 1.2D | Conference Team | Use the conference proposal process to provide constructive feedback on conference papers and presentations. | Annually |
| 1.2E | Conference Team, Technology Committee | Leverage the conference mobile application to develop a short assessment where conference session attendants can provide real-time feedback to presenters. | Fall 2019 |
| 1.2F | Ad Hoc Research | Use the Member Survey to understand what are the needs and preferences of members for supporting scholarly research activities, including publishing research. | Summer 2019 |
| Goal #2: Develop ongoing planning and assessment to support organizational learning, strategy development and decision-making so that the Association can proactively respond to changes in our professional field and in the higher education environment. | ||||
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | ||
| 2.1 | Objective: Develop a strategic plan and process for the Association. | |||
| 2.1A | Ad Hoc Strategic Planning | Conduct an annual environmental scan. | Nov/Dec 2018; put on an annual cycle | |
| 2.1B | President, Steering Committee | Author a three-year strategic plan that includes a process for its annual assessment and update. | Spring 2019 | |
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | ||
| 2.2 | Objective: Develop methods to assess the needs of membership and to monitor its composition over time to inform marketing and retention efforts. | |||
| 2.2A | Ad Hoc Research, Membership | Conduct a Member Survey. Determine how often it will be administered and place on a cycle. | Summer 2019 | |
| 2.2B | Ad Hoc Research, Technology | Investigate and implement best practices for our association management platform (i.e., MemberLeap) data upload functionality. Continue to explore ways to improve membership engagement and to support research activities by investigating and assessing MemberLeaps functionality. | Winter/Spring 2020 | |
| 2.2C | Ad Hoc Research | Conduct a longitudinal member retention analysis. | Spring/Summer 2019 | |
| 2.2D | President, Membership, Member Definitions Ad Hoc Committee | Review and revise existing member definitions. Determine who should be included in NEAIR’s definition of membership (e.g., undergraduate and graduate students, etc.). | Summer/Fall 2019 | |
| Goal #4: Facilitate professional networking among NEAIR and other appropriate affiliate organizations. | |||
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | |
| 4.1 | Objective: Create a membership enrollment and engagement plan (for new, current, and past members). | ||
| 4.1A | Membership | Develop membership enrollment communication plan (email, social media, etc.) and create a web presence to complement this. | Winter/Spring 2020 |
| 4.1B | Membership/ Ad Hoc Research | Develop a projection model to grow membership and establish a goal and timeframe for growing membership. | Summer 2020 |
| 4.1C | Membership/ Technology | Create member enrollment home page slide. | Winter/Spring 2020 |
| 4.1D | Membership/Grants | Develop "branding" and obtain funding for newcomers outreach: Newcomers workshops, Navigating NEAIR, Newcomer SIG, Mentoring Program | Winter/Spring 2020 |
| 4.1E | Membership/ Technology | Develop a plan for making the listserv and website a go to place for information and connection. | Winter/Spring 2020 |
| 4.1F | Membership | Develop an engagement plan for volunteering: when call goes out, process, follow up, and progression from committee member to board member to officers to involvement on national level at AIR. | Winter/Spring 2020 |
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | |
| 4.2 | Objective: Develop career development and coaching programs for multiple segments of the IR&E career span. | ||
| 4.2A | Membership | Develop a model for developing mid-career professionals. Key to this is, first, defining what it means to be “mid-career”. | Fall 2020/Winter 2021 |
| 4.2B | Membership | Create a Career Development and Coaching Program Resource Vault on the NEAIR website for members only. | Spring 2021 |
| 4.2C | Membership | Determine if there are any free or low cost employment services (including resume review/tips and other job search assistance) for members of non-profits and if so, provide them to NEAIR members at no or low cost. | Fall 2020/Winter 2021 |
| 4.2D | Membership | Develop a mentoring program where seasoned colleagues build the next generation of IR&E leaders. | Fall 2020/Winter 2021 |
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | ||
| 4.3 | Objective: Develop materials to support the hiring and onboarding of new employees. | |||
| 4.3A | Membership/ Ad Hoc Research | Develop a Hiring Resource Center for members. Create a set of question banks for hiring institutional research professionals at different levels (research analyst/associate; senior research analyst/associate; assistant/associate directors, directors). | Spring/Summer 2021 | |
| 4.3B | Membership/ Ad Hoc Research | Develop an Onboarding Resource Center for members. Create a set of guidelines to help managers onboard new employees and consider what this looks like at different levels in our professional field. | Spring/Summer 2021 | |
| Lead(s) | Action Items | Timeline | ||
| 4.4 | Objective: Investigate ways to support affiliate organizations and integrate them into NEAIR’s communication plans. | |||
| 4.1A | Presidents/Steering Committee | Define affiliate organizations and the nature of the relationships that NEAIR wants to forge with these entities | Winter/Spring 2020 | |
| 4.2B | Presidents/Steering Committee | Partner with affiliate organizations to advocate on the part of IR (i.e., MSCHE financial ratios, etc.) How to pull in related organization NACUBO, NASPA, ACCROA, etc. to do joint presentations | Winter/Spring 2020 | |
| 4.3C | Presidents/Steering Committee | Develop a vision for how NEAIR can help cultivate the aspirational practice of IR (i.e., AIR’s) among its member institutions by supporting collaborations among institutional researchers, enrollment management, finance, office of diversity and inclusion, etc. | Winter/Spring 2020 | |