Macquarie University’s main campus is conveniently located 15 kilometres from Sydney’s city centre in one of the largest business and technology precincts in the southern hemisphere. The University was built as a bold experiment in higher education, where it sought to break from traditions and work in tandem with industry. The University strives for the extraordinary by challenging convention and embracing different views. During the past couple of years, the world has found itself in a position where it has had no choice but to approach things differently, and as such, it is the perfect place for us to host this year’s Forum and explore our theme: Is it clear AAIR ahead? Come along and join us as we tackle the challenges and complexities we face as institutional researchers.

Our subthemes this year are:

• Impacts of COVID-19
• The evolving role of the institutional researcher
• Justifying the value of higher education and research
• Evidence-based strategic planning (and implementation)
• Benchmarking for continuous quality improvement
• Informing learning and teaching through evaluation and surveys
• Realising benefits – the role of institutional research in enterprise and transformation projects
• Compliance and Government reporting reform
• Business intelligence, analytics, visualisation and modelling – the foundations of IR

Given that many institutions and individuals alike are still recovering from the effects of COVID, we are excited to offer the 2022 AAIR Forum as a hybrid event. The AAIR Executive Committee is keen to meet face-to-face once again, but while we encourage you to attend in-person for the collegiality and networking opportunities that only an in-person event can truly offer, we also know that budgets are tight. Therefore, so we are offering the online option for those who wish to attend but are unable to travel.

Whether you are planning to attend virtually or physically, we invite you to submit an abstract and be part of the captivating program from 30 November to 2 December in bustling Sydney, NSW!

This year’s AAIR Annual Forum program is guaranteed to challenge and excite as specialists share their rich experience, discuss key topics, and strategize in response to an everchanging higher education sector in a rapidly changing world. Our theme this year encourages speakers to think about the future while considering the past and present we have all lived through, and to question the future that we are being propelled towards. Is it clear AAIR ahead?

AAIR welcomes both new and experienced presenters, and a presenter briefing tailored to new presenters will be held online in late October 2022.
Pre-Forum workshops and Special Interest Groups (SIG) will run on the day prior to the main Forum sessions. Each SIG will run for 1.5 hours, with a half day survey manager’s workshop.

AAIR has formed valued relationships with sponsors who have participated in the Forum for many years and have become a part of the AAIR community. We look forward to continuing these relationships and welcoming new supporters to the event. Take the opportunity to speak with these vendors as often they’re working closely with many of your colleagues in other institutions.

Having the reputation of being the leading institutional research event in Australasia, the AAIR Forum is an ideal event for you to expand your knowledge in the sector. And as always, there will be plenty of networking opportunities, including a pizza and drinks extravaganza! Connect with the many institutions who continue to support the Forum and enjoy what we anticipate being an exceptional event.

Join us in Sydney at the 2022 AAIR Annual Forum!

The AAIR Executive Committee