Maryland Association for Institutional Research
2026 Fall Conference and Annual Business Meeting
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The MdAIR Fall Conference is just around the corner!
The conference will take place on October 30, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. We are also very excited to be returning to Carroll Community College this year!
Conference Logistics:
Address: 1601 Washington Road, Westminster, MD 21157
Room Location: We will be in the K building for the event. (K-100; there will be signs directing you to the room).
Campus Map: A downloadable and printable map can be found here.
https://www.carrollcc.edu/about/campus-map-directions/main-campus-map-directions/
Parking: Parking is free and available near the building. Please refrain from parking is reserved spots or sports marked for Staff and Faculty.
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The Maryland Association for Institutional Research is celebrating 40 years of service!
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Ingenuity and Innovation:
40 Years of Excellence
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We are thrilled to announce that our conference keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Scott Schaeffer, Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Northampton Community College and MSCHE Commissioner. We are excited to have Dr. Schaeffer join us and share his expertise with the organization.
About Dr. Schaeffer:
Dr. Scott Schaeffer serves as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness for Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA. He has over 20 years of experience in higher education as a former Professor of Biology and Associate Vice President for STEM and Health Professions. Dr. Schaeffer has been serving as a Commissioner for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) since 2018. He has served as a past Vice-Chair of the Committee on Substantive Change and the Committee on Evaluation Reports. He currently chairs the Committee on Applicant and Candidate Institutions as well as the Committee on Membership. Dr. Schaeffer has extensive experience in assessment, shared governance, student retention and completion initiatives, and tenure and promotion oversight. He has engaged in strategic planning and both programmatic and institutional self-study development at various higher education institutions. He is passionate about student equity and inclusion in higher education and has been a champion of promoting Open Educational Resource implementation to reduce textbook costs to students. Dr. Schaeffer has served annually on MSCHE peer evaluation and small team visits since 2013. He also regularly attends MSCHE evaluator training sessions, webinars, town halls, and Annual Conferences.
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Conference Agenda:
8:30 AM Breakfast and Registration
9:00 AM Welcome
9:05 AM Keynote Presentation
10:15 AM Session 1
11:00 AM Break
11:10 AM Session 2
12:00 PM Lunch
12:45 PM Annual Business Meeting
1:00 PM Session 3
1:45 PM Session 4
2:30 PM 40th Celebration
2:45 PM Session 5
3:30 PM Closing
The preliminary conference agenda will be released once the call for proposals is closed.
We welcome all former, current, and prospective members to attend the event. Please note that the event is FREE for current members. For non-members, the event is $85, and that includes membership for the remainder of the year and free attendance to the Spring Symposium and any summer events that may happen. For members with lapsed memberships, you can easily renew your membership by registering and paying for the event.
Registration/membership fees are non-refundable.
Portions of the day may be recorded or photographed.
If you have any questions, please reach out to MarylandAIR01@gmail.com and a member of the Board will be happy to assist you. Please feel free to share any comments or concerns that you might have.
Please share this event with officemates and with any colleagues that you think might be interested in or benefit from this event (even beyond just IE/IR/Assessment).
We look forward to seeing all of you at the Fall Conference!
Questions, comments, concerns, difficulties with registration? Please contact Kevin Martin at marylandair01@gmail.com.