ATLIS Announces CIRIS Institutional Research Track at its Annual Conference

Two independent school organizations teaming up to bring technology leaders and institutional researchers together for an in-person conference

The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) is proud to announce a partnership with the Center for Institutional Research in Independent Schools (CIRIS) to bring together technology professionals and institutional researcher practitioners at a single in-person conference, May 1-4 in Orlando, Florida.

CIRIS has created a robust content track focused on institutional research at independent schools, and will present its programming as part of the ATLIS 2022: Ignited Annual Conference. 

“We worked together to bring this content to the independent school community because there’s a significant crossover between the technology teams and institutional researchers when it comes to keeping clean data, analyzing its value, and leveraging key findings to help independent schools support their missions,” said Christina Lewellen, ATLIS’s executive director. “We’re thrilled that the CIRIS community will be joining us in Orlando and we are confident that the event is going to bring tremendous value to the independent schools that participate.” 

ATLIS 2022 conference attendees will have full access to the CIRIS sessions, which include the following:

• The Role of the Institutional Researcher: Organizational Models
• What Matters to You: How Better Data Can Help Tell a Better Story
• Exploring the Intersection of IR, IT, and DEIJ
• Making Data Decisions that Stick: The Power of Schoolwide Data Culture
• Institutional Research Tools of the Trade
• Measuring Holistic Student Experience: Quantitative Thrive Models 
• Building Real-Time, Interactive Dashboards with Blackbaud & Power BI

CIRIS is also offering a pre-conference workshop Sunday, May 1 (separate registration required) focused on schools looking to launch or enhance their institutional research efforts, entitled, “From Database to Decision Making: Tech Policies to Empower Institutional Research.”

“We believe this co-located gathering of independent school professionals makes a lot of sense, and the timing coming out of the pandemic couldn’t be more ideal,” said Eric Heilman, executive director for CIRIS and director of institutional research at Maret School in Washington, DC. “Whether a school is new to the practice of institutional research or interested in taking its IR program to the next level, the CIRIS track will offer a variety of ways to think about and use data in a strategic way to advance the mission of a school.”

The Center for Institutional Research in Independent Schools (CIRIS) at Maret provides resources and support for institutional research practitioners. Supported by a 2020 Educational Leadership Grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation and matching gifts from the Maret community, CIRIS hosts networking events, facilitates expertise-sharing between schools, publishes useful information, and provides direct professional development in core institutional research competencies through its website and annual Summer Fellows Lab.

For more information and to register for the event, visit theATLIS.org/2022-annual-conference-orlando.