It is a pleasure to extend greetings to you as I begin my term as President of the Pacific Northwest Association for Institutional Research and Planning. I also want to extend my sincere gratitude to Nina Oman, our immediate past president, for her leadership and commitment over the past year, as well as to the Executive Members for their outstanding support.

The increased demand for higher education in the Pacific Northwest has prompted many changes within our systems with respect to improved access and affordability for our students. Although our membership stretches across national and state borders there are many similarities in how we are responding to the heightened demand for post-secondary education. Some of these common characteristics include: 1) increased government funding to support additional student spaces; 2) the expansion of university branch campuses; 3) the extension of community college programming to offer four-year degree options; and 4) ongoing collaborations and partnerships among colleges, universities, and post-secondary agencies. I am privileged to serve at such an exciting and significant time in the history of post-secondary education in our region.

We, as Institutional Researchers and Planners, strive to improve the value and credibility of research used to inform higher educational policy and practice. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that the planning is well underway for the annual meeting in October 2005 with the appropriate theme, “Creating Actionable Knowledge – Institutional Research as a Tool for Decision-Making and Planning.” As the details unfold they will be posted to our web site at www.pnairp.org as well as highlighted in the electronic newsletter.

There are many exciting times ahead as we begin this new era. I look forward to serving the PNAIRP membership as president over the next year and, with the executive team, promoting our strength as an association.

Stephanie Barclay McKeown

PNAIRP President

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