Concordia delegation ensures conference success
A Concordia delegation recently took part in a successful conference that welcomed 170 institutional planners, analysts and statisticians to Montreal for two days. Why? It was the 21st annual conference of the Canadian Institutional Research and Planning Association.
One of the co-organizers was Cameron Tilson, assistant director of Institutional Planning and Analysis, who has been president of the professional association CIRPA-ACPRI since 2009. Brad Tucker, associate vice-president of Enrolment and Student Services, presided over the proceedings as program chair.
The theme for the 2012 conference, "Assessment and Accountability: Back to the Future," reflects issues of interest to the public, governments, and institutions that have persisted across time and that are very much back in today’s headlines. One such example is the recent resurgence and proliferation of new university rankings, for which institutional planners, analysts and statisticians must produce requested data and analyze the results.
The two-day conference was filled with stimulating presentations and several well-attended pre-conference workshops, along with various “extra-curricular” attractions in Montréal.
Another Concordian, Serge Bergeron, associate vice-president of Academic Operations, made a presentation on Concordia's new Faculty Resource Information System.
And thanks to CIRPA’s policy to include a talk by a local expert on some aspect of local history, culture, architecture or geography, a keynote address on the history of Montreal was given by Professor Peter Gossage of the Department of History. The account was a welcome break from the technical and theoretical material presented throughout the conference.
The conference committee consisted of local representatives from Université du Québec a Montréal, École Polytechnique, McGill University; and Marianopolis College; and nationally: University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba, Université Laval and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).
Related link:
• CIRPA-ACPRI