Are you looking for colleagues to work on research that promotes and sustains Catholic higher education? Look no further… the Catholic Higher Education Research Cooperative (CHERC) is for you. Find out more at the AIR Forum in Chicago when institutional researchers in Catholic Higher Education gather for an Affiliate Group meeting on Monday, May 31 from 7:30-8:15 a.m., where you can learn about membership and share your research.

The CHERC organization grew out of more than a decade of convivial gatherings of institutional researchers and other interested parties in Catholic higher education at national and regional conferences, including our annual spring Forum. As the CHERC name suggests, our now formally-organized group continues that strong focus on research in Catholic higher education. Currently CHERC has 58 institutional members. We share mutual research interests with the leadership of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) in Washington, D.C., with whom the CHERC Board has regular contact.

Benefits of CHERC Membership

• The CHERC Forum - held every spring!
• Members-only access to CHERC Web site posts on current research in Catholic higher education.
• An active listserv where institutional researchers at member schools share knowledge.
• Ongoing contact in Special Interest Groups (SIGs) at regional and IR conferences and as an AIR Affiliate Group of.
• Opportunities to take part in targeted collaborative research with other CHERC members.
• Sharing instruments, question sets, and tools relevant to research in Catholic higher education.
• Examining the impact of Catholic higher education and sharing new research outcomes.

Please join us at the 2010 AIR Forum on May 31, during the Special Interest Group meeting time. We look forward to meeting you then! If you can’t attend, be sure to check out our Web site.

Erin Ebersole
Director of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment
Immaculata University
eebersole@immaculata.edu